Benin

Filling in the lake is not simple though... And quite expensive...If more land was filled, less money would go into the park's actual physical additions...

Surprised no-one's posted pics of the revamped area yet...Looks bloody awful... BENCHES! BENCHES EVERYWHERE!

Sure you don't mean the Golden Ticket Awards rather than Mitch Hawker? I don't care much for the Golden Tickets due to the overally American bias it gains, but the Hawker ones are even worse for it...Meh, whatever... The one opinion that matters to me is my own, and since I found Raptor to be fab, I reckon Swarm will be too... Not every ride is designed to be intense grey out inducing machines that require a 10 minute rest period... I ADORE re-rideable rides more than intense ones at times, because often enough, fun trumps intensity quite a lot...As an aside, one of your negative points is something OUTSIDE the ride's area and that does reek of being picky against it let's be honest... If we gave rides negative marks for being able to see things from other parts of the park then that would count for near enough every single ride in the world...

The poll ain't worth anything... So it's pointless to expect it to do much in there...

Here, hang on, what's that there arch they're building on the path leading up to Scream and the Bobsleigh?New theming there as well? Defo wasn't about last year...

Mark forgot the Teacups, Banana Boat, Carousel and Rocky Express! :oMaking the list makes it seem worse... As there's only one decent flat ride (which is also unreliable)... I think people go down the flat ride route because parks filled with roller coasters aren't that great, Magic Mountain and Cedar Point both really lack other things, though Cedar Point does have things like MaxAir and erm... Yeah...I dunno, I think parks need a good mix of both coasters and flats to keep a sensible balance of rides together... Through in one or two dark rides and a smattering of water rides and you have a good mix...In short, 99% of Thorpe's flats are diabolical and they need better ones either fresh or replacing them...

But does Marc like it more than Stealth?

Nah they won't have done, I doubt a Topple Tower will be built by any park in the future... They're also a bit turd to actually ride tbh... One of them rides that is more for the spectators than the riders...Now if they built a Talocan Top Spin... OMNOMNOM!

Yeah that thing's annoying, but I only ever noticed that at the end of the ride, so meh... Won't affect my view of it...

Least Polar X-Plorer is looking good...

Raptor has a GIANT tent right opposite the main plaza entrance which hosts a magic show...Don't see many Italian enthusiasts complaining about it...

Is it the vest portion becoming tight mid-ride? Cos that might be a thing they haven't fixed off Raptor yet...

No, I believe that a ride is good if you can sit on any seat and have a good ride... If you have to select a specific seat to have a good and/or enjoyable ride, then the ride just cannot be justified as being good...I've not been on Baco or Swarm, but I can't imagine that Raptor is much different from Swarm, and that was beautifully smooth... Considering the hate Baco gets for being awful in general, I'll lean with the people who say that over saying it's good...

The only majority shared opinion I know of Baco is how dire it is...

I must say that even though I've not been on Swarm, Raptor was anything but rough and jerky... I find this hard to believe...

I'll be turning up late for the record... Like, 1-2 odd, then dossing about with Swarm and some Stealth research stuffage before appearing and annoying the actual group...

Wooo!Time for another 12 months of rise and fall, rage and grace from the enthusiasts... Mostly falling and rage mind...

Well that song is very much an obtuse stretch of PR linkage...I.e. It COULD just be a generic end of the world song, rather than anything to do with Swarm... And it DOES sound like Lost Prophets' "End of the World" song...

Short answer, VERY...

Launch is the same?LSM =/= Hydraulics

And why is Candy Holland taking credit for something she didn't work on?No dear, you gave us Saw and Thirteen...

That video to me it looks like the water jets are slightly out of sync...Doesn't look like the outside seats will get wet either Shame, I liked that aspect of Raptor a lot, but maybe it'll be rectified...

No, cannot access that area of the park until opening day (unless there's a secret insider taking photos this year)...

NOM!Seriously delicious that is...

As has been suggested, cut ERT off the offpeak days, and then keep the 10-5 opening...I see very little slandering on here of Merlin, seems more constructive in the criticism than other forums have been on the issue... People want our parks to be as good as possible, but thinking that losing an hour for many guests is a bad option... Again, what about all those who turn up AFTER 10? They lose out greatly and won't want to go...This could easily backfire for them... Just cos some of us don't ride Subbmission or Enterprise doesn't mean the majority of guests do... Who should be happy about two rides being closed? No-one was particularly happy on here about CCR or Saw Alive's hours (Time Voyagers I discount, because it's truly woeful)...Problem is often with parks is that decisions are made by the higher ups who do not have to encounter the backlash from the choice... Every choice will have issues regardless for one person or another, but quite often it's the staff who deal with guests face to face who have to suffer with problems (Chessie had 3 staff on Falls entrance for how long after the restriction change?)...From the broad point of view, it DOES look bad on the park from the normal guests... To lose an hour on weekends as well is bad... The lack of consistent times looks bad...Who's to say if they returned to normal opening if they would cut Scarefest or the Fireworks? In fact they ALREADY have cut Scarefest hours in that week before half term (which gained a fair amount of people both days I went in the past 3 years, regardless of walk-ons) but now I can't do that... Considering I was still at uni during Half Term, it was much better for me to go those dates, but now I wouldn't want to... Lost custom and food from me and I would guess a fair few others too...It's just generally disappointing, and even if we as enthusiasts know it's part of cost cutting and stuff, no-one likes to see it, as evidenced by the backlash on social media sites...4pm closes are pathetic when nothing else in the country does... Even the indie parks open later on off peak days, so what will people do? Take their custom elsewhere to get some more 'value for money'... Why should a family of 4 go to Towers midweek when Drayton is just a bit further along? And arguably cheaper and with more for kids? By hour standards, they get more hours for a cheaper (on gate) ticket price...They will lose some custom over it... Midweek at Towers is NOTHING like midweek days at Chessie or Thorpe... I've seen Spinball with 30 minute queues midweek, longer than any queues you see on offpeak days at both those others combined...