Benin

I remember when Chessie had those on Fury... Happier times... Also nice to see the park looks no different to usual, it's so depressing that our two major parks don't bother with actual physical Halloween theming... And rather unfinished to boot...

Day 2 A lovely buffet breakfast began our long second day at the park, which was coincidentally the first day of their Halloween event. At 10 we walked very quickly past Baco and through Sesame Street. In order to faff longer, we popped on the wonderfully named Magic Fish ride, one of those Wave Racer things which was reasonably enjoyable. Afterwards we sat in that pathway leading to China and mused until Khan roared into life, and we duly skipped the queue twice before doing exactly the same on Shambhala once it had opened (because who DOESN’T love staggered openings?). The Spanish Goons were out in force! It was VERY busy Venturing into Mexico wanting some El Diablo times (and being denied), we decided to faff around for Templo del Feugo and it’s first show at 12. We quickly did the Spinny Serpent Sombrero ride nearby and joined the queue for Templo. Let in at 12 we ventured through the well-themed queueline and to the batching area to wait for the show to begin. And waited… And waited… 30 minutes later the doors opened and the show began. This was a rather bad introduction to this attraction for me, but the actual show made up for it by being equal parts entertaining and being at a Rammstein concert (all it needed was Feuer Frei!). There was rapturous applause at the end, very contrasted to Armageddon at Paris where the reaction was sobbing from children. A must see show. It was now lunchtime and time for the Sesame Street Halloween show, so we did both at once. It wasn’t very good although the hostess improved things somewhat, as was the fact that both Bert and Cookie Monster looking excessively high throughout. Afterwards we ventured back to China for 2 more goes on Shambhala before our next show began, the Rock Symphony, which began with a full advert for the .REC maze, possibly terrifying all kids in the audience. The show was quite good, with the usual stunts and stuff usually saved for Ice Shows and the like, and a particularly annoying theme song. However the standing ovation it received from the audience was entertaining as hell. The applause just refused to stop for ages, then people stood! Me and Mark found this absolutely hilarious. After the show we hit up Khan again, before heading to El Diablo and then Stampida’s red side. I suggested the Log Flume as I’d never done it before and it was weird, clearly inspired by Dragon Falls’ massive long and dull turn and the top throughout the entire course. Shopping followed before dumping it all back in the hotel for a quick chill and more faff. ZZZZZAP! Back on park, it was back to China (again) and a good old fashioned ‘whore the B&Ms until it gets dark and then use our front row passes’ time! We did Khan 5 times and Shambhala 6 including the front row on each during the space of a few hours. Both were running insanely well during this time, Khan especially since it decided it wanted to be like Nemesis for a night, whilst on Shambhala we spent most of our time being blinded by the cameras. Eventually we got to 9:30 (so about 3 hours of B&M whorage) so it was time to head back to the entrance and see if we could use our front row go on Baco, but it was shut due to the Parade and Lagoon Show. So we thought, sod it and found somewhere to sit to watch both. Before that though there was the Rather Gay Vampire Show, which involved some dodgy musical numbers for some reason. Oh well. The Parade was pretty basic, with various actors and floats, probably the most disappointing show in a way but then again we were sat right at the end of the course which may have made a big difference. The Lagoon show was interesting, starting with a World of Colour rip off, then fire, then a Dragon, then Jet Skis, then a Tron Man with those water jet shoes. It was all very weird and then it kind of just ended. Bonus points for setting the lagoon literally on fire though, if only it had spread to Baco………… And that was it, an OBSCENELY long day at the park but god those night rides on the B&Ms were absolutely fantastic. And with some rather entertaining moments throughout the day as well, it was depressing that we had one more day left and it would involve Baco…

I thought the point of previews WAS to judge something? Hence if things are crap, you can change them in time for the main show...

IMAScore

Thorpe doing what most companies do and retweet anyone who mentions anything positive about the park? #suchexplosive

They have sponsored Halloween events before... Not exactly the end of the world... Hell, Thorpe have a sponsor this year... As for Skelvin, that was dire, bring back Duel Live's 2009 version!

Even banners that just say "THORPE PARK FRIGHT NIGHTS!" would be an improvement... One of the main reasons why I'd like to see the park get permanent fences at the entrance, because it looks dire... Legoland have started doing it as well and it doesn't give a great first impression... Isn't this an ample moment to shout 'cost-cutting'?

I would assume HPH is closed for the Halloween changes, something that's never happened much before I think...

