Benin

https://www.facebook.com/liseberg.se/posts/828416733854561 Sigh, I want it to be July so badly...

Platform numbers have only been in use for 10 years, since at Chessie the numbers were only on the pods themselves, so naturally trying to find the right allocated seating row was a lot more nightmarish than it is now... They don't tend to do the whole "Rows 1 and 6, 2 and 5, 3 and 4" thing anymore do they? That probably doesn't help...

People are riding the Snow White Coaster...

€19 a head, so about £15 give or take the exchange rate... Pay for what you get really which is decent enough value, as there's plenty of other attractions and shows dotted around the park that we didn't go on (39 rides and attractions apparently)...

Probs the same reason why you see museum shops with fake rocks/gems and stuff (which I think are already sold in Sea-Lifes?)... Based on some of the merch Smiler got, nothing is too ridiculous for Merlin's retail department...

Wild Train is 1.3m and Formula 1 is 1.2m minimum, so they are the thrill end of the family market... Formula 1 especially has a wicked first drop and the overbanked turns were just weird, tonnes of airtime too... Unfortunately with one train operation on Wild Train and only being able to walk along one side of Formula 1 an array of pics were hard to come by, especially given the limited time we ended up having in the park as a result of the dead car... It was slightly RCT (though not as bad as Walygator), but the rides felt reasonably bedded into the place with some themes linking into each other slightly... Unfortunately we didn't see the Pirate Ship blessed by Jesus until we were leaving... Which clearly was the best thing the park had...

The CEO natters about the ride (there are English subtitles and a lovely backing track)...

6th longest steel coaster though

RCDB lists it as 4,530.8 ft, which takes it to 6th in the European length table (Ultimate wins that round)...

Day 1 – Parc Saint Paul A rather early morning of 3am was the choice made to venture to a selection of rather un-known French parks, and after a McDonald’s service station breakfast and a quick jaunt on the Eurotunnel we were firing down the French motorway with not a care in the world. Unfortunately, disaster would strike us. We began to hear noises from the car, and decided to pull over on the hard shoulder to investigate. After some initial checks, we agreed to move the car forward slightly to see if there was truly something wrong, and it refused to start up. Many calls were made and eventually a mechanic (who of course, spoke no English) turned up, and made that classic intake of breath noise that all mechanics do that tend to signify that the car/vehicle is completely buggered. We were taken to a nearby garage, and made the decision that €2000 for a new gearbox was not worth the money at all, so we would leave the car forever in France, grab a hire car and continue with our adventure post-haste. The garage were very helpful to us especially given the language barrier, however Demi Lovato’s version of “Let It Go” was not particularly appreciated by myself. We got a taxi to a hire car place and after many a hasty phone call from the guy working there we were eventually given a Volkswagen UP! So after a delay of about two hours we continued on our adventure to Parc Saint Paul. Upon arrival, our expectations of the place were not high, especially as their new Vekoma Junior coaster was being spiteful and not open. Nevertheless we headed to our first coaster of the trip, a Wacky Worm. Joyous! This one however was very well themed, with lots of statues, a very giant apple and even astroturf. Of course, it was still a Wacky Worm. Next up in the actual coaster department was the Wild Train, my first Pax coaster (who aren’t exactly known for being good). And the slight launch out the station worried us greatly as to how awful this ride might be, so to say it exceeded all possible expectations would be rather accurate. It was certainly wild, with a fair amount of airtime and reasonable Gs about, with a hint of re-rideability, which is always a bonus in my book. We meandered further into the park, and decided the spinny mouse could be done later because it had an awful queue (which didn’t get any better unfortunately) and went onto the next Pax coaster, Formule 1. Unsurprisingly, it’s themed to Formula 1, with the different cars based off different manufacturers, and a scary statue of Schumacher at the entrance. It’s also a slight rip-off of the Gerstlauer Bobsleds, with a much steeper lift and a more insane experience, with over-banked turns being the main culprit of this. Again it was rather enjoyable ride, if slightly terrifying. We wandered a bit further into the park, discovering that it wasn’t all quite run-down as we expected it to look within. There was a fair amount of woodland, lakes and even some buildings taken straight out of Lightwater Valley. It’s very family set with more for the kids, but we saw tonnes of BBQ sets for people to come and cook their own food, and it did have a rather lovely atmosphere. Back to the rides, Mini Mouse Cartoon was next, which is a Zamperla Mini Mouse or something. It makes a Wacky Worm look interesting that’s all I know. +1 Next door to that was Telepherique, which was by far the most amazing thing ever created by a French person. It’s a platform led zip line, only in (such a) cred format. It involves a lot of spinning, swinging and swearing (and even crashing in some cases, like with me). Part of that old “Never in the UK” ideal, I thought it was brilliant, but the others not so much. We headed back to the Souris Verte Spinning Wild Mouse of boredom, having endured the queue of burdenous times. I’m so bored of these now it’s not true. Again, +1 We then decided to go and see the Tiger show, to which those who visited Bagatelle and seen their Lion show had “I have seen things” moments as a result. However only two of the tigers looked like they wanted to eat the fat French man who was flicking them with a whip. Fortunately there was no maiming of the fat French man (or unfortunately, dependant on opinion of such animal shows), so we were able to continue on our journey via a Giant Slide. As John and Peter did the horror house thingy, we meandered around the House of Mirrors, which wasn’t very entertaining. After they returned, we went into the 3D Walkthrough, which was actually quite epic and looked tonnes better than Hocus Pocus Hall even did. We then marvelled at the themed bins and doors as we had some ice cream. We had another go on the Formula 1 coaster, before me and John did the Drop Tower of Forever – Extreme Edition, which decided it would go from slow to fast to slow again during the trip up the tower, which was equally hilarious and burdenous. I don’t think my laughter was appreciated by the randomer next to us though who was unsure about the whole thing. When it did get to the top, the drop was instantaneous, so it was all a bit weird. Good though. We finished this with another go on the Wild Train before heading off for a long drive down to our hotel, but not before a quick character photo! Overall, the park exceeded our (admittedly lower than low) expectations of it. It’s very much like Lightwater (but tinier), and whilst it had a fair amount of rides dumped in places, they did make an attempt to make them look really nice. Hopefully the park can continue on a positive trajectory in the future, because we certainly enjoyed ourselves.

