Benin

It's clear that the new giant wooden blocks will be finished to coincide with the opening of Angry Birds Land (though I'm so bemused by the idea that these areas now have to open mid-season, I blame Smiler), but that's the level of theming we'll be getting in Balamory, then it'll be lovely, bland and corporate... The Merlin ideal in a nutshell...

The park receives a big "Hmmmmm" from me today... Operational standards were naturally, not great, but a lot of that being clearly down to new staff... However, 1 train op on Inferno (which opened late), Colossus and 1 arm Rush is a bit meh and unhelpful... Confusion reigned on Swarm first thing with the Fastrack queue open instead of the main queue, and especially so on Rumba with people using both the normal and Fastrack queues, leading to a clusterbuggery at the merge point... Felt like Calypso BBQ took forever to get food, maybe the new Wetherspoons method of ordering compared to the old days... Samurai and Slammer both having work done to it... Didn't look at Zodiac because that required more effort than it was worth... X now looks like Rock n Roller Coaster in Paris... S'ok, a rather brightly polished turd it's become now... If they could find a way to get the lighting sequenced to 1) specific cars, and 2) to go off as the cars go around rather than at random, then it would become solid enough for what it is... Lots of families today... Meant most big rides had no queues (bar the 1 train Inferno and Colossus)... I didn't know Angry Birds was set in Balamory... Looks pretty weird tbh... Det's new sign-posts are the quality to expect I reckon, so it will look pretty damn bland and lacking in soul (much like the new style clean branding, which still needs to take over the whole place, though what will soon be Peckish looks exactly like the place I had lunch at Southend earlier this year)... Overall, not exactly enthralled or disappointed... Just non-plussed about it all...

Only sign of life was them testing it shortly after I'd originally posted today...

Was advertised as 5 on Eventbrite, probs covering any potential OUTRAGE...

I wouldn't trust Merlin to organise a piss-up in a brewery...

Not open today either... Possibly optimistic it opening Thursday...

It's probably why I'm so confused by people's love of the X refurb last year, are expectations that low these days?

Would people really care that much if Thorpe literally copied Wodan? Great wooden coaster with decent theming? I probably would turn the other way and ignore a cloned ride if it meant we got a GCI...

They can never make their mind up on the baggage place can they?

That's not the finished scorpion... Right? Shame...

It SHOULD be done by Thursday, what with it being the park's official opening...

Generic royalty free dance music ftw! <3

Good parks though use memorable music to create memories... I'm still singing bits and pieces from Efteling and other parks I've visited over the years... Thorpe's old entrance music was a fantastic piece of work, and it was always disappointing it went in the first place... Hopefully the rebrand reaches to this element as well...

A 1.4m restriction doesn't automatically make the difference between a thrill and family coaster... As for the pack, it's really pointless isn't it? I won't be using the lanyard (would rather keep my pass in my wallet thanks), and the vouchers aren't really that special bar the £10 birthday ones... The Fastrack is weird since MAP holders go so regularly do people buy them on a constant basis?

Right under a major flight path too... Lots of reasons really...

The Dungeons are now more Horrible Histories style, hence more suited to the family market...

Theme park flat ride in dire ride cycle shocker!

That's certainly a Mark9 approved shed!

Most Disney films of that era have some form of un-PC thing, like the Crows from Dumbo, King Louie from Jungle Book and the Indians from Peter Pan... It's what was acceptable at the time, and whilst times have changed, it's a shame Disney buried Song of the South the way they have, because it would be an interesting film to watch and comment upon...

To me the biggest questionable lack of focus lies with Angry Birds land... Given that it's in the middle of the park and the big new thing, it's prominence is non-existant... Thorpe want to be more family friendly, yet don't push Angry Birds... It's a weird decision...

Chessie had the whole branding thing on the fences recently, and Towers obviously did them up for Smiler (I think Thirteen as well)... Thorpe catching up to them really...

I wouldn't really say that, I don't really remember there being many flats at the park... DarKastle and the water rides seem to get a reasonably fair representation if I recall... Then again, the flats there aren't particularly anything special, whilst Thorpe have always had the likes of Rush and Slammer (when working) at the forefront...

I had to look this up, imagine my surprise when greeted by the Intamin Gyro Tower and 2 S&S towers in completely separate locations... Those crazy Swedes...

So, it wins the award for "Strangest addition to a park as it already has similar rides" for 2016 already... As the artwork shows, the launched coaster will have drop towers on it... Clearly Hurakan Condor wasn't doing anything for them either... How weird...

With all this new brand marketing I feel like I should buy an Annual Pass... But can't quite gather why...