Benin

I don't think that's entirely true, (besides that Helix is certainly not that much of an experience, styled rather than themed), there are still a lot of parks adding flats across the world... Lots of Sky Flys and Air Races since they're the most popular at the current time are springing up throughout... Six Flags and Cedar Fair have mostly added flat rides recently (although SF have tried to promote them as coasters, idiots)... There's still demand for flat rides, and it is disappointing that Merlin seem to be avoiding them... Presumably because of a lack of USP, yet Chessie would do really well to get an Air Race or generally ANYTHING...

What if you work at Tossed?

We're looking at a period now especially where flat rides are being ignored as potential additions... And when they get removed, we end up with fewer rides overall... Look at Dark Forest as an example of how bad this can make an area... The ABC attractions in Merlin have been part of an over-arching experience, which is fair enough, but there's still places for flats in the industry...

Just like every other piece of construction... It's ok, soon we'll have a steel shell to look at, and then the facade of the building, and then we'll have nothing to see on the inside apart from covert delivery trucks with the ride cars and track... How exciting does that sound?

Sorry, are you saying Stephen Fry is a tosser? Ban request...

The funny thing is, the ride doesn't even NEED a plot... Safari, animals, job done...

To be fair, X doesn't pretend to be anything, never did even when it first opened and actually had effects and stuff... The design always drew the eye (until Storm Surge) towards it, worked quite well... If only someone had decided at some point to change it to a theme that made actual sense and used the space well...

I like how two of the sidebar stories on the Daily Mail page are about Gaga and Rita Ora showing off their bodies, gotta love the hypocrisy of newspapers...

6/7 trains on EuroSat and Mir, 3 on Wodan, dispatching trains with open lap bars... You have a lot to look forward to...

To be fair on Cali, they don't have the space to do a full blown thing from external places... As for all this horror facade talk, it only matters if such spots can be seen within the park in public areas, hence why the only one posted that is a real bad show is Potterland in the higher stakes regard... Shed talk though

Depends on how much Fastrack they're selling though... Looking at that list of staggered openings, does anyone on here actually ride them before 11? I think the last time I rode any of those things first thing was before Colossus was being built... Still about a third of the total attractions mind, which does provide a really bad first impression, especially as two of the attractions are prominent in Tidal Wave and Storm Surge...

The papers want to keep the original story in the limelight, as such, any story relating to the park can be linked to the incident... Papers literally do this ALL the time, there's zero point getting aggravated over it, especially in this "Easily Offended" world we live in today... Personally, the shirts are pretty tacky, but he best not visit the Dungeons then, they have a "Well Hung" shirt in relation to Extremis...

To be fair, if you were ever on a row with a large person, there was a huge amount of space, even for those just on the 1.4m mark... Just shows that to some people it is a very scary experience... Perhaps the cost of individual restraints was too much, as that would have probably been a better option... I believe other versions have also been adapted too (Ghost at Billund)...

Wouldn't be a surprise if a lot of the theming budget disappeared with the landslip issues that plagued the ride's early construction... Going through Oblivio's queue at Garda makes Smiler seem even more of a missed opportunity... Imagine having a long indoor queue full of effects and stuff rather than the crap excuse of one we have now? Or a themed building... They won't do anything further to it though...

Imagine the hysteria when the press realise the ride is made of wood as well...

Another testing video from the weekend: http://youtu.be/r3eQGezSwZE Loooooooopings.nl have also confirmed that there will be TWO pre-show rooms, the second of which will have the animatronic... Apparently there will be an English translation in the first room and some English lines too, which shows how the park has finally realised that we're ignorant British people and don't understand any of their story driven attractions...

The wheelchair comments in the second post are pretty ignorant, that's why I posted it up... Also this line: It does reek of absolute ignorance and a general dismissive tone towards those unfortunate to have it... At the end of the day it's still a mental illness, and to refer to Paige's post, people act differently with whatever might be wrong with them, those people who tend to have the lighter end of the spectrum don't usually use the RAP system, but there should always be a system in place for those people who might not be able to withstand the queue, and that's exactly the role of the RAP...

The current RAP works, that's the thing... Be it mental or physical, the only real issue the park has to consider is are the guests able to withstand an extended period of queuing in confined spaces... Indeed, the only parks that ignore this really are Disney, and even then that's only by forcing wheelchairs/mobility scooters into the normal queue, I believe that they also do a similar system for those who cannot queue one way or another... Altitude, some of your posts on Page 5 are this: I think you need to look at how you've just essentially said that comment about those with ADHD about being able to "just distract themselves", it's comments like that that make you ignorant, similarly for those in wheelchairs... That is what paints you as the bad guy here... And Ian, you're not helping the matter either, the sigh post was utterly pointless and just there to fan the flames, if you have nothing to say, then it's not worth posting...

That's actually exactly what he said though in the post you quoted... "One of the cattle pens", I.e. a singular batching row in the ride station is blocked off to allow disabled riders easy access to the attraction in question... Perhaps yes, EVERYONE needs to read posts properly before taking what suits their side of the argument...

Sub Terra? Reliable? Never has been really... The assumption that something wasn't wrong with the original restraints given that the park has changed them to a fair degree is probably wrong as well... Parks change things for quite often (in some opinions) daft reasons on the face of things, one example being that there are no scarves allowed on Merlin ABC drop towers, purely because of one incident... I reckon something has happened which has caused this change, what? Only the park know...

The Midway attractions at County Hall get paid the London minimum wage... Earning more than Team Leaders at Chessie when I was at London Eye was quite funny yet telling... As for grumpy times, given the stupidity of the majority of guests at theme parks, the long hours (on an average day you'll be doing 9-6) and the pretty active side of the role, there will be times when the staff are in a mood... The best way to deal with it as guests is to help them cheer up, not moan about them on the internet... A simple thankyou when leaving a ride goes a very long way...

Trains aren't ready is why... They could've delayed the opening, but damned if they do, damned if they don't...

Sounds like yet another situation where one incident (an ABC Tower, rather than related to Smiler) has caused a worldwide adaption of all their attractions... A thigh restraint sounds insanely burdenous when I prefer to avoid the leg slappers...