Rumours are for an internal elevator lift (which knowing Hansa, would involve show scenes)... It will be epic if this happens... Because Hansa and on-ride pre-shows are just

If only we had Ms Thompson in charge of Chessie, she'd sort it right out...

Hansa did it with Fluch, although that was primarily down to the harsh winter they had that season (and this also affected their last coaster), so perhaps they're seeing it as an attempt to minimalise the effect a potentially bad winter can bring to the project... But then Plopsa did this sort of thing with Wickieland, so it's all completely random it seems...

Yet another European attraction being built in stages... Least dont have to return next year then...

Thing is with the likes of Blackpool and Southend they are city parks, and benefit from extended times a lot more as people are more likely to visit for an hour or so during the day... With the 'proper' parks, it's a full day jobbie to most guests, so 8 hours is generally enough time for the most part... Not to say of course the parks would easily benefit from extended times in true peak season, but 12 hour days (say 9-9) for them isn't as attractive to guests really... It's long and tiring, whereas locals in Blackpool can pop in late for an hour or two, it's just no doable at the likes of Thorpe and Towers...

Only if you jump/climb the fence leading to Zufari... Of course, this could have been avoided with a decent full 3d building over the cheaply done final result...

If it's chucking it down as bad as it is at home, then more than likely... Fury disagrees with rain immensely...

Second best company in the world everyone... Originality truly is dead... It'll end up being a Krake clone or something...

Source for that? A weird decision, given that the Mack restraints aren't that restrictive...

Problem is with Chessie especially in recent years we've heard all the "things will improve" stuff time and time again from those working there... But since Wild Asia opening, we haven't seen any real improvement to the overall quality of the park after a decade of pure neglect... Yeah they hope to get something big in the future, but doesn't every park? And since Chessie has had a history of projects being cancelled or designed by idiots, it's literally at times a "we will believe it when there's an actual new ride opening"... As for Bubbleworks, I just wish the fire had burnt down a lot more of it... Would have made it easier for the park to put some effort into it... The idea as well that Merlin seem to believe that theming and escapism is not the way the UK industry should go is so opposite to the European ideals... Amazing how they can so badly run these parks, and we should really hope that Paramount park opens and shows the UK what a real theme park is like again... Not full of half arsed ideas with awful execution...

Which is really the point... Smaller parks with less budget to buy a 10 pack of Freddos can produce some fantastic theming (though Raptor Attack is the best example available at LVW, the Pirate area is tacky and cheap), and yet for one of the top parks in the country we should be happy with bland additions with a real lack for detail... Recent example, Nigloland completely hid their hydraulic system for their Chairswings in a chalet building and scenic train tracks... Why? Because it adds to the feel of the park's themed areas... We do not see this level of detail and ideas from Merlin as any enthusiasm gets knocked out by marketing heads who panic against any lack of instant return... It's not just the commercial and thematically uninspiring IP choices Merlin as a whole make, it's what they do with them... And even then, the likes of Swarm and Smiler cannot be considered world class because they lack the little details that takes a ride from great to fantastic... The 'details' so far in this area retheme constitute as 2d things stuck to walls at random... Subtlety is certainly not Merlin's strong element...

Swarm's station is a mess anyday of the week on two trains... Such an awful design...

Thing is, what's been done so far, you'd expect from a park like LWV, Paultons, etc... Not the biggest UK company who can afford higher quality products... I mean, 2d things stuck onto buildings? Not breaking down the walls of immersiveness are we? Fibreglass models to be dotted around at probably random locations inside the area? They look nice but it's so simplistic and basic... The entrances are entrances so provide very little to the overall area itself, but will probably follow the simplistic style/look of the games... Of course, there is no point comparing it to DIC, because they invested the absolute bare minimum, but of course the Merlin additions are better because they couldn't really get any worse could they? And Scorpion Express looks rubbish, very bare, bland and boring with the 2d facades and stuff... The usual Merlin addition really, a 3d element followed up by blandly designed buildings and parts that make no sense to the uninitiated... Once again I find myself wondering how parks who cannot afford such additions get by, probably because they think long-term and know that people won't come if their park is awful... What's the budget for this btw? Including the cost of the IP...

Does it work though? Because on a busy day you might just be queueing to get into the car park, THEN queue to get into the park... And that leaves a bad first impression, which is arguably the most important thing a park needs to get right... Damned if you do, damned if you don't really if you're gonna have a parking charge...

Thorpe, just get rid of it, it really cannot be worth the money you are constantly ploughing in to try and get it working for it to not be open... Cut you losses, and get something that is more reliable... It makes sense...