Benin

All that Jamie is literally what is done at EVERY single park that does this... You have to queue for ages when leaving to grab your token, or you ask on the way in... They're all barrier operated (though the Europeans tend to have someone stood nearby during the peak hours of departure), then one idiot messes it all up for everyone... These problems aren't exclusive to the UK... This said, Drayton I believe are going back to free parking this season...

Well, that's more because some numpty said the ground was a certain type and it wasn't so they had to concrete it all to ensure that the ride wouldn't fall apart... Obviously that didn't work, because the contractors were useless...

Not gonna happen unless they build a proper filtration system...

Think the thing is though, when people lose limbs (or worse) in a car/train/etc crash, you don't see any call for them to be closed/removed... It's a whole necessity concept, we view transport services as essential and write off any incidents as part and parcel, but because rides are an amusement/un-essential delight and don't have these accidents happen on a large scale (especially in the UK) it's all torch and pitchforks... Imagine our press with the incidents on Bizarro/Texas Giant...

Attracting circa 15 million people in 2014 is struggling? The money woes come from when it first opened, such are the perils of building 6 massive hotels in one fell swoop and an American based IP trying to get over to the French (who detested the whole idea at the time)... In regards to the solvency/profit side of it, depends if the people behind Paramount have a plan for that, one would assume most parks even the tiny ones make little profit at first... But that old adage of spending money to make money comes to mind, especially if that 2 billion covers the entire resort costs (park, hotels, entertainment district, transport, etc)...

The irony being that I don't think people are comfortable with Merlin at the current time...

But Paramount did, back in the past, have some IPs that worked in a theme park environment... Granted they eventually got brought out by Cedar Fair, but I'm not 100% sure for the reasonings without trying to do some serious research, I don't think it was completely down to monetary failure... I could be wrong here... Times have changed, rides based off Bond and Star Trek (and whatever others they had planned) would get a LOT of punters in... Plus of course they'd say a lot of catchment would be across the Channel, since you know, the location is by Ashford International... Then again, Varney wouldn't say anything positive about the place in front of Merlin investors and scare them off... So pinches of salt for all!

That took long: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alton-towers-crash-survivor-vicky-7468051

Well, if they are spending £30m on DBGT that kinda makes them... Right?

It's almost as if the parks take turns with their massive investments..........

Cos OMG it's like the LU symbol!!!!111

LSMs are a much more efficient method of launching on an energy expenditure level... Besides, doesn't do iSpeed any harm having a magnetic launch, or any other coaster that has them either... They're just as fab an experience...

Even stuff like this?

Looks like the park are trying to win "Most Awful Ride Name" of 2016... Will it be an improvement on Gold Mine? If the cars are actually easy to get into then it'll already have some plus points... That video shows nothing of any actual use either... It MIGHT be a hark back to the dark rides of yore, can't tell for certain at all...

Yes... It'll have DBGT on it instead of a "NEW FOR 2016" sticker...

I'm sure with a bit of effort they could create a water ride that can use the natural water after a tonne of treatment... Or just create a reservoir somewhere... If Flume's removal means either a coaster or a Chiapas style water ride, no tears will be shed here...

Can't beat the fantastic views of the soulless industrial estate next door nope...

Thorpe right now:

Define "not very big"... Baring in mine HSE can charge people for really safety incidents (not even loss of limb, but perhaps back injuries due to poor work practices), it could be anything... You'd think an incident which involved 5 people being seriously injured, 2 with actual life-changing injuries, wouldn't exactly result in a small slap on the wrist style fine...

^Nail on head... As it is private property, the owner/leaser has the final buck in regards to the safety and security of visitors... Given that the incident came down to 'human error' then as the operator they have to take full responsibility for the incident... HSE tend to deal with companies rather than individuals... Means that the park will be charged in court, which will probably mean more cuts to the operations throughout after a fine payable to HSE... I doubt that Merlin will please Not Guilty in this...

They did say it would be a 3 year thing... Just thought that meant different projects would be done in that time, not individual ones... If this is true, then this shows the half arsed effort given out by the park...

Let's be honest, WDW could add a bin and still be the most visited parks in the world... That said, I still keep hoping that Avatar Land is a nightmare I've yet to wake up from...

The problem is that TLC is being used as a marketing tool because of the poor performance last year... Compare that to parks who do exactly the same thing every season and show it off on social media with little to no fanfare...

But the point is that they're pushing the VR gimmick and then producing scenic elements that won't be visible to those using the VR... It's at opposite ends of the sense spectrum really, why produce something at odds to the gimmick?