Coaster

Sub - Terra has been closed for four days now. Anyone know why?

This post sums up Chessington's current state to be honest, it's just poor to be still operating so badly this far into the season yet charging guests full price. I don't know why people still visit to be honest. Once upon a time, Blackpool had the best throughputs out of any park in the UK. Sadly those times are long gone

Glad they've released the details already... ... I know which days to avoid now!

Hope it's not Lightwater, I remember there being rumours towards the end of last year that Whirlwind was going.

Yep, and I'm sure that fans of Alton Towers are so because they prefer the rides there.It's a matter of personal opinion, I prefer BPB's rides by a long shot but can see why some prefer those at Alton, it's down to what you enjoy in a coaster.

27th & 28th May 2015 - Trip Report We had two good days at Alton Towers, ride operations were spot on most of the time with rides on full capacity and dispatch times were really good most of the time. However, a 5:30pm close in May half term is awful, even Chessington offers better than that so I'm not sure why Alton Towers close so early - especially considering how long you spend walking around, a later closing time would be nice. I'm not sure what happened - maybe it's because I have been spoiled by visiting BPB a lot more already this season than I have done in the past or just more parks in general, but we really didn't find many of the rides thrilling. We got off The Smiler (which was the first thing we went on) and out thoughts were "I remembered it being much more thrilling than that." Then we went on Oblivion, which had me in hysterics - it's over before it starts! I'm not sure why I used to enjoy this coaster so much, but I guess there's only so many times that you can find one drop thrilling. Nemesis was still much enjoyed, it's a fantastic coaster and I could have spent all day re-riding that (if the SRQ was still there - but more on that further down). The Smiler was also running better once it had rained, and Thirteen and Spinball were nice, but when I get off some coasters I'm buzzing with adrenaline and want to go straight back on, this wasn't the case with any apart from Nemesis. Hex and Duel are brilliant dark rides and I was impressed to see the second green thing in the great hall room of Duel (holding the rat) was moving again, it's been broken for years so it's good that they have got it working again. The biggest negative for me was the removal of the single rider queue on Nemesis. It's the only coaster at the park that I rate really highly, and the main appeal for me personally of visiting Towers was to re-ride it a lot, as most other coasters are average (not bad) IMO. A few points I noted: - Duel is in quite good condition, I was impressed with the lighting changes and working effects. - Rita's launch smoke was working, as well as occasional smoke coming from the vehicle by Nemesis - it's good to see these working again, maybe this time they'll stay working! - Skyride didn't open until nearly 12 noon on Sunday which was a bit of a pain to be honest. - Sub Terra has lost it's appeal for me, it was good when I first went on it but the reduction in actors and effort from the ones still there has made it less of an enjoyable experience IMO. - The park looks quite tired and in need of a facelift in places, especially Dark Forest and The Smiler (already). - Do not buy a double burger from the Courtyard BBQ, they have a very underhand tactic here and if you buy a double burger, the two burgers are smaller than if you buy a single one, meaning that you are paying more for the same amount of food. - I think that letting everyone in at 9am is a bad idea, as the queue for The Smiler builds up and was overflowing from the extension queue before the ride even opened on both days. We did enjoy the visit but I can't see myself returning this year - I was underwhelmed by the park as a whole this time, and it has lost a lot of its appeal for me by not being able to re-ride Nemesis. Saturday 27th May 2015: PARK OPEN: 10am - 5:30pm RIDES CLOSED: Enterprise RIDECOUNT: Nemesis x3 Duel x3 Oblivion x3 (Only because it was in the same area as Smiler and had a short queue! ) The Smiler x2 Sonic Spinball x2 (TIP: If it's raining use the SRQ as they only fill up the cars in 3's so it moves quickly). Thirteen x2 Air x2 The Flume x1 Congo River Rapids x1 Nemesis Sub Terra x1 Sunday 28th May 2015: PARK OPEN: 10am - 5:30pm RIDES CLOSED: Enterprise, Nemesis Sub Terra (although this may have been open in the morning, I wasn't in the area so don't know). RIDECOUNT: Nemesis x6 Duel x4 Thirteen x2 Air x2 The Smiler x1 Oblivion x1 Hex x1 Rita x1 Blade x1 I did some filming around Nemesis so took a few photos as well, but apart from that I didn't take any so here's a few random pictures of Nemesis There was smoke here but not when I took the photo - typical! Sorry it was a bit of a half - hearted effort at a trip report but thanks for reading anyway.

