Benin

Nothing ever goes wrong when people pin insanely high expectations on something new... Nothing at all... As for best park Josh, Thorpe still had equal shares of problems, Mothers being closed, continuation of breakdown issues that have plagued the park for years, Darren Brown in general and probably some other issues... Towers still trades off the name and history, which is still probably the best overall park in the country even through all the issues...

Time Machine is dreadfully vomtastic, and also it's at a park that isn't Thorpe or Merlin so it's not got a good ridership on here... Not a good flat ride...

Two things tonight then; Russian ambassador in Turkey shot and a hostage situation going on... Berlin marketplace gets a truck ploughing through it, currently 9 confirmed dead at time of writing... 2016 has been just dreadful...

I'd guess even a full queue would only take about 15 minutes with 5 trains on German efficiency... Also omg contactless creds <3

Yes, but it buggered up the building because LOL MERLIN...

I've not been since the fire was added, so I'm gonna assume the screens are used as fire effects? Probably the best way to do them imo given they can't use real fire and other methods can look really cheap and awful...

One person's acceptable is another's awful... And let's be honest, things being 'acceptable' is half of the problems within the parks atm... I've not bothered because the crux of the attraction literally doesn't interest me, and that the main technological draw of the whole thing doesn't work otherwise it destroys the building says it all about the project...

Problem is that County Hall does not lend itself to a sensible layout (similar to Blackpool's really), so there's so many dead spots throughout of just walking from scene to scene... This can help with throughputs but at the same time it's just very much a drag due to the constant stairs and whatnot... What's actually wrong with the Ripper scenes now? I remember being much more impressed when it first opened there as they pretty much did exactly what the scene needed, opened it up to more scares that weren't obvious due to the fencing on the ledge... I also don't remember that many screens Jamie I must admit, unless its all the head projections for most scenes? Certainly an improvement over the bland talking man videos in the old place...

Sentiments sound similar to my reaction when riding it in Vienna earlier this year, it is overhyped, but I believe that is more so down to it being the biggest travelling cred around... It's world famous in coaster circles which in itself is no mean feat... Saying that though it is a ride which I could happily sit on for ages due to the smoothness, and is just great fun... It's not a top 10 ride but I never expected it to be that in the first place so it never worried me... Like most Schwarzkopf rides there's also an air of legacy around them and tales of intensity, plus with this being a relatively rare cred there was probably a lot of "boasting" about it, which was really funny when last year was meant to be it's last Oktoberfest and now it's in London... Foolish smug goons... One thing I have seen though is that it's location at Winter Wonderland is bloody awful... At Vienna it was right at the very back of the park with nothing really around it, akin to a Disney castle of all things... You saw it from afar and just kept getting closer and closer, in London it seems like it's been squeezed in at a detriment to the ride's look and draw, which are the most important factors for a fairground ride... A shame really as it was impressive to watch...

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...