Benin

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...

Depending on fire damage, I doubt it'll be open next season...

Best thing to happen to Bubbles in years... Santa must have been having a cheeky fag...

The park awards *facepalm* Then again, my votes were based off rides I did this year... But Baco second best international coaster? People are just being wrong... Thank god for Wodan...

2nd is the 1st loser...

We know that GCI at least have been trying to get over here... I wouldn't be surprised either if Merlin have pondered the potential of Colossos in the UK either... Think it's always stemmed down to the parks following the market research...

I'm gonna regret not renewing it already aren't I? Unless of course they plan to really push the Membership thing...

£14 million eh? Guess that extra £9 million is due to the hotel/zoo bit rather than actual investment into the rides... Scorpian SOUNDS good, but Merlin PR speak is always dubious... Need further convincing... AMAZU? They must have hired someone from Cedar Fair recently because all the names sound absolutely awful in recent times... They should definitely move Creepy Caves (back) over to Mexicana now, could even expand the Sea-Lion Bay area as a result (if only for backstage times or stage)... Need to see if Scorpian Express delivers I would say though...

That's exactly what they did... I do need to visit this park, though an old Wild Mouse won't exactly entice me to... Hard to get excited about the UK industry atm isn't it? The only parks that can build anything don't do things very well and the rest can't afford to build much if anything at all...

Was literally about to post this... Expect a boom of them over here then in the next few years... Probably mostly on the continent first...

It's likely that the Monkey/Bird garden will fit into the theme of the hotel, but that'll be the only area doing so...

The park dont have an Aztec area, and I believe they won't be getting one anytime soon... Could be wrong though, but there's no need for either area mentioned to be rethemed to the Aztecs...

Plopsaland's Draaaaaaak coaster has digital photos (5) AND on-ride video for €2...

Thorpe are the only park to have done such a thing (and the sound system doesn't work very well let's be honest)... But, 2 things? There's a lot more to be done than that... That Merlin's parks don't really believe in infrastructure improvements is shocking... The improvements to X were the very definition of polishing a turd, whilst providing a ride younger people could go on whilst spending as little money as possible... Such is the Merlin way really... Slightly better than DIC's ways of running minimal investment for maximum returns (mainly as most new attractions do have some thought behind them, apart from Storm Surge), but it's not that much of an improvement...

Assuming they return the 4d cinema and train it will be scoffed at because of their removal the other year because of not suiting the target market at the time, cos Thorpe were silly... It's not necessarily rides that the park needed (although a dark ride replacing the arena and/or X is ideal), but it's providing other things to do... If you don't feel like doing a ride at Thorpe (after lunch as an example), your choices are limited to queuing for one or sitting on a bench... A show, gentle ride or a farm did wonders for this situation when they existed, but now it's just rides... In order to be successful (especially with families) parks need variety of things to do, but Thorpe didn't see this and as a result we've had crap like Storm Surge and Saw Alive because they felt a new ride every year was needed... I repeat, it's not necessarily rides that the park needs... Although of course an Air Race wouldn't go amiss...

I think Dan meant worthwhile investments during none coaster years... When was the last time Thorpe invested into anything worth the money that wasn't a coaster?

You haven't been able to get MAP discount on ORPs since 2007... You still can on the Photopasses if I recall though... Food is expensive, but at least the quality is decent, lot better than most parks (including the basic Disney offerings)... Towers Monopoly is the only thing that doesn't garner discount (though we managed to get discount, Wahey), considering the increase in quality of the park merch since Merlin took over, I don't really see an issue with the pricing, as it's all pretty normal... Besides, Europa charge nearly €100 on a jumper, and Disney charge €50 for a hoodie... That's bad...