Benin

Shame, but it was outgrown by the park's development, the tour of the Sea-Life tent said it all really... We can hope that they're going to replace it like for like with a new layout and stuff, but that's optimism I feel misplaced...

That webpage is absolute Merlin gold... Quite simple here, to be posting something like that is nothing short of embarrassing...

Looking at that station, it HAS to be a spinner now... Which is a shame whilst equally a good thing, as it could produce a nice renaissance of them... Also doing the Smiler look better than Merlin...

Doubtful, usually its one or the other (which is fair)...

I'm sure you'll just find them before release anyway Ryan...

Merlin run by left wing BBC confirmed...

Thought the baseless speculation was pretty lacking for a while in here...

Least somewhere else for hotel guests to eat at night, since closing at 10pm... 13 tables seat around 10/12 each, still will end up packed if Europa's is anything to go by... Menu looks better than there mind, though no doubt the quality won't be...

I'm not beating last year, that's for sure... I'd LIKE to get the UK completed this year, with the odd trip abroad (Phannyland, Plopsa, Finland) and a few other odd runs... But atm it's all really up in the air should personal circumstances continue...

It saddens me that people think Valhalla is a good ride... Hex has fantastic atmosphere, to a level that no other dark rides have, since none are set within some real ancient gothic ruins... That's where half your experience comes from, the immersion... Not even Disney or Universal can create the same as Hex's atmosphere... Besides, this is meant to be some psychological experience style ride, re-rideability is pretty unlikely... Once you know the trick, it never has the same effect...

Might as well have kept the "Food Loop" name if that's what we're getting... I find it weird, does generic branding of food outlets improve guest satisfaction? Or is it cheaper/easier to call things "XX Burger Kitchen" etc?

Generally, people want roller-coasters from theme parks because that is the expectation... Fun fairs have the flat rides, so theme parks have the roller-coasters... It's a bit patronising to say that people who only want coasters have never been on a good dark ride, it's just an opinion at the end of the day, especially say for example that someone could HATE drop towers, hence hate one of the best dark rides in the world... Dark Rides are hard to market, hence why we've got an IP attached because there's zero confidence in not being able to market without one...

Priorities need to be considered really unfortunately... Why work on something that isn't on the list of opening next year? Of course, it is the park's fault things have been left to rot as they have... Shows what happens when only investing on things that are only meant to bring in guests...

Had to make the shareholders happy first though... Therein lies the problem, the park are keeping costs down so that the shareholders don't lose out on their return, but of course this causes issues for the visitors having fewer rides open (amongst the other things)...

Charlie's facade has NEVER looked fab... Bland 2d facades always look dreadful though, even with a magical 3d chimney (which doesn't even emit smoke!)...

Probably the same as the one in Italy... I assume this park is still building 200 coasters?

I highly doubt a restaurant would be sufficient substitute for any ride, even if it is only Ripsaw... Or VR goggles on a pre-existing ride... Less than 50 other rides & attractions available...

Guessing using actual bricks would be too much effort and cost to bother with?

The Polyp is new for 2016... No idea if it's suspended or whatever though... Not mentioning the bouncy pillows though, which are by far the best things on park...

