Benin

Until the parks aren't owned by Merlin then they will never look at doing things the way those on the continent do it... Especially when our smaller family run parks are basically surviving purely on the basis of an IP themed land... Plus the whole difference in markets... Look at how different the Nordic parks operate for example... Though Gruffalo can only be considered an improvement over Imperial Leather Bubbles mind...

Bob will reopen this year, to be closed next year for some new duelling cred(s)...

I don't like how the K3 stuff is just a re-purpose of the OVER-SIZED themeing... They could do a lot more... Like what's being done to the the Log Flume... Which I'm not a big fan of either, as it's going to clash RIDICULOUSLY with the castle and Heidi areas...

Flamingoland has a +1 carer maximum, Efteling it varies per ride (so Flying Dutchman is +2 carers, others +1, some +3, no disabled on Dreamcred), but it depends on the person in question... Sure some would need 2/3 carers to ensure safety throughout (plus I think the numbers is more to aid with evacuation procedures as well, as in some cases 1 would simply not be enough) though so it's hard to pin-point an exact number... Saying that, I always used to turn a blind eye to groups of 5/6, but at the same time the amount of people I had to explain how it worked to was ridiculous... Always a lack of communication on these matters...

A LOT of the invisible ones do not directly mean a person cannot queue, hell I've even seen group trips for Down's Syndrome people go through the normal queue because they want their day to be as 'standard' as possible... Perhaps the change should be more towards the 'branding' rather than rules, as the system as it is works well but perhaps isn't used properly by staff? Amount of times staff don't sign the passes it's no wonder people feign stuff to get it...

Phantasialand and Movie Park both said "NEIN!" (obviously nicely, but German is a very aggressive language ) Port Aventura also deny it if you're not utterly broken, which is where the issue lies for the most part... What constitutes as a disability in one park might not elsewhere... Think PA reserve it for wheelchair users only (which is slightly ridiculous, as not everyone needs to be in one)...

There's no disabled system in place at the likes of Phantasialand or Europa (or any German park) due to the laws... It's a bit of a weird one... It's only the Merlin parks that seem to have such an issue though, not sure what BPB is like with disabled passes, but the ones in Europe with them seem to be fine (DLP does struggle on certain rides though, BTM especially)... 10 years ago we were told as staff to batch a ratio of 60:40 for standard to Fastrack... One can only assume this has changed significantly over the years, and the way in which RAP is termed this days as "free Fastrack" does not help the idea behind it... Short of changing it to be must have a blue badge or PIP (I.e. the government has checked this person and determined that they are disabled in such a way that it affects their quality of life) they are limited to what they can do, as even some people who have been classed as disabled by doctors aren't by the government (because they're backwards morons)...

Propose that every further mention of a ride that's closed forever being shut for someone's visit should result in automatic £5 donation to the Benin fund (or an actual charity)...

Bound to be a few B&Bs in Rust if your budget can't stretch to the on-site hotels... No idea on cheap tickets though...

To be fair, half of the attractions at other Halloween events are scare zones with roaming actors, so Thorpe are just falling in line with everyone else...

This is probably the main difference between many of the IMAScore compositions, there is a vast mix of styles and genres done by them, but the quality of any soundtrack will be determined by how solid and sensible the brief is that is given to them in the first place... It's also seemingly more noticeable in re-done tracks than new ones mind...

Construction is certainly soaring...

I've seen a few of those spinning drum rides in Germany and Holland, but never on an actual like, centre platform... Looks horrid...

IMAScore giveth, IMAScore taketh away... Hutson is a fellow goon is he not?

I had the old Det FN music stuck in my head the other day for no discernible reason... All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put YOU back together again! I forget the second part of the "We the children are in control" spiel though...

Think with the luck of the English half term not being same time as the Dutch worst you might see is 90 for the biggest attractions (Baron/Symbolica/etc)... But there's plenty of stuff to do at Efteling anyway...

To be fair, the 2000s did bring us Fury, so can't be entirely bad... Just, slightly less than utter awfulness given the loss of... Pretty much most of the park...

BRING ON THE WALL! (LINK)

'Old' Chessington being a 2003 addition makes me cry...

Enough salt on here to season all the chippies on the promenade...

The writing was on the wall for ages wasn't it? Mothballed for years and the lack of 3D glasses the final nail... Sigh... EDIT - This is however my favourite piece of marketing from Merlin - https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-56579148.html

I wasn't sold on the ride portion until the dash under the legs, but of course they are extremely limited to what they could do what with the lack of space... Station and queueline are fantastic mind, and a single rider queue as well...

I don't think anywhere in America (aside from Disney, obviously) is particularly great for throughputs, nor are they completely terrible, just... average... Six Flags have a really poor reputation but the quality varies drastically...

#topbantz