Benin

This is why fairground designed rides at theme parks aren't the best idea... Chessie ran it as it would at a fair, but that buggered it up in the long run as Thorpe are finding out (and probably as a result of karma for nabbing Chessie's best ride)... Do Mondial make park versions of it? I dunno, but this is a good indicator as to why fair rides are a potentially bad investment for parks (that and the throughput issues, as Blackpool discovered with Spin Doctor)...

Most definitely is rough... Quite possibly a height thing (see also, tall people find Colossus rough, hard to navigate, etc), as soon as the outdoor drop begins for me, is where the ride proceeds to beat me (and many others) up in a rather unpleasant way... To me, regardless of the comparison to superior Eurofighter (indeed, I find it easily the weakest ride), it's just generally not a very good ride... Again this is linked to the roughness for me, but that's the way it goes, it's at a similar level to Rita for that really... The airtime hill in comparison to Speed's (which I had ridden long before Saw, so the vertical lift wasn't a novelty for me) is also really poor, and again similar to other Eurofighters with such hills... I think a major turning point in people's opinions on Saw is the amount of other rides of the type that have been ridden... Like with every ride type... But Saw is always going to cause these problems with people, but for me, it's just not good in the first place, and the bits it does well (I.e. the inside portion) are just eclipsed by Mystery Mine and Fluch that it will forever pale in comparison, like Stealth does once you ride Top Thrill Dragster... Just never comes close... Ever... That's a blog topic for someone, how visiting parks abroad can affect your opinion of rides (for example, how European B&M Inverts laugh at their USA brethren for being AWFUL)...

Then you ride other Eurofighters and realise how bad Saw really is in direct comparison... Seriously, go to Hansa Park, and you ride Fluch, which opened the same year as Saw, for a no doubt cheaper budget, and then say that Saw is well themed and a good ride... Hell even Rage and Speed have far superior rides, even if they lack any sort of theming... Then there's Mystery Mine... For me, the roughness is the main culprit, between it and Colossus, I might as well just invest in shares for Neurofen, yet out of all the other Eurofighters I've been on, only Saw has attempted to batter me senseless... Maybe because death is part of the theme? I dunno, my opinion has always been slanted as I rode Mystery Mine not long after Saw, allowing for an easy direct comparison between two rides which aimed to be heavily themed experiences, and Mystery Mine just trounced it, even with a rather average middle section between the two lift hills, the finale more than made up for anything... Similarly with Fluch, the drop and launch combo makes Saw's indoor drop look like Flying Fish, and the overall theme and layout (primarily indoors and utter mayhem) just makes me wonder what Saw could have been if half the budget hadn't been splurged on the IP...

JOY! WHERE'S JOY?! JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY! [/obscure reference no-one will get]

Think it's just some enthusiasts putting 2+2 together and getting 5, as I think as well Rita's cable snap prompted Thorpe to shut the Gardens due to access being under Stealth's launch track... It would be nice for it being built next year, but I would wait until the park confirm it themselves or via here, not some unknown coaster Facebook group...

Thought that was common knowledge? Meant to be built to coincide with the proposed 2015 coaster... Therefore linking Stealth to it as well as Swarm...

