Graeme

Exactly! I'm sure they have one heck of a legal team that will have advised what the likely fine will be.

I was sceptical about VR at Europa, until I tried it..... Then it added a whole new dimension to the Alpen express, at one stage I thought I actually went through an inversion. It's very easy to be dismissive of VR, I understand that, but don't write it off entirely. Also, Alton have confirmed that VR will be optional on Air so if you don't like the idea, don't use the VR. I hope that theme parks continue to build immersive experiences without VR and I think they will, as not everyone will ride the VR version.

A vertical drop through a shipping container then?

Makes sense that they would change it for this season, after all they have a new headline ride at the park. Good move by Thorpe, I love the back right on the Swarm whilst facing forwards!

Is this a sign that Dragon falls will be open this season? I would assume that if it wasn't then they'd close the whole area. Close it at the wild Asia end and then close it and the climbing wall. Painting Buddha would be a pointless task for this year as no one would see it. has anything been done on the large drop?

Oh I know that buzz well....horrible when you're between nights and can't sleep though! Unusual is one way to describe them.....words fail me sometimes! Well done mate!

I'm not getting excited for this, taking everything with a pinch of salt.... Why? Does everyone remember "it's every roller coaster you've dreamed of" and "Psycho coaster"? I just refuse to get hyped from Merlins tag lines. Also...yet another IP from Merlin. So now we have Saw, Angry Birds, IAC and now this....whilst I don't doubt Derrens talent, how much of this ride is his input and how much is just use of his name? At the rumoured £40 million price, it should be a good experience but am keeping open minded about the whole thing.

I think it's a perfectly acceptable comparison and can be compared right across the Merlin parks....It shows one clear point....If Merlin cared for its rides and didn't leave them to rot, they wouldn't be in their current states. You can tell when a park/ride is loved by its owners....Merlin just don't seem to care

This is why I haven't been to fright nights since 09. The bad organisation throughout the park just makes me angry....very angry!

X files are filming new episodes....not suggesting for one second it could be this though

I'd rather they went for a more tried and tested IP than some utter dross like IAC! If that's their way of being original...I'd prefer that they weren't!

Batman coasters have been done to death and there have been a few simulators before. I would love a batman themed dark ride but here's the thing.... If Merlin were to secure the IP....what cost would that be at? I would imagine it would cost a pretty penny or two.... What would that mean in way of an experience? A very cut down one imo. I would like a great batman dark ride but can see it being far too expensive! Would fit in this country because a huge percentage of people have never experienced a batman attraction.

OBJECTION! I do not wish to introduce bad character against mine trains!

Indeed....and only 4 were running! Was a case of getting in the car...progressing forward to outside the op cabin and waiting....then some waiting...then a bit more waiting! Merlin bosses would have a heart attack if they saw how matterhorn Blitz was being run....2 cars in the lift at once!!!

I could see the op waiting for the blocks to clear on his screen, it's going to cause massive queues...luckily there's no one here today!

Rattlesnake seems to be running on reduced throughout....I'm no ride expert but it seems as though a train cannot be dispatched now until the one I front has cleared all the brakes on the top "s" bends...I'm sure it used to be dispatched a lot quicker?

rattlesnake currently has a 5 minute queue, tomb, safari skyway and bubbleworks remain closed http://www.chessington.com/plan/today-at-chessington.aspx

Yes I get that but it's only very limited supply. It's still in it's infancy

I highly doubt the VR thing will happen. Purely because Europa are still only testing it. Someone has seen that this is the case and have thrown in "Air will be VR".

I'll do it for them.... They'd have to be insane to leave x just for ministry of nights with nothing in there!! Was bad enough that the arena was hardly ever used but this would be a total waste of space!

The actual Halloween event in park is excellent. the park takes on a whole different atmosphere and appearance. They change the music around the place, decorate it with 160,000 pumpkins and change eurosat to the pumpkin coaster. They also have "spook me" the europa park musical running, also the halloween parade. The event on park is really fun and adds a whole new dimension to an already world class park. Horror nights is the more "scary" event. this contains all the scare mazes and the vampires club. This takes place after park close and is a separate ticketed event. I love Halloween at Europa, it's so atmospheric and fun rather than scary. I love visiting at Halloween as weather is always reasonable too. if you're thinking of visiting this time of year, you won't be disappointed....in fact, visit any time and you won't be!

On reading the article, you can only ride with a VR headset if you collect a ticket at the information point by euro tower or at guest relation desks in the hotels, no drama!

Yes it is, although you can book a time slot for £1 per person to save disappointment, this is what I did.

I went to Shrek today with my other half and 6 year old nephew. First thing that I noticed were all the staff were dressed in flight attendants uniforms and I couldn't really work out why. Then if became apparent when we entered the departure area! The bus ride was done incredibly well and was a great way to start. The theming throughout was immaculate and the actors were all fantastic and really on form. The story itself was coherent throughout and you got to meet many of the characters from the shrek series...not all though! The use of smell cannons, textures on the floor and lighting were all used to great effect. The only problem we encountered was that we seemed to be in the mirror maze for ages with no apparent exit (although this may have been done on purpose). The only thing I didn't like was the whole "buy this photo album for £35". It contained maybe 4 or 5 blue screen photos and not a lot else. Merlin have employed a new trick here where they actually hand you the album and you take it to the cashier and decide whether or not to but it! In summary, it's a great attraction that's really enjoyable. It's like the dungeons for small children. Loved it and can say it's well worth a visit. Not sure I'd pay the £28 for an hours attraction. Having said that, I wouldn't pay for the dungeons or Tussauds either!

They could look at how ride operations are conducted on The Vampire. Last time I was there, it was on 2 trains but would often stack. There was a member of staff each side of the platform checking the whole train. Simple things like 2 more members of staff and splitting the train in half would be a quick win for Chessington. Nothing is more frustrating than seeing trains taking ages to load. Tomb Blaster also takes forever for a train to be dispatched, what's that all about? Rides like Fury, toadies, Kobra etc are stuck on throughput because they are just naturally low throughput rides. In the long term, they need to invest in rides that have a decent throughput, nothing less than 1200pph is what I believe they should be aiming for.