Benin

Nah, the term for straights is 'breeders'... Get your info right

Merlin's coming after Blackpool first it seems... Source MeThat is insanely good value and rather surprising to say the least... Merlin to be in charge of Blackpool in the next few years?

^Redoing Vamp's station as well? Two birds one stone... Love it...P.S. Send some flames towards Trucks please...

Lol wut?Please post up the news story for that... Would make my week...

Well, at least Colossus isn't the roughest steel coaster I've been on..2nd roughest now... But, small victories...

^Shame the rest of the park is so awful (barring the dark rides)

Why don't our parks believe that rides (any of them) don't need repainting once they're open? Vampire, Fury, Oblivion to name a few.It's so noticeable how bad our parks are when you go abroad.

Why not invest into Animal Kingdom with anything other than that piece of over-rated tripe though?Potterland envy is what it is, but how a fake world fits into the rather realistic theming of the park (even DINOLAND is realistic) I don't get... I dislike this a lot... At least the other non-Disney IPs (Star Tours/Indy/Aerosmith) suit their parks and areas...This though... URGH... I'll use that meme if I want to because it's quite frankly a stupid idea... Where's Beastly Kingdom when you need it?

Well this was unexpected...

I liked that one of the options was to effectively redo the entire ride...Even with comparisons to the original, I don't want that back, onwards and upwards methinks because an attempt at re-creating the original will never be quite the same...Plus I got to say EVERYTHING was wrong with the new one... Result

Moved into Stoke, house is soooo roomy...This is gonna be a fab 3rd year...

Day 5 – More Mira and Driving to VeronaSo Mirabilandia do a rather epic deal atm, you get 2 days worth for the price of one, even if you really have to commit to it but getting a wristband, wearing it through the night and bringing it in the next day... But we did it for more Katuny goodness...Two more rides on Katun (including front row which had spited us the day before) followed a walk towards iSpeed and extended faff times in the arcade (Terminator 3 pinball ftw)... None of my opinions had changed on these 2 rides, but there was one new ride for the day...DeliriumHonestly, I have no idea what ride type this is or the manufacturer... The easiest way to describe it would be a massive tilted flying jumbos like ride... You could control your height (and get similarly high amounts of airtime) and the tilting aspect of the central arm provided an interesting experience... A bit uncomfortable on the seating but was still a good bit of fun...6/10After this we headed off to Reset to see if it was any better, and it wasn’t really... Oh well...So one last ride on Katun was to be done before some lunch and the trip up to Verona... Which one again involved a massive detour, I really disliked the directions and road-signs... Maybe next time a Sat-Nav can happen... But we eventually got there and were greeted by the strangest hotel on the trip...Indeed, it was probably preparing me for uni once more, as it had more in common with halls than a hotel, with 6 rooms including a massive upstairs empty room, a kitchen (lacking oven) and just essentially everything needed to live... It was quite cool, and it’s balcony was put to great use after a quick trip to the supermarket (and me and John’s long search for a Lidl)... Chat about rides and life happened amongst the drinking... I was later attacked by Mirabilandia duck, which kinda says it all really...

There WERE meant to be interesting developments before I went to Italy...I was expecting at least a lift hill when I came back... Least if Asterix is anything to go by this won't take long to build...

Can imagine so, plus Air doesn't have oil dripping off everywhere... That's the main issue for Colossus...You can always tell with UK construction topics when boredom sets in... Complaining about the colour... I can't wait for the inevitable trim picture to turn up and make everyone angry...

Releasing the inner Raptor...

Swarm is grey, not black for one thing...And why does the track and supports having the same colour matter? Do we want a Silver Bullet look to it?Big coasters often work better as big and evil contraptions, depending on the theme of the ride of course... So why a dark colour shouldn't be chosen when this is the apocalypse, I don't know...Also, I find that darker coasters work well in photos very well, regardless of weather... And really, the colour will affect the ride in absaolutely no way... Here's something I'm gonna throw out here after riding Raptor which will probs be contraversial to a few people... Swarm will probs be the best ride at Thorpe, but it won't be the most intense due to the very nature of the ride...And if you are of considerable girth, forget it...