Cba to make my own topic, so I'll just mooch off Mark's (since I went on the same day, just with a coaster group (THE HORROR))... I too haven't been to Blackpool in YEARS (the year Infusion opened), so was interested to see what was new and how bad the fountain situation actually is... My day started with lots of faff and early, as whilst the park might open at 10, EVERYTHING is staggered opening... This is rather weird, but regardless the entrance area is pretty nice now, although Noah's Ark is completely out of place, the open air plaza leading towards Nash or Valhalla is miles better than the Dodgems of old... Wild Mouse was first, and is simply the best ride at the park... Recently I saw an enthusiast question why this "Small wooden coaster in the UK" was placed reasonably high on the Golden Tickets list, and riding it again makes me believe it's not only the heritage behind the ride, but the fact that it is easily the most terrifying coaster in the UK, because no other coaster makes you feel like you will go all Final Destination... It's incredible really, the drops and airtime are all there, with those turns making Rattlesnake look like a B&M... Plus you have to duck below the lifthill in the most literal sense... Brilliant little thing, and well deserves the love... Big Dipper next, and after recent discussions asking should it remain in the park, I feel obliged to say, "yes, it does have a right to remain there", because it really is a fun ride... Sure it's rough, but EVERY SINGLE RIDE at Blackpool is rough in some respect, similarly to Mark, I've done much worse rides for roughness... Dipper is just a simple ride that looks great and is possibly one of the most recognisable landmarks in the UK... River Caves was to be the dark ride of choice next, another classic ride which has definitely seen better days... The theming ideas whilst grand are just unkept and look awful... The cave scene is currently under redevelopment due to Wallace and Gromit, but regardless, it could do with a tart up, with perhaps some full on animatronics to bring it into the 21st century without removing the old ride feel... Some meandering led us to Grand National... Last time I rode it with the new trains, I hated it, and the operations haven't improved much since then... Why oh why did Kumbak decide to follow Vekoma's method of revamping rides? Urgh... However, the actual ride portion was back to the old standard and is easily one of the best coasters in the UK when running well... If only it still had the old operation standards People went on Valhalla next, which I avoided, then lunch/dry-off time was called... Eventually (After searching the entire park) we ended up at Coasters (moved from it's old location by South Entrance, the one issue with having single entrance now is that it has killed the promenade in front of the park), and some food later, it was back into the rides... Onto the Big One, bless it, it's so badly designed and laid out isn't it? That helix is awful, the slow long drawn out hills... However it is the iconic ride of the UK and that first drop is still a complete surprise... The new trains make it look sooooo much better, and overall it is a good ride really... It can be seen as boring (like I have done) but really, it's decent enough... Then Steeplechase... I love it, it's sooooooo H&S evil (like many of Blackpool's rides) and just brilliant at life... Amazing how simple a thing of making a ride duelling can make all the difference... It's a really entertaining ride and a classic... I would be sad to see it go but considering the footprint of the thing it would depend on Blackpool's opinion of it in the end... We ventured into the Maze next, which was a bit rubbish in the end... So we celebrated by going on Avalanche, with the most annoying theme music in the world... It's actually good again, the constant build up of speed is a real asset to the Bobsleigh coasters, making the point of them actually exist... New coloured Rev was next... Coar it looks amazing in grey... Really, really does... The loudness of the speakers in the queue however, as much as I like Ride of the Valkyries, was not amusing... As was the sheer windchill on the platform... However, it is great fun, proving that even the most simplest launch rides can be as good as their modern, more complex counterparts... Airtime, G-Forces, it does exactly what it says on the tin... Nick Land looks really good for the record... It is garish yes, but actually, that suits Blackpool's tackiness down to a tee... Orange Coaster looks awful though... And it lost it tunnel The new loading/off-loading is stupid as well mind... Oh wells... It's not too bad in the end as a ride... Definitely always a hit with the younger audience... After Orange some people went on Infusion (lord knows why) whilst the rest headed towards more dark ride randomness, this time in the shape of the delightful Alice in Wonderland... This ride was built in the 60s and you can see it... It's actually fab, like amazingly so... It's that old school terrifying which makes the old dark rides so unique in comparison to things like Charlie and Tomb Blaster... I really enjoyed it because it was so off the wall... With one of the biggest dark ride innuendos in the country, putting Hocus Pocus Hall to shame... I heartily recommend that people go on it... Darkness had fallen, and we were planning on going on Impossible, but the man was being very meh towards a group of 30+ heading in, so the sensible ones of us went for some last ditch night time Grand National... Oh my... It was storming around the track in such glorious fashion... The two double dip drops were brilliant, and the sheer pace and running of the thing was unbelievable... Shows the difference between old and new designs, few modern woodies can create the out of control experience Nash and the rest of them do, not even rides like Zeus or Megaphobia come close... Overall, it was a good day in the end, the redevelopment of the park is actually a lot more beneficial than enthusiasts give credit for... Whilst Trauma Towers and Bling's spots remain unused, I'm sure they will soon enough... And I LOVE the Fountain Police <3<3

It's been dying for ages though really... Kinda inevitable... Needs a good proper work up or replacing with a newer model...

That might well explain the Swarm's TVs being taken over by adverts... Dunno what to think of it...

I think I see the problem here... Also, it doesn't count when you edit your friends' dictionaries as it clearly doesn't happen on every iPhone (I've checked)...

Doubt it, B&M paint is FAR superior to Intamin's one...

You have it set to full capitals on autocorrect?

That's usually because Thorpe's guests won't have been on as many rides as those at Towers... Of course though, depends on what the actual gate figures were at the parks on that day... And how much Fastrack was being oversold, which tends not to happen at Towers every single day... Literally the only reason parks ever extend their opening hours from the base time is to ensure guests don't complain that they didn't have enough time to ride things they wanted because it was too busy anyways... Either that or if you've had a reallllly crap day for maintenance you give everyone free tickets to return, which is kind of the basic piece of PR you'd expect from a park... Like how Towers dealt with the storm day earlier in the year...

Thorpe... Always one step forward, two steps back...

The only difference is that Thorpe are using social media to drum up attention... You know, cos no other park in the world does this these days...

Actually, it might make things more realistic, as the news report is meant to be like Sky after all...

It's another maze... Themed to something scary... What do I win?

Well, it kinda does make sense... New things allow you something to push to a high degree to both new and returning guests... Problem is, there's a lot of other factors that do affect guest numbers, such a prices, atmosphere, how good a day out feels, etc... Indeed, even with Swarm this year, numbers haven't particularly risen, but that might be a result of crap weather, Olympics, or people just not wanting to fork out for a relatively depressing queue filled day... New rides/attractions are good to have though...

Hmmm I dunno, Heide Park sinking their Paddleboat Steamer for Krake was pretty damn awesome...

Just... What? From the mobile video I was gonna call on it being faked... Then an official video appeared... There are no words...

What I love about Nemesis is how at 9am it provides an extremely intense experience, even when it was rather cold... Then it warms up and gets even better... She's getting rattly, but she's still smoother than rides 15 years younger... Nemmie <3

Lol wut? Selling Fastrack in large quantities on a midweek day in September after schools are back? Not even having the dedicated Fastrack queues open? Thorpe really, really, really need to be kicked up the arse about this... Cos that is stupidity...

Knotts isn't small (Cedar Fair owned) and nearby residents don't really affect the American parks like they do for us, especially since most of the parks are plonked in residential areas. And I liked Silver Bullet I'd like a B&M though, Intamin might be shakey considering the problems they've had. I'd half expect another Dinosaurs Alive thong though, cos Cedar Fair are crap at life...

And nothing of value was lost...

Might not have been announced by the time of press... Then again, I've not received this magazine since the first one... Bit crap really...