Benin

Opens 5th June...

Need to update the screens though to be 3D, plus the projectors and whatever other upgrades/updates they need to do to the existing stock... Plus I think someone mentioned in the realms of the internet that they were aiming for it to be automated, meaning they could remove the need for a cast member to dispatch it... Not sure if that's true or not mind...

Updating the simulators will probably take the bulk of the time, not sure how long the Stateside versions took though...

Nope, Wipeout hasn't been upgraded to a new Vekoma Strap-Vest train unfortunately... Those trains are fab though... Agreed on the GIB love

After this year's renewal price freeze from Merlin nothing is surprising...

These be the rumoured ride refurb lists as we build to the 25th anniversary... Hope no-one wants to ride BTM anytime soon...

The parks never provide details, which you cannot blame them for what with social media pretty much exploding any minor thing that occurs these days...

There's a massive difference between UK and US planning laws... Plus of course, where would a 4 lane road go outside Chessie? Or a motorway to Towers? It's not exactly black and white for any of the parks in the UK to be able to just say, create a bypass in the local area when another huge company pretty much owns half the local land and doesn't want to give it's land just because... Bear in mind as well that Chessie's expansion potential is limited by the Green Belt land behind it, not just because of the council/locals... Half the time it'll come down to the park/council not wanting to fit the bill for a road redevelopment but the park/council not willing to make a deal about it either...

A 'fantastic' Vekoma Boomerang? Wipeout is nowhere near being designated as one of the 'good' Vekoma Boomerangs...

17'000 people at Chessie in a day? This explains a lot, they must have raised the max capacity a wee bit... I remember when the days of 15k guests were a rarity happening once or twice a year if you were lucky... Helped by the rides tending to push throughputs a lot better as well (as much as they could of course, but I never worked on Buccaneer and had a 45 minute queue)... Of course, some of the smaller rides aren't helped by the addition of Fastrack, which adds a fair bit of time to the queueline... Maybe not doubled but still adds a chunk on, doesn't excuse 80 minutes for Dodgems though...

What's the max capacity of Chessie these days? What's it pulling? It certainly never used to be this busy a couple of years ago for certain, I would probably agree that the additional hotels have created further demand, but the park itself hasn't been adapted to suit the large amount of people...

You including the rides down for refurbishment in that? Since Disney dont have a closed season in order to do such things...

Loving the themed seats I must say, even if the massive white walls are a bit off... Given this is a last minute addition, it looks alright...

Maybe one day we'll have a good park show in the UK... Maybe...

The hangtime stall section screams awful to me... Probs be better duelling, but these things just dont do it for me...

Only the rest of Merlin's portfolio left to paint now! (Even Smiler needs it)

Spoilered for largness...

Shambhala > EGF

Looks very good, Six Flags turning a corner perhaps? Be interesting to compare this with Knott's Iron Reef thing... I hope that Thorpe's attempt is reaching the level of this at minimum...

It's probably more noticeable as it's the first DM to go straight into the holding brake after the lift hill... Oblivion does ever so slightly move after the first pause/stop, same for all the other DMs...

Efteling stated on Facebook that this will be opening on the 1st July...

Det is a more intense drop tower than many other taller variants, purely because of the lack of only letting gravity do all the work... Long live Det!