Benin

Yep, such a waste to have a wonderfully themed station building, silly Europa...

I'm 100% sure if you visited any other park in the world which had a ride closed at the start of the day and was testing there would be a queue developing for it... Definitely not just a British trend to queue outside closed rides in the hope it'll open soon...

*cough*stationexterior*cough* Some form of object/building in the Staffs Knot pit wouldn't have gone amiss, but Smiler's layout doesn't really lend itself to having lots of theming elements dotted around... The station building is the issue, rather than the ride, theming wise...

I think that's what needs to be considered, currently, the scheme is operating with BOTH the normal standby queue AND Fastrack in operation... As a result, those who are using it get to have Fastrack for free as has been mentioned, being able to skip 45 minute queues for free will of course create some bias towards the scheme's point and overall existance... As a result, the next trial needs to follow the conditions that are planned to be set out and not involve the standby queue existing at all... Only then can we truly judge the success of this scheme...

Wouldn't say it's lazy, as the product certainly wasn't selling (as evidenced by the two that were built worldwide) and both of them were extremely unreliable... S&S's decision to essentially cancel any further work with the Sky Swat project makes a lot of sense from the business perspective...

S&S still exist and trade, they just completely gave up on producing parts for the Sky Swat because it was a burden on their resources...

They do need a coaster AND a water ride... Mack Supersplash it is then! Or a water-coaster wouldn't be a bad option either... Problem is with Merlin's new budgeting methods Chessie will forever be at the bottom of the pile...

"Take a flight into Paradise" didn't NEED the crossing out or hell written on it though, that's my point... They basically went Rainer Wolfcastle on it... Besides the fact that only the back two rows can actually see that part properly when on the ride... "Don't Lose Your Head" side is fine, though again I can't help but feel if they had just done it as adverts rather than add some random graffiti on top then the overall final product would've been a lot better... It's that sort of detailing that Merlin get badly wrong...

Falls, Monkey Swinger, Rameses and Bubbleworks are the only rides that can be seriously considered as rides involving water (Scorpion Express and Zufari do not count, as they both involve more than just water)... Out of the rides added in the last 10 years, well, erm, NONE involve getting you wet in some way, so I'm not sure what you're actually on about Bill... Out of all the rides I've mentioned, only one can be considered a true water ride, so I think it can be said that Chessie could do with another water ride (or indeed, anything)... It might not be a top priority right now, but it's something that needs to be considered...

Amity Cove has lost a lot of details over the years though... Certainly though there is a lack of details in many of the UK investments... Indeed, you compare Swarm's church with the waterlogged details of Amity's buildings and there is a massive difference in what's been done... Scorched pavements are a start but the details need to be in the aspects of the ride that people will be looking at as well... The billboard is not a detail, but a theming element... Big difference... And the detail in it is done so badly, with the stupid graffiti that ruins the "Flight in Paradise" joke... The little things are the most important, but there's not enough of them at Merlin parks (to take the Phantasialand example, their water pump themed drop towers include a pipe of water turning on and off as the ride rises and falls, THAT'S attention to detail)...

Can't build rides on that land though, only reason Zufari was able to be put there was because it was part of the animal stuff...

Tbh, a Rapids is unlikely due to the high amount of land required for a decent one... I'd like to see a Supersplash tbh, decent throughput if run well and can provide a good thematic experience if done properly (I.e. an actually themed elevator lift)... And can be quite compact too...

I do remember once complaining at Towers (few years back when they were all, MAP holders must use a gate, but no sign stating which gate), and on my next visit they had a sign up... Best methods to complain are either in person on the day, or by phone... Emails just be forgotten about way too easily... On the phone they have to sort you out (since you cant just get given Fastrack)...

That would be too logical a solution for a Merlin park though...

Popeye and River Quest called me to tell you that sweeping statements are sweeping... It's all in the design of the Rapids, as well as luck of the rider... For every dry rapids ride I've had there's usually been a drenched one too... Though the UK weather isn't suited for really wet versions of them, or any water ride type...

Year 1 would only see a boost if the feedback is positive... The positive feedback atm seems to come from that not many guests are currently it (though in one example on here, after people started to use it things went problematic), and what happened in the previous trials when everyone had to use it again? There was a reason why these trials started to have a standby queue again...

If Thorpe decide to make this system the only way to queue for their coasters next year then I won't be visiting... Though tbh I'm already considering if I can be bothered to renew my MAP in the first place...

Removable Angry Birds theming is quite amusing to consider... Lot of extra work for staff then to remove the stuff, lets hope Thorpe actually have some Halloween theming up for once to replace it with...

Chiapas has a fantastic array of themed music... Truly amazing... Also, Europa's general theme music is really good too... Doesn't seem to get much love that soundtrack...

Most of the Spanish just jump the queue for free, why would they bother paying to do so?

Similarly in Germany, very few people use the Fastrack option if available (Heide, Lego with Qbot, Movie Park with unlimited for €25 and Phannylands strange 4 tickets for €15)... Probably a culture thing more than anything, as well as the lack of one shots and other bits... The other option is push throughputs to the highest standard of course, which would negate any queues... But even places like Europa can't remove queues completely, so why Thorpe thought they could in the first place was beyond me...

After riding Karacho I can see why Smiler has OTSRs rather than lapbars... Not comfy and result in a lot of upper body movement, which wouldn't be a positive for dear Smiler...

Cedar Fair parks are the same... Very minimal differences between them it must be said... As for this, not overly excited for it... It'll probably be good though...

The way they're operating sounds more like a park that has suffered a serious accident on the ride, rather than one that's turned into s bodge job of parts and repairs...

The idea that free Fastrack can just will away any guest issues is one of the reasons that the Merlin parks are so poorly run...