An Express visit to Port Aventura Day 1 They always say you should keep an eye out for good deals in life, theme parks being no exception, so when Port Aventura had an offer for 50% hotel stays I leapt at the chance to revisit the park, namely for Shambhala. A VERY early Friday morning was the backdrop to our journey via Gatwick and Barcelona, and after eventually finding the coach to the hotel, we arrived at the park armed with quite possibly the best value for money unlimited Express Passes ever (€54 for all 3 days and front row on Shambhala, Khan and Baco). My legion of Spiiiiiiidersssss Our first port of call was to be the legendary Furius Baco. Much tension was too be had as a result of the various tales of the majority berating the ride and it’s experience with the odd few decreeing it as a fantastic unique experience. Unsurprisingly, I was in the former camp… It’s a terrible, terrible ride, we nearly rode it in the back until the ride staff member moved us to the 5th odd row, and I was forced onto the outside seat by Mark. The launch is perfectly fine, but as soon as that’s done the ride shakes and rattles along the track, every flaw amplified due to the vibration affect that occurs due to the nature of the seating. From an engineering standpoint, it’s so clear why the ride is as bad as it is, and why B&M decided to put riders in-line with the track to ensure that the vibration effect on the train is minimalised. Being on the same axis of rotation is the name of the game, and Baco fails completely. It has two pros, it looks nice and it doesn’t last for very long, that’s it. 1/10 Mark was not looking forward to riding this again, ignorance is bliss as they say… We decided to go as far away from Baco as possible and go on some good rides, so it was over to China and Shambhala. The design of which is very interesting, as whilst it dominates the area and Dragon Khan, it also complements the area as well, perhaps because a nicely painted and bright Khan still stands out amongst the white track. Straight on we went even with the 1 train operation (note, Baco had 2 trains and a longer queue than the 1 train B&Ms) and into the bright sunshine we went, catching a look at the construction site next door, but before long we were cresting the drop. To say the resulting ride is brilliant would be quite accurate, although there seemed to be some harsh discussion regarding its place in the Mitch Hawker top 10 last year, I feel that it is justly deserved. Like all B&M Hypers, Shambhala thrives on the floaty airtime that fills every hill; however, a few things really stand out for me against the rest of them. First, the Ampersand turn is a fantastic way of doing things rather than a bland overbank, the mini hill after this with its ejector is also brilliant, the splash is a cool element to look at for the off-riders and produces on occasion a nice cooling effect to riders, the hills after which are excellent due to the way it which they vary the drop height to give some difference to the experience. 9/10 From modern B&M to classic B&M now, as Dragon Khan was next on our list. 9 years ago I remember it being a fantastic ride, and to see if it was still as such we were straight into the back row. Since my visit I have seen a lot of people stating that Khan is rough (to degrees of things like Baco and Goudrix), but I cannot really see the issue. It has rattle yes (it’s 18 years old, rides age, that simple) but these incidents are during the high speed, high G sections so are relatively infrequent. Especially after riding Baco, Khan would easily be considered as smooth. Either way, it’s interesting to see how B&M have evolved between Khan and Shambhala, with Khan having a fair few snappy transitions (the Zero-G and MCBR drop especially) but also a few ‘glidey’ sections through it. Khan was still excellent though, loved it, and I don’t understand where this sudden rattly hate has appeared from. If Khan gets detracted for it, then so should things like Nemesis. 8/10 Big rides done, we went over to find Tami-Tami as Mark had missed out on his last visit to the park. So off we went back into the Sesame Street area to find that the show had just finished and characters were out. So photos happened… After a drink and chill we eventually joined the non-existent queue and quite enjoyed our ride. It’s only a Vekoma Junior sure, but the dense foliage around it really improved the ride somewhat, especially the final helix. Walking back through China we snuck it another go on Shambhala and Khan before El Diablo, where my last ride on it was backwards (rotating cars before it was cool was Port Aventura) and the derided-ness of this ride and it’s lift hills is well known. Indeed, we gained a soft spot for it actually, as you can see what they were trying to do with it, they just used Arrow because cheap times. Maybe if they’d actually had some track after the second lift that went right instead of left there would be more fans of it? Who knows… Next up was another ride new since my last visit, Hurakan Condor, which fortunately had a short enough queue to warrant us bothering. It was ok like most Intamin free-falls, but I’m not a real fan of the excessively tall ones because they do get boring after a while. Though the 4 seater one is considerably better than the Gyro variants. Next door was the new for this year mirror maze Secret of the Mayans, where you are given medical gloves before you enter to prevent smearing the glass, which is weird. Inside it’s actually a very long experience, with a random bit in the middle with some effects. It was alright and good for getting out of the heat for a bit. Back outside, we stumbled across Bert and Ernie, so naturally, photos ensued due to Bert being a depressing muppet. Bert’s either high or misses his sandwich… Onwards we walked to the Wild West area, and a queue for Tomahawk, which has a silly throughput/lack of ability to sit two adults together. But it’s still a surprisingly decent and long ride for a kiddie coaster, with the duelling aspect a novel idea. It was nearly time for the Bird Show, so we walked past Sheriff Woody and the long, LONG way to the show (burdenous park layout), and it was rather entertaining in the end, with lots of banter from the host who didn’t stop talking for the whole thing; a basic bird show really but still decent. Up next was the Wild West Stunt Show with a Halloween overlay. This had fantastic pre-show entertainment, with a scarecrow jumping at entering guests and the excessively camp man in his D&G denim jacket of JOY. Again, pretty basic as shows go, but it was a good laugh. <3 What was next wasn’t much of a laugh, as Stampida since my last visit had new Kumbak trains added, and after Bakken’s Rusty Banana being god-awful, I had a fair amount of fear about it. I was right, the ride rattles through the course badly, a shame because I think it’s a rather well designed ride (particularly where you lose the other train briefly before it’s charging at you), ruined by an awful company who somehow are allowed to do this. Poor show. 3/10 We headed back to China to have some last quick goes on the B&Ms before heading back to the hotel for dinner (which was a very nice buffet). We then sat in the plaza drinking and watching the very good hotel entertainment, with a stand-out moment when a birthday girl was given a cake by Winnie Woodpecker. Our parks would do to realise that such moments will stay with younger visitors for a long time. We were impressed with our first day on the park, but the first day of their Halloween event was next, and the hours of 10am-11pm were very exciting indeed…

