Benin

Even enthusiast sites need formal permission, regardless if using Go-Pros or just taped up cameras on the front of rides... And even then, not every park will let this happen...

Thorpe being the epitome of cool then...

Most of my trips aren't that expensive on a per person basis usually (Germany being 2 weeks and a load of parks plus Europa's hotel is looking to be about a £1000 each as an example)... A long weekend at Efteling (again at the park hotel) is looking to be around £450 odd... Stay off site and go with Ryanair and most of my trips are even cheaper than that... It's not often a monetary issue (in a sense, obviously it IS required, but not often in excessive terms depending on mostly your own level of comfort, you'll never see me getting on a RyanAir flight and I have stayed at some low budget places, Mark9 and Holly will back me up on Denmark based times), but more of a wanting to get out there and see other parks... Of course having a full time decent wage job and minimal commitments helps a lot... I'll be paying about £350-400 for a long weekend in Sweden... Whilst that is with a group of enthusiasts rather than a personal trip (which would probs be slightly more because of culture times), it shows these trips can be done on the cheap if you so wish... Just gotta look for the best deals and not care about staying in a crappy hotel...

Plus you won't be able to shop soon without buying SOMETHING that has a Merlin BOGOF voucher (or 20)... It really is all about making it look like a worthwhile deal... Dread to find out Towers' entry fee though if Thorpe is hitting £48...

Was that the terrifying looking thing at Winter Wonderland by the Pinfari shoulder death cred? *shudders*

That is quite old (especially by ride project standards) now... I do hope they actually get a decent coaster to their line-up (for adults) in the future though... It's the main thing missing from the park...

The plans are: - Efteling - Small French Parks (Parc St Paul, Walygator & Nigloland) - Madrid (Parque Warner & Parque d'Attractiones) - Sweden/Norway (Tusenfryd, Liseberg, Skara Sommerland & Grona Park) - Germany Road-Trip (Hansa Park, Heide Park, Movie Park, Phantasialand, Holiday Park, Legoland, Tripsdrill, Nurburgring & Europa) And there will probably be more... If all goes to plan there might well be a jaunt to Indiana involved (which is next door to Ohio)... The latter half of the year is pretty open though... I would imagine some form of Halloween trip will appear a la Belgium last year...

Who is Styles? The plot thickens!

I dunno, Mitch Hawker's Polls get a bit over the top come results day...

Someone from my family has been over there for New Years... It's quite funny it must be said... An amazing waste of time and money it must be to visit then...

I'm certainly proof of that... Are people really throwing toys around about this thing as well? This is why I voted for Kodos (or not at all)...

Chessington Mania of course...

Possibly due to the costs of LSMs? Or maybe people were waiting to see how it aged, being Mack's first 'big' coaster type? It's great to see more, and as this appears to be a Mega-Lite layout as well, that could make this even more interesting...

Ah yes, because the last time Thorpe built a good coaster (from an enthusiast point of view) that had a limited gimmick that didn't pique the public interest worked? Swarm's poor reception will make a traditional wooden coaster even more unlikely... And yes, nothing wrong with a ride that makes you feel like you've been on it (Wild Mouse and Ultimate fit the bill), but there's an enjoyment threshold that Stampida passes by because Kumbak are just terrible at life... Still smoother than Baco but still, it's not a fun ride...

The ones at Blackpool are still 'rough' and are seen as retro rides in amongst the more modern (and often seen as better in the public eye) steel coasters... It's not hard to understand why the gp don't have a great consideration towards wooden coasters as having a place in the modern industry here... To say that it's easy to market one is simply wrong, regardless if they are enjoyed in the north or not, because they are part of the nostalgic essence Blackpool has in the UK... Then when the experience of modern wooden coasters are commonly Gwazi and Stampida, it makes sense people are wary of them...

I'm sure after Big Dippers' accident people didn't think they were unsafe (like many would for any accident on a ride)... Still, the surveys Merlin do must count for something when talking to the mass market... Considering the experiences available at Blackpool, Spain and Florida, it's no surprise the masses don't think highly of wooden coasters...

Eh? This is blatently a result of the numerous surveys they've done asking people what changes they'd like to see from MAPs... It's easy as hell to market to those who are stupid to part with £500 that easily like to be the 'elite' of the MAP holders... Advertising a premium 'must-have' product is child's play compared to a ride that in the UK has several preconceptions of being dangerous, rough and unsafe...

Such is the way the world works... Then again, we are willing to pay the price of the Premium ones these days (of course, we don't get much of a say when they change the t&cs, because in the long run, the customer doesn't matter, as more will appear)... It's still a very decent value pass for what it's worth, back in those days it was £30 to enter the parks, such excellent value back then, but I wouldn't say the value these days has been lessened on the Premium Passes (which is probably one of the issues, those who purchase the 'Standard' level completely lose out on most things, dirty peasants)... Free Fastrack didn't work particularly well (then again, it still doesn't today), and the car parking issue is of course a problem that will live on due to bringing our parks in line with the rest of the world... I have no idea what the number of people who used MAPs on international attractions is (they don't seem to be aware of the existence of a 50% off deal we get in Germany and New York)... Free entry being given from the VIP pass is kind of useless apart from those rich enough to do more than Heide Park and Gardaland (or umpteen Sea-Lifes) in a year...

Have they fully gotten rid of the capsule? I would also be on the side of VIP get them included rather than pay extra... The Fastrack reads as a £15 package per park... So you'd essentially 'buy' a package for free off the system... The lack of info on it suggests this is once a year at each park (Legoland has Qbot so is a natural exclusion) to me... If it was every visit it could be problematic, but if it's just an extra 'sale' of it then it won't be that bad... Assuming that's how they would run it, but Merlin aren't logical... I guess our very own Marc Simpson will be one of the VIP pass holders

Have to see what the actual list of changes are tomorrow... Dreading what the Fastrack package thing will be... Unless it's a one off pack for a park of your choice, but I've seen what happens when they let MAP holders use Fastrack, and it isnt pretty... £125 is decent enough value though it must be said... Be interesting what the VIP passes involve... For £500 I'd expect a personal escort on every ride...

We are talking about Chessie here...

I would assume Bubbles will be SNBO anyway if the pump room was hit... Doubt it'll take 3 months to fix that...

Bon Bon Land isn't full of that though, it's as subtle as a brick to the face...

Be you implying that Rattlesnake ruined Calamity Canyon? Considering at the time it was the best themed coaster on the park...