Benin

Nothing is confirmed unless there's an errant can of WD40 left in the area.

John Wardley was (eventually) involved in Wickerman. Granted too late to make it good but still. Think even he'd admit it wasn't just a solo effort on his part. Some of the classics were a joint effort and almost lightning in a bottle esque that everyone pulled in the same direction. I don't understand why this Emily Alton thing has gained so much traction when it was a literal gag character who majority of park guests didn't even see. Fan theories have gotten worse, especially when clearly the obvious character to focus on is Electric Bill. Think the Jumanji theme was an estimated guess by someone with good links to Merlin. Helped by Gardaland getting a themed attraction. So far no one of any substance has made a case for the random claims and likely the park is taken full advantage of this in their (stock footage) marketing.

If the ride wasn't in a state of disrepair when it originally closed. Untouched since it closed but to sell off some broken tat to willing goons. Dread to think of the state of the ride system right now. Maybe in a few years it'll reappear. Maybe they'd be better off replacing with something new and iconic for the park given the removal of one is imminent and Shockwave is crap.

Jesus. 1. Bubbles style revamp was doubtfully a "turn into a boat ride" thing. Probably more akin to the ride changing from scary to comedy. 2. A clone of Duel? It didn't even exist at the time of the fire and they wouldn't have had the space considering Tropical Travels was in the way. 3. They were not the same ride so did not have the same spider scene. WWH has a cousin at Europa Park though. Also it wasn't fairly new as I think I 4. I doubt this fire forced the introduction of smoking areas. More the change in the national laws and public image of smoking as a whole. 5. The fire did not change the target audience. Tussauds did when purchasing the park as they didn't want to compete with Chessie and they had less limitations to work with at Thorpe. 6. The ride opened in 1984. I think it's officially older than nearly everyone on this forum. Not exactly brand new when it got burnt.

Spinball won't fit at Blackgang because it's on the side of a cliff and the footprint is massive comparative to existing attractions (I've even checked. It's essentially double in size!). RCT is not real life.

I went to an EA run event earlier in the year with one of those dinners afterwards. Typical sort of lot who'd spend more time and money patting themselves on the back for a job well done than actually doing anything.

It's worrying that I have to double check the poster these days to see if it's an actual joke or some made up fan rumour.

WHERE WAS IT'S CLOSING EVENT LIKE NEMESIS IS GETTING??!

I mean London Resort is never going to happen. So that point is laughable moot.

This is usually the case every year. Add in the Twitter toxicity and lack of any grey area these days and it's ridiculous.

My thought is that a lot of the scenery will be old and with low upkeep so lots will be heading to the local tip. They'll likely need a bigger skip.

Why are people obsessed with this Emily Alton thing like she was ever anything more than a queueline gag? Merlin haven't got the best track record in refurbishments, but setting the expectations to some weird story that never existed because of a pun (repossessed clearly referencing to ghosts in general) is going to result in some disappointment when it's not THEIR vision when it opens. Original didn't have a storyline, I doubt the refurb will have much of one. And if it does it'll no doubt feel forced in by a hammer (much like the attempts of adding 'story' to Tomb Blaster). Much like with most of these ideas, the park are far better off redesigning from the ground up rather than attempting some weird nostalgia attempt with modern stuff.

You knew it would be a disaster when instant it opened Derren Brown did zero marketing stuff regarding it. Still not done it. Don't really care about it. It's not getting me to visit Thorpe and even if I did visit would I waste time on it? Just bin it. Even an empty building would presumably get better KPI scores.

Chiapas > Valhalla Maybe an indoor area with a combination of attractions wouldn't go amiss. Kill off many birds with one stone and get one of those Mack Suspended Coasters and a Flume system. Would be a shame to waste it on a Flying Theatre.

Maybe they should take the hint and use a better designed tall boi instead?

Yes. Because you're no longer a mod the whole place is a nightmare. Just wait until construction and we have daily updates from Monk's Walk showing how one pile of dirt has moved 2m.

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/amp/rare-bees-discovered-on-london-resort-site-272785/ https://youtu.be/EVCrmXW6-Pk (If someone could edit this to embed the YouTube clip please?)

Polyfilla. And lots of it.

Scorpion Express is more likely to reopen this year than Enterprise is. Could simply be a continuation of the difficulty to source parts from abroad. Unfortunately there's no Chessie insiders these days compared to when half the forum seemed to work there to actually answer the question.

I honestly don't think I could live in the surrounding area (a uni friend does these days), the amount of traffic over the peak season would affectively control your spare time and considering how bad the access to the park actually is to boot. Most of the neighbours have probably lived there since before it became a proper theme park. Got to play nicely otherwise it makes any future developments even harder to push through.

I'm sure it'll go well with the return of Terror Tomb next year. Maybe they'll bring Toyland Tours back too.

Can a family coaster have a 1.4m height limit? Certainly not one that needs to take off the strain on Vampire and Fury. That enthusiasts are desperately clinging on to the #WordsofWardley shows the worrying lack of excitement this ride is giving. It's a B&M and I honestly cannot really be bothered to plan a trip down next year with any urgency (though that might well be down to personal reasons more than anything).

Soundtrack by PVRIS confirmed. It's for the best if we're honest. Hopefully they give whatever replaces it a suitable budget and becomes a far better attraction (not that its difficult mind, even if I have a soft spot for Duel).

We can only hope Spinball gets removed. Maybe they can move it to Thorpe with a Top Spin? Haven't entered the area since they got Octonauts so I don't particularly have much of an opinion towards it. I'll be reevaluating this in a few years mind, but I think it fits well and is definitely popular. Retheming the stuff there as well gives a bit more difference to it as well I suppose as shows come and go far more regularly. The Farm was probably slightly more universal but wasn't exactly anything special (unless you grew up with the park). Was less embarrassing for a group of adults to go round there but least the rides actually have visitors now. Shrek would've been an ugly addition to the park. Merlin probably tried to do their usual cheap nonsense but when you have Universal as another option is it any surprise they'd want more?

As its a skyline issue I think somewhere between 100-150ft is where the colour change needs to happen. Something that varies from park to park since Towers obviously is anything above tree height that needs to be a darker colour.