Benin

I'm looking forward to riding Ghost today, hopefully it lives up to expectations... Shame that most Legolands are pretty much the same bar a few differences... Polar Xplorer is the opposite of Thirteen, Ice Pilots are fab but other Lego parks have them, VRS just has the huge drop (same as Cali iirc), Dragon is ok, Splash Battle is meh and at loads of other parks and the Boat ride is decent... Does have the biggest shop in the world though apparently...

Josh, assuming the build the shell of the building first, then they have all the time to keep things secret from prying eyes/cameras...

How could I forget the gorilla thing in Krypt, so rubbish... Shame Mystery isnt coming back... If the park really thinks it's too much effort to set up that just shows we are heading in a poor direction... You don't get anything without putting the effort in...

So as a result of the awful attendance figures so far this summer, all midweek dates currently have a 5pm closing time... One would assume that they will extend things should they require it, but Towers is seriously struggling according to those attending and those watching ridetimes.co.uk... We're in really grim times atm...

So, Air is getting a wee spruce up, combined with the Food Loop restaurant next year... http://publicaccess.staffsmoorlands.gov.uk/portal/servlets/ApplicationSearchServlet?PKID=84554 Some notes: Lots of work on the station, including walls and curtains to keep light out Potential tunnel stuff to be added Two theming elements, one on lift hill and the other free-standing Queueline photo kiosk (URGHHHHHH WHY?) Also, with the shop currently have a FIRE! SALE! and things at 50% off, could we see a retheme? Possibly not, but at least there's a spruce-up going on... Now we just need Nemmie to get some love (and RMT, and Flume retheme, and Dark Forest, and CCL, etc)

August last year the queues for Blue Fire and Wodan were around 90 minutes... Is it even a surprise? Mean like, it's not exactly a complaint (especially when that's 90 minutes of constant movement, rather than 90 minutes of stop/start/stop/let 1000s of Fastrack through)... The biggest surprise for Abenteur Atlantis' queue coming out the door! 10 MINUTES I QUEUED FOR IT LAST YEAR! DISGRACEFUL! MACK SHOULD BE ASHAMED!

A stark reminder for anyone who thinks not arriving at a park for opening is an acceptable way to do things... Who knows what you could've done with that extra 2 hours... As was mentioned though, Europa is not a 1 day park by any stretch of the imagination, that's where the main problem lies for your trip...

I remember trying to book Parc Asterix tickets many years ago, and there was a massive price difference between the online prices based upon what language you choosed... The English site was at least €5 more expensive than the French site... It was very dodgy, but then, it's the French, so what else do we expect?

I too enjoyed Inside Out, though I wouldn't say it's the best Pixar have ever done... Especially when there was a plot hole so massive it could've just cancelled the entire problem being dealt with: There were also a few ideas/concepts in the film that for me weren't explored enough, the scene involving the parent's emotions as seen in the trailer was such a neat idea, but was only ever done for one real scene in the film (and then again towards the end as a hilarious quick shot)... There were a few other concepts as well that perhaps could've done with more exploration as well to develop Riley as a character/individual... The best part in the film were the scenes along with the credits... Like, they need to do the next short of just that stuff and I'd let them take all of my money...

They are on the map already in the wider circle since they added Peppa Pig Land... Hence why they are able to push forward and built this addition...

That Kong building

It has been testing... Stolen from Coasterforce

Isn't one of the whole issue regarding RnR is that the people using it now are obviously going to like it because not everyone is using it? If they bother to trial it again (like they did first time) without the normal standby queue as they plan, THEN the responses will probably be a lot more aligned to what people might think of the actual scheme... Currently, it's not worth seeing the positive responses, because only a small percentage are actually using it... In regards to the interest in the UK industry, you create the interest... That's what Tussauds did with the early 90s additions at both Chessie and Towers, I would say they are both worldwide names as a result of that investment even today... It's something that our parks need to be careful of actually losing the custom to the foreign parks, especially with Europa and Efteling both pushing out English based adverts, something they've never done before... Then again, the London parks seemingly didn't think that using the Olympics to their advantage was worth their time, then wonder why they had a poor season...

They've not got ride of the Music Battle Show have they? OMG disaster if so... Walibi lacks a really class ride... Psyke Underground and Loop-Garou are alright if good rides, but nothing else is actually good... They have a massive issue with locals as well, which is perhaps why the park is unable to get anything of a decent nature in recent years... Tis a real shame as I did like the vibe from when I visited, even if it was busy...

Disappointing, as I was meant to be there today... On the plus side, it's spiting ACE... Which is certainly a positive...

8 times is still a fair amount mind, especially when each visit tends to have a mass of complaints follow... Whilst people keep visiting as it is things will never improve... We don't actually have to put up with poor practices of budget cuts, late opening, poor staffing, poor investments if people decided to not visit for a year... And that's not visiting at all or not buying a MAP, not cutting down to only 1 visit a month... It's always daft when people who complain a lot still end up visiting again and again...

I thought I'd miss visiting Merlin parks this year after I didn't bother to renew after the 'sale' fiasco... Rather glad I didn't in the end... It's been nothing but problem after problem this year... Cutting the hours shows the poor performance of the park, but rather than there try and be a positive response (say, reducing prices, increasing the value for money of the parks, improving the maintenance, etc), we just get a decision made by the accountants... But it's ok, because Shrek opened in London this year... You can always tell the difference between parks run by accountants and people who are truly into it...

Woodie is going behind the Castle area (Draaaaaak and Fog Lume area)... The bit in the middle of the park is the Teacups retheme, which includes adding a huge castle with sets and a Food Loop... As for the theme, the park is owned by Studio 100, a Dutch TV Company, and the rides/areas are themed to their characters... Plop is the Gnome, Wicki the Viking, Maya the Bee, etc. Some of the TV shows can currently be found on the UK Netflix (it's typical child TV)... The English version of House of Anubis though is so fab <3

Found an overview pic as well: The highest of hopes for this monster...

Terrain hugging!

Towers Street Restaurant offers breakfast too, and Chessie used to when they still had Greedy Goblin... Both worked though because people would be in those points of the park before opening, Thorpe does not have that space to play with... People arrive later, but leave early... It's a very strange trend from the UK market... The amount of late openings you used to see where there's pretty much no-one in the park and everything is walk-on... I think Chessie still does this at 6pm during Halloween time...

At least Towers haven't had their hours cut down...

Walibi's 'coaster' looks bloody awful... Glad they went for GCI, they wouldn't tell us at all who the manufacturer was when we visited earlier this year... That's potentially TWO fantastic wooden coasters within a few hours of travel (Ireland)...

If people are going on any ride expecting it to be a top 10 they'll be disappointed 99% of the time... That said, Rusty Banana at Tivoli broke into my top 10 because it was so much fun... Perhaps the Scenic will be enough for many people in a similar regard... I'm going Sunday, hopefully it'll be ready for then, though I think the rest of the place seems to have a decent vibe... Can't be any worse than what it was like alllllll the way back in 2003...

Toverland is apparently AWFUL to reach via public transport... Might be best to find the nearest train station and try and get a taxi... Not a lot around Efteling post park times... Might be worth eating at the hotel... I recommend the Pancake House (Polle's Kuchen), because it's fab... Obviously as with any park, big rides first (Baron, etc), luckily they're all next to each other meaning you don't have to faff between them... Book online for tickets?