Major rides done, we decided it would be nice to relax and hence walked around for a bit before deciding the ride the Monorail...MonorailRather airy trains and gives some nice views of iSpeed and the rest of the park, however, we did sit on the wrong side of the train so missed most of these... And the fact it’s at the back of the park and doesn’t stop again to me makes little sense or point... Oh well, it was an air conditioned sit down...We decided to grab a bite to eat to keep going, and enjoyed a terrace meal on the lake, feeding sparrows and wondering why loud noises were coming from the opposite side of us... So we headed over to investigate...MonosaurusThis dinosaur themed monorail ride is SO stupid... Go around, look at stationary models, have a long walk through the exit... It makes Legoland’s SkyRider look good... The models were entertaining but only due to the stupid poses they were in... Silly ride...3/10More faff ensued before we elected on heading towards the flight themed area (me neither) of the park...ColumbiaThese two S&S Towers are quite a landmark for the park personally, and appear a lot in images and posters... However as the Drop side (Discovery) was long, we went on the shot tower instead... And like every other S&S tower, it was exactly the same ride experience... Good, but nothing special...7/10All other rides finished, it was time to photograph and ride Katun, getting 3 more in and lots of pretty pictures... Mirabilandia is a very good park in the end, with two class coasters and a solid back-up of rides... Whilst it has no themed areas as such, the theming the park has works very well, and the chart music works a lot better in this respect as it’s rather background and a good mix of listenable things... Complete opposite of Thorpe’s singular genre choice really...I enjoyed the park, and can only wonder why people don’t mention Katun as much as they should...

After the show, it was time to continue the car theme and head over to the park’s 2nd big coaster...iSpeedApple naming rights aside, iSpeed has a well done atmosphere around it even though you can’t see most of the ride from the outside or the queue... But what you do see is the trains dashing around madly refusing to lose pace at any point in the ride...After a dull shaded queue, we reached the station and this is when I realised this was not a hydraulic launch, but rather LSMs, making it a lot more like Maverick than I thought it would be...After a quick speil the launch happens, and boy is it fast... No wonder Intamin thought the hydraulic launch was a bit poor now, fast and powerful and barely needs the same amount of space as the others... The top hat provided a great dose of airtime as did the hill afterwards, even with the trims attached onto it...The rest of the ride is a complete blur, with twists, turns, loops and dives coming at you thick and fast... It’s amazing how it keeps the speed on it throughout the entire course all the way to the random MCBR above the station... Also random was how the final turn swooped up into about 2 feet of brakes which then went down into MORE brakes... Why did THAT happen?However, as great as the ride and layout is, there is one major issue... And just like Maverick, it’s the restraint system... Intamins just do not agree with my neck and corners with their OTSRs, and iSpeed was no exception... If they could fix this issue this (and Maverick) would make it into my top 10 no question, but because I need to constantly brace myself in order to enjoy it fully, it loses marks for that... A real shame that it’s so easily ruined...9/10On our way to the next attraction, we discovered a ride which perked our interest so much we had to experience it...Crazy HouseMost random experience on a flat ride for a while... Spinning, talking and random effects are the order of the day here, and it was worth it just for the sheer randomness it produced... Great fun and I think more parks should have these... Could be easily modified into some rather interesting concepts and themes...8/10Distraction aside, it was time to head towards the only dark ride of the park...ResetReset is so far away from the rest of the park it’s unbelievable, indeed, it could easily be classed as a car park dark ride as it’s closer to that than the park itself... It does and doesn’t work with the theme, as the apocalyptic theme works as you wander further away from the hustle and bustle (with some great music Swarm needs to be inspired by) but it’s just so out of the way it didn’t have much of a people atmosphere, which at a theme park is sometimes needed...However, into the dark corridors we went and straight onto the ride, where the weird shooting system annoyed me as well as the lack of story... It is apparently explained in tv form in the queue, but as one didn’t exist, we knew not why the world had ended, or what we were meant to be doing... Even a Portal Personality Core couldn’t help matters... Probably not helped by Huntik’s awesomeness two days before, but it just didn’t seem to have a really engaging narrative and seemed even more mish-mashy than Duel... Just didn’t enjoy it as well as I thought I would...6/10Walking back from Reset, we noticed that Depth Charge’s clone had no queue, so we went on...Blu RiverIt’s Depth Charge, only you can’t ride by yourself... And I lost my hat on it into the channel, however, this did work in my favour as a soaked through hat was bloody amazing in the hot weather...6/10We then did iSpeed again where we met the wonderful FABio ride op, who ensured that idiots trying to jump into the shorter normal queue from the longer front row queue were sent to the back, always like seeing staff do their job effectively even on empty days... Well done...After bracing myself, it was time for some more water ride action...AutoSplashAn unique Log Flume theme here which perhaps could have a lot more going on for it... With only two drops and a random tunnel between them it’s definitely not the best version of it’s type, especially as it suffers from the first drop being wetter than the final drop, and the tunnel actually has absolutely nothing in it... But still the water was well received in the heat...6/10

