Benin

No time travellers came back at the Trump inauguration today, can only assume the world is destroyed before we figure it out...

That Nintendo Switch announcement was... poor... The price point is slightly too high, especially without a packaged game (1-2-Switch SHOULD be included, much like Wii Sports/Nintendoland), and the launch titles just seem sparse (LoZ looks amazing though)... I'm holding off until Christmas methinks, if I'm REALLY desperate to play Zelda I'll get the Wii U version, but a Christmas with Zelda AND Mario is something to be enjoyed...

As long as they got the new suspended trains that would be perfect...

One thing I do hope is also in the park's thoughts is the public transport, and improving that as it's worse than Towers...

A B&M eh? Fantastic news for the park right there, it did lack a truly iconic ride (although Troy did do that to a degree) and this should certainly put them on the map...

Really does look like Derren doesn't want to be associated with this erm..... Train wreck...

Where's Griffon's? Half decent line up that is given the visitor numbers and construction going on...

https://www.altontowers.com/theme-park/ Hex and Driving School are back out of the ones closed last year, however Toadstool is closed (but listed under refurbishment) and Ice Age is also off the list... Terry and Charlie remain closed, though Terry remains on the list...

Rip Off The Dimwits?

I would suggest that a lot of it would depend on the park's requirements/demands from the soundtrack... Chiapas has several variants on the theme throughout the ride changing along constantly, so IMAScore can do stuff like that, guess though many parks won't desire that level of commitment as it costs top monies... Klugheim is similar, but nowhere near as catchy imo... The best theme park tunes are the repetitive ones after all, even Tussauds knew that... A lot of park music relies on the context though, hearing it outside of the ride/park doesn't work really, I thought Blue Fire's soundtrack was iffy for years until I actually heard it properly and it suddenly clicked into place... IMAScore's success is certainly hard branding and also no doubt being a sudden dedicated signpost for themed music... Parks no longer need to source a composer and just get one company to do it... They saw a gap in the market and it's worked...

And nothing of value was lost...

Which ones of theirs have you heard on park btw? The Magic Valley at Toverland is probably the best example of their ambient stuff, though I guess it's dependant on what the parks want really... Wervelwind's soundtrack is bloody spectacular too...

Mention IMAScore and don't post Chiapas? What a mess...

Least its accurate then...

There won't be an issue, I owned one when I went to Cali many moons ago now... Of course your best bet is always to contact their AP teams anyway for detailed information...

Maybe they're making it good?

10:30 is nothing short of laughable, especially with 5pm closes...

5 year gap between major coasters is fine for any big park... The problem is that the investments between these periods range from ok to questionable to who agreed to this?

They haven't even built the sodding hotel yet and they're expanding the offerings? Bit overboard tbh...

Saw resulted in one of Thorpe's highest annual attendances, whilst Thomas Land and Peppa Pig World turned around the fortunes of their respective parks... Paultons especially... They are quite successful, although it is important that the quality of the attraction(s) represents the branding, otherwise they wouldn't be successful...

Not in the budget I'd guess...

Everything under this should just (and does at many other parks) happen... It's that simple...

Given that there's nothing to be excited about in terms of new additions or no news on Loggers, it's no surprise that people are pessimistic about it reopening... I do think saying Merlin is anti-coaster is weird though, purely because one major investment was a dark ride? If anything they're anti-flat ride...

Why are we comparing a non Merlin spruce up to Gruffalo? W&G makes zero difference as it's a different park and company behind it... Oblivio is decent, that's about it though, those few pieces of theming around the drop are all you get in terms of that... Building is still bland and the queue just reuses an old tent from before... I do love the old arguments that come from these things... YOUVE NOT RIDDEN IT SO CANT DECIDE IF IT'S GOOD! I think you'll find we can, I know Project V will be dull and a Soarin rip off because of expectations, so with this until Merlin subvert our expectations with pushing the boat out on a new addition, not just focusing on USPs and putting full on effort in we can expect this to be minimal effort based on all their other additions, because that's what Merlin do...