Benin

Couple of pics off Facebook (Official CBeebies Land page)... A mixed bag really I'd say, some parts look really nice, then Charlie and Lola for example looks poor (2d facades, even if it suits the show's style, don't work well in theme park settings)... The old windmill looks a bit... Strange (read - crap) now as well... But yay for it having bubbles <3

Question really, is Angry Birds as timeless as the likes of Peanuts, Looney Tunes and Thomas the Tank Engine? Because those 3 examples are pretty much several generation worth of childhoods (Peanuts is ridiculously popular in America), whilst they all appear in theme parks, the real question is why are they? Thomas Lands are only quite recent developments in this industry, and the other two IPs are big stuff in America, so their lifespan and knowledge isn't solely linked into them having presence in parks (Cedar Fair parks all have Snoopy areas, and even so, Mall of America removed all the Snoopy theming for Nickelodeon stuff)... Thomas films are being churned out on a regular basis (quite scarily) too...

*brings back to life* When celebrating 25 years of operation, THIS is how to do it...

Oh god that 'use your AP to access Fastrack in the last hour' idea... Jesus... That truly was dreadful...

It will be open for ERT (for half term next week), so that'll blatently be the best time to visit it (otherwise it will be full of horrible adults and their 'precious' children)...

From Towers Street... The blobs look a bit crap tbh, but on-board audio is a plus...

It's not THAT airtime filled... Indeed, it mostly focuses on the tight transistions and odd inversion... Same goes for iSpeed after the initial launch/top hat... I also would hesitate to call it a multiple launching ride, as the first 'launch' goes at a constant slow speed and is essentially a lift hill... Also, those restraints are just vile </3 Wouldn't say no, but it woldn't be my first choice... Mack would probably do an infinitely better version...

Solution for Colossus, get the new lap-bar trains... And repaint it, obviously... That really shouldn't have to be mentioned... It annoys me greatly how little care the rides in the UK seem to get once they've been opened...

I've already blamed Mark9 for the incident as he was on park at the time... *shakes fist*

Merlin's tag-line really... Shame cos the brick-work looks fantastic underneath... Maybe it's too ensure that the previous target market don't feel left out by the change of audience?

Surprising it's opening that late, it could easily open next month from now (based off how quickly Walygator got their one sorted after an early delivery)...

Thing is with CBeebies is that we haven't really been able to see the area as a whole (beyond Squirrel Nutty), it is actually harder to pass initial judgement on it prior to visiting it proper... Angry Birds being in the slap bang middle of the park and easily visible makes a difference there... Indeed, during construction it can be possible to judge something before it's finished... See the pics of Angry Birds doesn't exactly make me feel like it's going to be the quality level that we should expect from the world's second biggest theme park operator... Notice that it's what we should expect... £3 million won't go far in the terms of a whole area (Efteling spent €2 million alone on a restaurant refurb), so perhaps it's down to how Merlin operate their parks then? Perhaps we should be seeing a lot more money being put into these so called 'low' investments, because otherwise they just look cheap and something that we would no doubt be praising the likes of Lightwater (who can barely put £3 million together in the first place) for building... Then you have to ask, was Angry Birds as an IP to this addition really required? What with the rebrand being rather solid in pushing back into the family market after alienating them for all these years, is this just a quick piece of short-termism geared more towards instant profit rather than a long term plan? Is that really the better option, given that Thorpe still appears to have a big turnaround to have in the audience expectations? I questioned the decision to put in the boat when it negates a 5 minute walk... It's an idea, but could that money be better spent on something that would benefit a lot more people? I would say the critical nature of the opinions comes from the IP... Indeed, Merlin's history with IPs in Madagascar and Ice Age should be a marker in the "WHY?" department on their part... Of course IPs when done well can look fantastic (Thomas Land, Peppa Pig, Potter), but when done poorly or on the cheap to squeeze into an existing area, they can look truly awful (Madagascar and Ice Age in particular, also Charlie from the Tussauds era)... Perhaps then Merlin should look at their budgeting ideals? Or perhaps the parks should spend the budgets they are given better? There is no reason why the biggest parks in the UK can fulfil the criteria and look on their rides worse than smaller parks in the world... Personally, I just think the UK parks should be aiming a lot higher than decals, graffiti and static fibreglass models (or concrete, shipping containers and 2d facades)...

I'm sure it said Sunday this morning... Oh well... And yeah, I'll keep moaning if Merlin keep providing ammo for me to moan about... Like this area, or Chessie, or having shut ice cream outlets at Towers... How else are the parks meant to know when they're being rubbish of people defend them blindly over everything? Not my fault the Merlin parks are cack in comparison to other parks in the world... And I haven't moaned about the hotel plans either... How strange that is?

There must be early rider, otherwise how is there an hour long queue on Vampire just before 10?

Looks like a Conference Centre... Shame they didn't theme the inside...

Possibly the ugliest coaster in the world this is... Jesus...

So it's not opening with the new area then? #genius

The speed will be variable, or it should be at any rate...

Leviathan didn't make sense though, since they already had a B&M Hyper, why build a bigger version of something you already have?

Or maybe the plans have fallen through, who knows really... The park probably has more important things to sort out than give baying enthusiasts information on whatever they're planning...

Not even gonna have vinyls on the cars? I mean, really?

Same stuff it was doing at MAP weekend... Can't predict if it will open again...

I love the boat to the park, just because it's so utterly pointless because the hotel is only 5 minute walk from the main entrance anyway... Assuming it docks at like, Saw Alive or sommat daft like that, it would probably take just as long to walk it as it would to boat it there... And for most of the day would remain unused by the majority of guests... Not exactly cost considerate is it? The hotel itself once again looks nice though, hopefully they actually build it this time around...

Did anyone like Captain EO? It was really, REALLY awful I thought... The only positive thing about it was that involved being inside and not being snowed on...

Why is it that themed area entrances can't continue the font usage? It looks as silly as having all capitals for two words and then correctly doing the third... Also, 2D signage </3