Day 4 – MirabilandiaSo after an entire night of being excited about Katun it was time to head over to the park, however, on the way there, the Italian Rozzers pulled us over to do one of their random checks... This seems to happen a lot and nothing was wrong, but you still can’t help feeling awkward and worried...Check over, we were set on our merry way down the road and getting closer and closer to the park, and then, we were there...After a short while the turnstiles opened to the sound of Queen... Or at least, Mira’s cover of “We Will Rock You”, certainly got us pumped for the day and worked nicely with the walk into the park...Of course, there was only one ride we were going to ride first...KatunSometimes you come across a ride that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves... Katun is certainly top of that list, even though it appears in Mitch Hawker’s top 10, very few enthusiasts talk about it in the same way as say Nemesis and a few of the more well known rides... Even the park doesn’t seem to go on about it, feeling rather modest about it’s existence and how good it is...The ride is all Aztec themed and is really nicely done, with the lift dominating the nearby area for all to see... We headed straight for the back row and once the train was filled to the fullest, we were off up the lift hill...What followed was quite simply the best inverted first drop I have ever encountered... It truly was remarkable how the turn just whipped the entire train out to the right as it dived right towards the ground and the massive loop... This part alone just made the ride awesome, and the rest of the ride needed to keep this up...It does... The inline that followed was taken perfectly, as was the brilliantly designed turn into the Cobra Roll and the helix that followed... This was built in 2000, so was definitely built at the right time, just before B&M started going more ‘safe’, but the way the ride is designed is perfect... Even the MCBR doesn’t make it lose speed, and the two corkscrews and finale helix make the ride THE complete package, and sent it soaring up to number 2 on my top 10, just narrowly behind Nemesis...They are similar, yet opposite sides of the spectrum... But Katun deserves more recognition, as it is just as good as Nemesis if not (in some circles) better than it... Completely different rides, yet just as good as each other... Damn perfect ride, just only thing missing is an amazing soundtrack to go with it...10/10A second go on Katun later and we decided to hit up some other coasters just in case the park got busy, so it was time to experience the dodgy Chessington clones section of the park, starting with...ExplorerRunaway Train but without the theming and a rather strange train design for what is really a Mack... Plus the exit is actually longer than the actual queue... It made little sense and wasn’t particularly good ride experience... Distinctly average and the way in which it slowed down mid-way through the second lap was just pointless... Give me Chessie anyday for this...4/10PakalThis strange Rattlesnake clone was again a lesser themed cousin of Chessie... However, a slightly different layout and smoothness in the first section made it rather enjoyable... The lack of brakes in the second half however made the ride become rough and generally insane... A rather interesting ride but it serves a much better role than it’s English cousin, especially with better throughput and ride in direct comparison, although better theming would make it really good...6/10After this, we headed towards the new coaster...Max Adventures - Master ThaiThis family mobius coaster had suffered some delays with construction from Preston, and it certainly shows in the ride portion, as the excellent entrance and station theming doesn’t extend all the way through to the ride itself... It’s also a rather weird ride as you get to do both sides without getting off, which is a plus as you don’t have to get off and queue again, but it also makes the ride itself seem a bit weird and paceless...Either way, the ride itself is cool, you can see the ideas behind it were sound, as the racing/duelling aspect does work even if out of sync, and it has a lot of speed and airtime on what looks like a rather meh ride... If it had better theming it would be a solid family ride but it’s certainly different and enjoyable...6/10After the Drakkar incident from Rainbow we elected to head towards the Rapids here a lot earlier than last time, so next up...Rio BravoSet alone on it’s own island, you see very little of these Rapids when off-ride, hence much is hidden away and becomes much more of a surprise when you ride it, and these were a surprise as they were rather good fun... Less themed than Drakkar but still very good fun, getting John wet as per the norm...8/10Wetness over, it was time for the smaller coasters of the park to take over, starting with...Family AdventureAt first I thought this was to be similar to Hansa’s Roland, but I was surprised to see it was just simply a larger version of Bomborun with older trains... Rode exactly like Bombo as well, just slightly longer and had a few head choppers throughout it... Was certainly a fun enough family coaster...6/10Lepretto ExpressThe vegetable patch themed coaster was a real surprise... Probably the best kiddie coaster I’ve ever been on as it was full of airtime and had a good amount of forces and drops for what it was... Completely threw me off and was actually really enjoyable... 7/10After that, we realised that the Stunt Show was about to begin, so we headed in, grabbed a Cornetto and watched it... Police Stunt ShowThe beginning of this was rather bland, full of boring slow language based sections that to me aren’t always great on an International scale, hence why Moteurs Action is poor in my eyes yet Asterix’s stunt show was epic...However, once stuff started happening, it was pretty epic, and deserves some points for that alone... Plus it had a CHOPPAAAAAAAAAAAA!7/10

