Benin

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

Whilst I'm not to sure on Lightning Run (bit of a weird layout really), Morgan DID make (or, rebuild) Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood, and it's an absolute blast of a ride with a whole lot of airtime to boot... Can't see one coming over to Europe though, but not a company to directly write off...

Goes well with the new queue time boards they're getting in... CBeebies Land is also opening for ERT over half term week, which will probably be the only time in the season where it's not completely and utterly HELLISH...

Regular Ordinary Swedish Mealtime returned recently, and this week's episode is an absolute classic... HACKA LOKEN!

COLOSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

You could say that about any ride to be fair... Wild Eagle has a vertical loop... But without knowing what forces the ride would endure in say, a Batwing element or a Pretzel loop (both of which are quite high g inversions) it's difficult to say if a Wingrider would benefit from such elements... It's actually a good thing if the ride is limited, as it should (theoretically) make parks have a good think about a layout to ensure that it flows well without any dead spots and use the system as well as they possibly can... Hence why I prefer Raptor over Swarm...

The latter, hence why closed season in some countries never exists...

Wonder on that front how much is being paid towards BBC and the various rights and stuff for those characters (considering they're all separate entities rather than one big one)... Shame financial breakdowns of park investments are available to the wider public tbh...

Thing is, improving the overall investment quality won't improve, because this addition will get people flocking to the park... Whether or not they leave with a positive view of the actual place, remains to be seen, but does Thorpe have the actual infratructure to deal with families whilst also trying to shake off the teen market image? Arguable... The issue is probably a mixture of both, Merlin not providing enough cash to make a good attempt at a fully developed class area, and the parks themselves not using the budgets in the best manner... (I can't remember how much CBeebies Land is costing Towers though atm, I don't think it's much more than £3 million though) Paramount Park will probably be the best thing to happen to the UK if it can produce a completely developed top-class park... Then perhaps we won't see concrete bland shed stations and shipping container shops that apparently in the eyes of Merlin constitute as theming...