Benin

Now that I've won like 5 sarcasm awards don't I get one to keep? God knows what I'm dedicated to though... Sarcasm? Not going to Thorpe?

Seems that Grona Lund's new Intamin drop tower has peeved the local authority as well, also having its permit removed on environmental grounds (how I don't know, since its in the middle of a park with taller towers); or perhaps Parks Scandinavia (same company as Kolmarden) haven't greased enough palms recently...

I think its nearly done... Maybe? Also the park are getting a Gerst Skyfly next year, perhaps a secret EU law has been passed that demands all parks have one?

Valhalla is overrated to hell and back... The ridiculous levels of wetness and giant warehouse are seemingly given a free pass because I'm guessing it's unique? There's not many 'thrill water dark rides' after all... Like parts of it have good theming but the giant warehouse section is just that, plus most of it is broken anyways... Just always found it weird it's so rated when it's not actually that enjoyable...

To be fair back when we visited in 2011 Movieland spited us due to midweek closure, so Mark can honestly not give a true opinion on the place...

You forgot the two fantastic dark rides in Garda, Ramses and Corsair... I'd also now add in Movieland Studios, which is generally ridiculous yet charming in a weird way, and it's only down the road from Garda! Worth it especially for Magma, U-Boat Simulator, Kitt Jet, Terminator 2 and the multiple shows (the Rambo one in particular)... Plus a dangerous water park for those who want to complete the day... There's also a Togo Stand Up in Italy should anyone visit, and I know certainly next time I go the home made place near Vienna is on the agenda...

Hippopotobus is my new favourite ride name ever, I really hope it literally is a giant hippo as well...

It's a stretch because that's not even true... Nintendo games are insanely detailed as Breath of the Wild shows off... Also, I'm gonna wager that a Mario area will be one part of the puzzle... What about Zelda? Metroid? Donkey Kong? Star Fox? Animal Crossing? The possibilities are endless to bring together lots of various concepts of different games from single series... Luigi's Mansion interactive dark ride anyone? I'll be VERY disappointed if there isn't a Bayonetta meet and greet though...

THORPE TWEETED ABOUT GETTING A HYPER! B&M CONFIRMED!!!!1111

The greatest park border fence ever made!

2001 was just the park trying to balance out because they had nothing remotely thrill ride at the time, like Quantum and Eclipse can actually been termed as family attractions anyway, especially when added with Inferno... It was the right steps for the park at that time as they were actually starting to cater for an audience who weren't visiting... Unfortunately for reasons unknown (Chessie?) the trend didn't stop and we're in a situation today... But it seems that Merlin cannot simply add a family style attraction for some reason... Thirteen is too dark for those on the limit to enjoy, and Derren Brown is an awful misstep to what should be (a dark ride) a massive family attraction... The only family stuff is apparently IAC and Angry Birds Land? Some strange decision making has led to these issues, and the marketing choices especially are part of this...

Is projection mapping that common? Especially as a major component of a ride? Beyond Disney, Asterix's boat ride revamp, Efteling winter things (which Villa Volta aside, is basic stuff), then Smiler and Oblivio's queue lines, where else is really using it to massive degrees? Universal I guess? You'll also notice I said when done right, selective quoting things like that completely misses the point I'm trying to make... Efteling's Villa Volta winter show is unbelievable, and shows the potential of the concept beyond even the stand out moments of Disney Dreams did, and I adore(d) Dreams... Do I believe that Merlin will reach those heights of quality? It's very unlikely, although the projections in Smiler and Oblivio's queues are quite cool, they don't really have a point or role within the attraction apart to look cool... Using it for a finale will mean they need to put ALL of the effort into it and it needs to make sense and have a reason... As a result if it's more akin to Villa Volta than say the Asterix water ride then it'll be a massive plus point for the attraction, and probably make more sense than the fountain finale would... I'm also pretty sure that if the fountains were kept people would moan that the new attraction would just be trading off the past glories of the original... On a hiding to nothing regardless of their decision...

Projection mapping, if it works correctly will be a much more impressive finale than some fountains and strobes, let's be honest here... The fountains were an iconic finale, BUT I'd rather not be reminded of the former ride's glory in the new version...

Universal have been busy bees then in the r&d department... http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2016/12/09/universal-theme-park-patents-tackle-drifting-cars.html

I wouldn't say chucking in two kids rides constitutes looking after an area where the main ride of it has been left moulding for a season...

Being blind (one of the biggest disabilities around) doesn't qualify you for a disabled pass at an amusement park? Yeah, ok then...

Yay for cheap thoughtless quick additions to temporarily plug a hole that needs much more than a Rocking Tug and Frog Hopper to solve...

Ironically though in order to get onto the rides the kid would need to stand up/get out the chair anyway, fortunately even the Mail commenters have noted this factor... Then also why they were queuing when Drayton offer a disabled access scheme calls into question the general sense of the family... Guess with Towers closed they need to pick on someone...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/blind-boy-who-uses-wheelchair-9411533 Parks are seemingly damned if they implement their rules or damned if something bad happens to a guest...

I bet it's a lot easier for the parts to come in from the same country rather than across the entire Atlantic... Plus I'm sure Tussauds at the time were probably quite stumped on cash especially when Thorpe was the pet project at the time...

When Nemesis goes, there will be Katun and Oz'Iris, and by the time they go there'll be new rides to take up the mantle... I'll be sad when Vamps gets killed too, purely from the nostalgic point of view though...

Let's not pretend that Submission and Ripsaw were ever considered major flats... Rewriting history is not a good choice from this perspective... I can't even remember what other major flat has even been removed in the past few years either... Towers has never been the best for support rides anyway, even when Dynamo and Boneshaker existed...

Crash 3 Let's hope they can push a Crash Team Racing remaster whilst we're at it...

Sure when Buccaneer had this happen to it recently there was little to no reaction about it... I doubt Blade is on the chopping block anymore since the SW location changed and seemingly all the enthusiasts were desperate to save it the other year...

But it's clearly not poor for this use as it reaches similar figures of speed and acceleration (obviously a smaller ride needs a lower speed to go over the top)... And also Intamin and PA would've chosen hydraulics since they already know about them, but they didn't, and as much as I take the mick out of Intamin they are the professionals here... As for rider experience, go ride Taron (or iSpeed, or as a novelty, wait until you ride this) before going on about how unsuitable LSMs are for this project... As for the use of brake fins, probably there as a failsafe system to ensure in case of rollbacks or power failure that it actually stops...