Back again with more definitive decisions on whatever I've visited over this year. And it's been a VERY busy year, with trips far and wide (as far as the Netherlands at least), as once again Europe called to me on a much more regular basis than anywhere in the UK. Indeed, I only visited Towers once, and only because I would've been upset with that red dot on my Coaster-Count profile. Perhaps next year I'll look to complete the leftovers of the UK. How does one define 60 odd park visits into one list of things? With a bit of difficulty, but here we go: Best Park – Efteling Yep, not really a difficult one, the quality shines through Efteling completely. Effects fixed over the course of a few days trip, things added for no real reason, and just generally a nice place to be. No matter the season, since there's seemingly ALWAYS something going on. Best New for 2015 Ride – Baron 1898 - Efteling I was going to give this to Cu Chulainn, honest. But, yeah. Baron does everything I want from a ride. Theatrical, theming, classy music, fun ride, projection mapping. Ticking all the boxes for a good ride, but what makes it great is the details involved, there are plenty that are easily missed. They've also changed the outdoor batch and made it slightly better, still a weird system though, but it seems to work a lot better now. Baron sums up Efteling very well in everything with it, and I wish there were more like it. Best “New for Benin” Ride – Troy (TROY!) - Toverland In hindsight I'm not sure how many stand out rides there were for me this year. Too much mediocrity clearly. However Troy (and Toverland in general) was a rather bright spot this year. Troy is excellent quality and showed why GCI coasters are in general, great additions to a developing park. Best Water Ride – (H)el Rio - Bobbejaanland A surprisingly fab Rapids ride, the Halloween décor they had added to it improved it a fair amount, even if the ridiculous Ferris Wheel lift seems to be lifeless these days (would’ve been interesting to experience that), it made up with it with the whirlpool of death as also featured at Bagatelle’s rapids. But the Halloween music, theming and smoke made it so much better than I’m sure it would normally have been. Best Flat Ride – De Waarbeek’s classic selection Cheating I know for this one, but quite frankly the couple of classic flat rides available at De Waarbeek were great fun. From the self-propelled Whip to the unrestrained Caterpillar with added cover, a really nice surprise to discover. Best Dark Ride – U-571 This is how you do a simulator attraction, a real standout from Movieland and sums up the place nicely. Effort and insanity go hand in hand from the naval base theming, the great staff members, to the fact that you have to run down metal steps as water bombs go off. The simulator feels real too, and the lack of restraints adds to the fear. I was fortunate/unfortunate to not experience the WET version too, which apparently ups the ante further. Which sounds insane. Best Show - Romanes vs Gaules, The Match New for this year, and Asterix really pulled this out of the bag. This is an amazing show, with a great setup, spoof adverts on the screens, great references to pop culture. Just the effort put into it makes it one of the best shows in a theme park today. Also gains points for having a real dog involved. Worst Park – Duinrell A bad atmosphere and even worse rides, there was just something about this park that didn’t end up sitting right with my positive side. Pretty much started downhill with the stupidly long queue to enter the place, followed by a massive walk around a caravan site. At least most of the other parks I visited this year had some positive elements. Worst Seaside Park – Hemsby Fun Park Decided it would be unfair to put Seaside parks in with normal ones this year, Hemsby was a clear winner for this though. The place is an absolute dump. Worst Coaster – Sequoia Adventure I had the misfortune of riding this again this year. It cemented its place as the worst coaster I’ve ever been on. No wonder they can’t sell it. Worst Water Ride – DiVertical It was closed and spiteful. Tbh, there were no real water rides I went on worthy of this award, so the chance to jump on some Intamin rubbish cant be knocked. Biggest Surprise – U-571, Movieland Studios Best dark ride, and biggest surprise in general. The unexpectedness of the attraction is what makes it so unique. Biggest Disappointment – The Forbidden Caves I loved Lost Temple in Germany. I really did. So I thought Bobbiejobbie's effort would be as good, but it was lacking a fair bit if I'm honest. The pre shows just felt faffy, as did the long walk to the ride. The story also didn't really work to the ride type. Shame. The “I forgot actually how good this ride was” Award – Oz’Iris – Parc Asterix A new award, purely for Oz'Iris if I'm honest. Its so good! Better than Katun in my book now, and shows that just because B&M don't go ridiculously intense anymore doesn't stop them creating real gems. The “WTF was that?” Award – Revolution, Bobbejaanland Just... I don't even know tbh... From the 30 car train in the curved station, the weird seating arrangement, the underground train sounds, the massive round lift hill room with the screen to the tiny descending drops in the outside. Revolution was certainly an enigma. Why is this under-rated? Ride - Goliath - Walibi World This is better than Expedition GeForce. There I said it. Where GeForce I found lacklustre last year, Goliath this year was seemingly a breath of fresh air for me. Perhaps the layout, perhaps the lax ride ops meaning no stapling, but it's just something about Goliath that made it a better overall ride than it's highly rated German counterpart. Strangest Park – Movieland Studios I've already mentioned U-571, but the rest of the park deserves credit too. Magma 2.0 is a fantastic experience, whereas things like Terminator (interactive shooting gallery) and Kitt Superjet (waterjet attraction) seemingly add to the insanity. The Rambo stunt show was also fab, and involved ACTUAL volunteers. It really is just a random and entertaining place. Best Park related Experience – The Plopsaland Backstage Tour A whole morning finding out about Plopsa and a full on tour of the backstage. It was informative though really, and worth it was the cred anxiety that took place. I wish Plopsa would open something in the UK. Worst Park related Experience – Gardaland’s Express Pass Problem Oh Merlin, even when barely going in the UK you still curse me. Providing AP holders with unlimited Fastrack for €80 for the year was never going to end well, and it pretty much ruined the day at Garda as a result. If they ever bring it over to the UK, their fan won't be able to move. Best Ride Experience – Sky Drop Tower – Tivoli Friheden Kinda pushing the definition of ride, but I'm glad I did this. Summed up you go up a tower, winched up and then free fall into a net. The tower is tall. The experience of literally free falling attached to nothing is something no other ride can fulfill. Well worth the money (£5). Milestones – 450th (Hembsy Caterpillar), 500th (Formule X)

Vekoma Stingray? Yes please... Cheap package deal if you go with one company too... Whether this gets built is another thing all together...

Some things ALWAYS look better after some natural weathering... Gothic themed rides are one of those...

Repainting an unused archway and replacing s rotten wood queue does not fix any of the real issues at Chessie atm though... The park needs something new and major desperately ride wise, it's slowly losing the ability to trade off the nostalgia factor with the decline currently being experienced...