Day 3 – Driving to RavennaSo after 12 hours of a busy Magicland we needed to begin our trek across the country north towards our next destination and park, so leaving at 12 with car packed up we began the 5 hour journey towards Ravenna...The first half was pretty uneventful, as the roads were empty and as signs for cities were more regular than Magicland’s, we were able to keep track much more simply... After about 2 and a half hours, we reached Perugia, which was elected as our stop-off point...We were all rather hungry, so the search for food began down a long and winding hill, where we eventually arrived at...Yep, it was time for Italian McDonalds, whilst not too different from our own versions, it’s always nice to have a bit of familiarity in your food, as well as some differences...Pistachio McFlurry looked VILE...We trekked back up the hill to our car and began the second half of the journey, where I decided to actually take photos this time...Along our way, we were diverted off the dual carriageway onto the most mountainous road I have ever experienced in a car... It made the route to Towers look flat, and was as beautiful as it was nerve-wracking... We did realise then why so many drivers come to Italy to just drive around, because it’s such a nice countryside and can be extremely relaxing...Eventually we arrived at Ravenna, but not before we got some glimpses of what awaited us on the next day...

Busch Gardens there DEPISE Intamin for whatever reason... Hence why their new drop tower (that does everything Intamin do) isn't one... Reputation proceeds them perhaps but they just point blank refuse to work with them... And considering how often their shoulder restraints attempt to behead me (iSpeed being the latest) I never am excited for Intamins like that...In other news, the Golden Tickets have been announced, like they ever change in 90% of the categories...http://goldenticketawards.com/award_winners.html

Did someone say bird's eye view?NOM NOM NOM!

Oh bleh, I thought that was on the thing... Meh...Yeah, it has LAP BARS <3

Found a press release for it actually, it's already better than Cheetah Hunt purely for one stat...

Who was good tonight...Shame the next one has James Corden