Benin

I was also there yesterday...After arriving at 10:30 due to my friend Will's train being delayed due to cows on the line (the North eh?), we hit up Oblivion as per the norm...Then for the next several hours we dotted around the park doing all the major rides (as well as Sea-Life, Maurauders Mayhem, Charlie and the Farm)... I have a full trip report on Coasterforce which I was gonna put on here but it didn't like the multitude of photos I had in it... Shame really...There were lots of schoolkids once again... Do schools actually exist in the North? Many from Manc and above it seemed... And they were ALLLL annoying... Especially a small group of whom we had the displeasure of sharing Hex with... Much RAGE was had...Skelvin's Haunted Adventure as I've said wasn't as good as Duel Live last year due to the lack of butler/queue people... That really did add something to the ride, and also didn't involve LOUDNESS... Anyways... When it EVENTUALLY got dark (which took ages due to the clear day), we hit up Nemesis twice front and back, which was running as perfect as can be really... I thought the lights were very good and more turned on as it got darker... In fact the lights around the park were amazing... Katanga hasn't been mentioned enough I don't think and it does look very very good at night... Towers looked bloody brilliant though...We went to do Thirteen at night (which was the main point of the day really), and indeed, were both blown away by how much the dark improves this ride... It's amazing how sometimes night-time riding can so quickly improve a rather average ride into something above average... It was just really weird...Since it had only re-opened due to a breakdown we had no actors first time... So as we got off, we did it again as the actors were now present... 5 in total including 1 wraith (personally wanted more in the area itself) and of course, Thirteen Girl herself, who was and extremely good actor and had everyone in the queue watching her mesmerized... The actors certainly helped improve the already improved dark atmosphere in the queue...Certainly a good, if long, cold and tiring day...Ride CountOblivion - 2Thirteen - 3Rita - 1Nemesis - 3Skelvin - 2Runaway Mine Train - 1Sea-Life - 1Maurauder's Mayhem - 1Charlie - 1Hex - 1Air - 1

Ok, having done this tonight twice at night (front and back), I've now decided that it is so made to be ridden at night in the pitch black... It makes the outdoor section a lot better and improves the atmosphere in the queue ten-fold...I was very suprised by it at night, completely different to normal daytime...The addition of actors amused, and will be covered elsewhere...

Letting the team down there Keith... For shame on you, least I have a valid excuse for not being able to do over the last month

And today it made me learn John Wardley had a hand in Megafobia...Another plus mark for it

Vampire was my first ever coaster so holds a very soft spot in my heart...It is certainly one of the best family rides I have been on, and currently is the best Suspended Swinging coaster in the world (due to the sad demise of Big Bad Wolf and Eagle's Fortress)...The theming within the station obviously diminished (as with many things) during the refurb, but it certainly still has a great piece of atmosphere, what with the epic music (one of the best pieces Tussauds ever did) and the ramp leading down towards the organist...Whilst the ride isn't one of the best layouts or to many doesn't seem to do much at any speed, it does take you around the area and after the second lift hill has three great pieces of action, diving into the main area of Translyvania, the tunnel, and the s-bends into the brakes... It certainly encompasses everything Tussauds put into their coasters at the time, loads of places to view it from, interaction with everything, great theming... Unfortunately, the lack of theming compared to the bat car years does indeed sap something out of it, what with the purple fences and the old entrance standing there un-used, maybe one day they'll find a way of using it again and improving the look of it all...20 years old and is the more famous coaster at Chessie, and certainly has several people smiling afterwards... Simply put, a classic that I hope has a place in the park for many years to come...

This is what happens when I go up north... All the new bits and bobs get missed out on...

Not that ANYONE ran to Rita first in the years it's been open beforehand eh guys?

Evidently not, since that would've been mentioned by someone (*looks at Keith*) by now surely?Which one is it? A return of the old posters would be awesome at any rate...

^So, just because the sponsorship is running out this year doesn't mean they'll be focusing their efforts on it next year... Hence, they may just be doing what I'm guessing, neither of us can 100% say that they'll go one way or the other... It's impossible to tell at this point what they're planning for next year, especially with a lack of any form of planning permission coming in, as I'm sure any form of intensive retheme would cause some change to the building, possibly requiring them to put an application through, the procedure is rather foggy for pre-existing dark rides...But I wouldn't hold my breath for next year for anything other than a minor retheme... If that...

What it needs - A gutting and restart...What we'll get - Minimal 'retheme'... Which involves removing anything IL related and keeping the rest intact...

In addition to HHP, there's a Xbox tie in to contend with it seems...(Taken from events page on main site) They seem to be getting lots of external visitors now do Chessie...

Link fails... Might be a Kingston Council site issue since a quick check leads to me getting confused...

Link is fixed...And well, I did suggest you go and look at their website... You know, actually do some research of your own *shock horror*

Tbh, I don't think this new park's getting talked about enough... It looks fab... Some of those buildings look amazing...For further ride details, I reccomend going to the official site and looking at the promo... It has a complete map...

Of course, you're assuming that Towers or Chessie won't get any rides in the same timeframe, hence you're wrong there...And please, how is Thorpe getting a hotel going to improve it? Actually, the fact you can't even believe leads me to wonder what the hell is going on with today's education... A part of me inside dies when I see spelling like yours in posts...It'll take a lot more than a few flats and coasters for Thorpe to become anywhere near number 1... They need to get the atmosphere back (or indeed, there) into the park first before such things can be considered...Towers will still probably be the best on the overall package... It is now, and it probs still will be in 5 years... But of course, the parks aren't exactly true competitors are they? It's only the enthusiasts who seem to make it like there's some form of war going on between them all...

Sigh... Not at all...All Paultons has for the older kids is Edge and Cobra (Go-Karts as well, but they're pay extra, so discounted), everything else is for kids... A lot more akin to Legoland then really...

YOU see it as a barrier, I see it as a challenge...That is the most likely difference in thought processes going on...I'm not supporting it, just thinking that it's something a bit pathetic to whinge about...

Griffins is the best ride in the park Keith, bar none...

Yes, because the all-mighty chain prevents ALL from it's area...

^A roller-coaster is kind of a no brainer really...But it needs to be reliable...And on a scale of Fury...Sounds like a job for a Gerstlauer Launched coaster...

Berries is a pointless ride... Wouldn't waste 5 minutes on it let alone 40...Should've ridden Griffins more...

They had ONE B&M...The other rides were a Vekoma Mine Train, a Roller Soaker, a Sally dark ride, that Premier Ferris Wheel coaster thing and that was literally about it...The park failed in months because of it's rubbishness and it's location... As well as poor planning and the like...

Why the hell is everyone plugging something atm...Feel like I'm on bloody Coasterforce for crying out loud... Stop it!

No, it looks worse off because it got bugger all major attractions for 10 years... And had hardly any improvements or work done to it over the years...

It's all well and good putting things fans want in but if it's not up to a decent standard then why should people not complain?I mean really, did anyone think when the zone got announced Thorpe would be using old stuff for Miss Hippo? I highly doubt it... If a park isn't gonna put a high amount of effort into something, should we go "oh well at least they tried...", or go "well actually it wasn't that good, here's a list of improvements they should do for next year in order to improve the zone and hence the total event..."No-one's exactly ripping the s*** out of the park are they?