Assuming that this is where the hotel expansion is going, I doubt that area will be open at all until it's done...

Offt...

I think it was mentioned the entire side of it has shut now so I would say none...

It dwarfs the park, then again it's on top of a hill so that adds a fair amount to the height...

Bring back Midnight Syndicate! Seriously, Port Aventura had some, I forgot how good they were <3

^That's exactly my thinking Josh, it's like they're trying to create Thorpe Park Memes or sommat... It's random and non-sensical... Considering Fright Nights should be (and to a degree is) getting the big push at this moment in time, this things seem a bit of a waste of the 5 minutes it would take to create and post them...

I went on Furius Baco this weekend... Guess what, it's dire, and that's being generous... The thing is, from the engineering perspective, I can see why it's so bad really easily... The position of the seats above the track means that the axis of rotation is completely off, and that is why it rattles around the track so much, and why B&M's version is located in line with the track... The launch like all Intamin launches is good, but that's it for positives... As soon as it actually goes off into the layout of boredom that even Rita does better it vibrates to hell, which is naturally worse on the outside seats due to nature acting like it does in regards to vibrating bodies (I.e. the further away something is from the point of connection, the more it will vibrate if free on the other side)... The placement of the outside slightly behind the inside seat doesn't help the vibration either, due to it now being in a completely different axis to everything else... It's just... awful... Even the front row is diabolical (though seemingly better than any other row, not that such a comment means much)... Constantly rattling around a course of a 6 year coaster is barely comparable to the odd rattle on high G sections of an 18 year old B&M... To refer to my list, it now goes: 5 - G-Force 4 - Furius Baco 3 - Tornado 2 - Mean Streak 1 - Sequioa Adventure It makes me more thankful for B&M's ability to create a decently designed variant... I think I may blog about the engineering viewpoint in the future in depth a lot more in the future, because it is an interesting thing to compare why the two designs are so different...

Nothing will ever be rough again after Baco...

Skyway shuts early and is the only ride to do so... Zufari might depending on how the animals are thought of...

Double Post, oh well... I would like to welcome Shambhala into my top 10, because it truly is a brilliant coaster... Such Ampersand <3 Much mini-airtime hill <3 So force <3 WOW! <3 It does mean that Rusty Banana from Tivoli misses out, as does Juvelen and Piraten from Denmark... Dragon Khan made a fantastic case for reminding me why 9 years ago it was in my top 10 this past weekend as well, but still doesn't quite make it back into the fold... Certainly getting harder and harder to judge these things, but huzzah for European dominated top 10s! Just shows how lucky we are to live near such wonderful and fantastic experiences without needing to travel far...

Thorpe seemed to have uploaded a fan video instead of their one... How weird...

I assume you know how long it takes for them to put a full fledged TV advert up then from shooting to post production to getting it on the screens? It's been gone all season... It was taken down for safety reasons, it would make no sense for Thorpe to reuse unsafe materials in a maze...

I think the experience of Rocky Express in the dark is the biggest loss to be quite frank... The ride closure would depend on what rides and their queues... I would imagine should rides have 2 hour queues at 9 then they might well be closed... 8 maybe, depends how the park feels... I doubt the park would want confusion between those doing the late night stuff with those leaving rides at 11/12 at night... As for the maze picture, it looks very Merliny in style... Like all their woodwork (assuming it's the Studios) looks so similar regardless of the park it's in and it doesn't look very realistic in the real life image (the filter actually does a fantastic job of making the wood look realistic)... Though of course, it might look actually half decent to look at properly...

You forgot JoraVision <3

So, so awful... Go away Chessie and do something USEFUL with your time, like fix your issues...

At least Storm Surge is open for those late night marathons eh?