Benin

Space Mountain is rough, but it's no Baco... At least Space Mountain can potentially be fixed by getting the new Vekoma trains, is relatively well-themed (it WAS so much better before the Mission 2 crap), and isn't constant pain-inducing... Baco is THE worst ride I've been on, Bakken's Tornado a close second... In truth, they are equally as bad as each other, but one has to win (or lose depending on how you would receive the worst ride award)... I rode both twice (not a few times, myself and Mark refused to even with no queues), Baco to get an inside seat after the initial outside seat ride (and use our front row Fastrack thing, upon which it promptly broke down), but for both to see if they were as bad as the initial ride made out... Multiple rides are sometimes needed to double check opinions, and I do so when I can (didn't for Sequioa Adventure and Mean Streak because queues would have been involved, and I have better things to do than queue for god-awful rides)... My next visit to PA will involve me staying as close to the B&Ms as possible, and only going near Baco to walk past it... Tornado would be a good ride if it didn't launch I reckon, but Intamin thought otherwise... Both rides are evident of Intamin's poor design process in recent years (see also, retracking a year old ride), which is why we'll never see another version of either built again (Skyrush being an evolution of Baco because it's THAT bad)... And clearly the majority agree it's rubbish, otherwise why else is it the only one in the world?

Me and Mark9 for starters... Bless Intamin, they do try, but more often than not they maim you...

Mine must have been lost in the puddle outside my house...

Any reason why? On-board would certainly be louder for riders, and not have volume lost in the echoey cavern of the pyramid... It's a half and half thing... Though a bassy train specifically designed music piece would improve X some more...

But any park review of something say in contintental Europe would make Thorpe look rubbish by comparison and hence bad for the 'official fansite' moniker... It's a fair worry from Turtle there...

As mentioned, you're offended over someone calling Blackpool tacky? That's the whole point and charm of the place... Might as well 'offend' everyone whilst I'm at it, Reading is a rough hole, Leek is dull, and Newcastle is full of drunkards...

It kinda then questions the point of opening in Feb if your park won't be up to an acceptable standard, something Thorpe realised...

I think it is in the promotional image... But surely with the ride meant to be opening next month it should already be installed? I mean, the fire occurring is not an excuse because the ride has been closed for over a year with the only thing happening was removing the rocks and a repaint... There is no excuse to be leaving things this late... They have a month left, it should be all in place (especially to lure people back in after a half term visit) and the final details should be the thing being focused on... Another Merlin rush job... The planners need to sort themselves out...

Fair enough only 4 speakers (my knowledge of the inner workings of X is limited as I don't exactly care for it), but surely on board audio could be a better option for noise, especially as it wouldn't have to be toned down for Fright Nights? Imagine a bassy train based audio system?

Shame Thorpe didn't get a Vekoma train with built in sound systems on the updated X tbh, as that would be better than tonnes of speakers dotted around... Oh well...

New brand aim = new website design... Can't be any worse than the current Merlin sites...

I may now have a sexy royal maroon Efteling hat and scarf... Let alone other things... Yay for merch!

Edited for accuracy...

You mean its gonna have the same theme as before but nowhere near as complete or detailed? How pointless...

It's rubbish... Aside from the insane Rapids, it's got nothing going for it...

Mark9 dropping those truth bombs... Merlin should visit Efteling to see what a ride refurb should actually look like... Or indeed encompass...

The thing is (especially in my experience of Chessie and other parks), is that things said by the managers can and will change... So many plans and ideas never see the light of day whilst some just change down to the lack of budget (see Zufari finale)... Such poor reporting though doesn't help, even if they spoke to the right manager...

A report with so many glaring errors makes me dubious of such things happening... Besides, even if they do, they'll be broken in a day...

Lego Movie was just

I come from Croydon, so considering the amount of stick that gets, I'm allowed to take the mick out of other places... Especially Tackpool...

Would we be able to tell the difference between the dire state of Blackpool before/after a storm?

What do you mean by this? As in the box of supports surrounding the start and end of the ride? Probably would cost a lot of money to do all that and it wouldn't really be that meaningful due to the launching... Aye that's correct, however the odds on our Flumes getting touched up like this are unlikely, mainly because Merlin...

I think someone from Thorpe's PR team might be getting a talking to, given that they've promoted Tidal Wave in their latest post...

In the forgotten bog-land? I agree it probs would have been awful to queue in though, imagine being face to crotch to some of Thorpe's guests? Ewwwwww... Should've stolen TTD's spectator grandstand though for sit down based times...

Can get a plane from any London based airport straight to Gothenburg... Then public transport it to the park in the middle of the city... Job's a good'un, much easier access than Towers... Probably takes about the same time too (assuming plane leaves at the same time as train from Euston to Stoke)... EDIT - As some pics to entice people to make the effort, go abroad, experience other parks, etc