I agree that 20 years old is a much more significant milestone, but they didn't celebrate that either.

Now that's how you operate an amusement park! Great TR.

Thanks for the updates Groundwork seems to be progressing nicely now.

So we get to blame Merlin? Yay! In all seriousness though I think that whoever controls the budget Thorpe gets is to blame, they can only work with what they're given and it clearly isn't enough.

Couldn't S13 be built up in the marquee by Swarm or in one of their old maze tents? I don't recall the structure of the maze being attached to the building, therefore couldn't it theoretically be put up somewhere else?

Nice to see it back open. Thorpe's first day of full ride availability this season.

Here, here! I've just spent two days at Alton Towers and not once did they start a coaster on low capacity! I know they save money on opening times (they are dire), but it still doesn't excuse Thorpe's complete lack for care of the customers enjoyment. If 110 minutes isn't demand then what is?!

The Big One, the ride that put BPB on the map and brought the park to where it is today has reached 21 years old. Now why the hell haven't they even bothered to even acknowledge this? Alton Towers have brought out specific merchandise, and added "21" signs (may be cheaply done but at least it's something) for Nemesis, yet once again BPB fail to cash in on what could have been a good celebration. Failing that, at least some acknowledgement would be nice, but they haven't even bothered with that. I'm not sure what is going on with the management at the moment but they seem to be missing so many opportunities - why is Vampire Beach still only one day, why don't they sell merchandise (when they do it's the same old stuff all the time - they could have brought out loads of "21 years of The Big One" merchandise) and finally, why haven't they even bothered to celebrate the birthday of the most significant coaster in the park's history?

It's the only one I've ridden, and I really enjoyed it. I wasn't making a comparison to other Boomerangs, just pointing out that it was a good coaster.

PARK OPEN: 11am - 8pm RIDES CLOSED: None! Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach is a good amusement park, it takes advantage of walking trade with ride tokens as well as wristbands, and the 8pm close was good. It's worth noting that it poured down with rain from 1pm - 5pm which cleared out the park, but despite it being absolutely dead in the afternoon, they still stayed open until 8pm rather than closing early - BPB take note! Obviously the park isn't full of high quality theme park attractions, but it's an amusement park and doesn't pretend to be anything else. The atmosphere is fantastic with music playing on several of the attractions and the park bustling with life (well, until the rain). This was our first visit to the park so here's a review of some of the attractions; The wooden roller coaster (which I think is simply called "Roller Coaster") is fantastic fun. Don't expect anything on the level of BPB's woodies, but some of the drops are great and I got a lot of airtime at some points on the back. The fact that the ride isn't actually attached to the rails and requires a breakman to sit on the train adds to the thrill, as well as making it unique. It's great to see parks maintaining wooden coasters, this one in particular dates back to 1928 and is still going strong today. Evolution is fantastic, it leaves you hanging upside-down for ages whilst spinning and swinging, I've never been on anything quite like it but I really enjoyed it. From watching the ride it looked slow, boring and uncomfortable, but it's now my favourite flat ride, taking over from Slammer at Thorpe. Haunted Hotel is an enjoyable ghost train. There is lots of scenery but unfortunately it is let down by poor lighting meaning that you can barely see any of it under normal lighting conditions of the ride. I hate attractions that do that, I don't see the point in having scenery if you can't see it. Thankfully the ride op kindly let us ride with the lights on, meaning that we could see everything and it was much better. I wouldn't have ridden it so many times but I really felt awful towards the end of the day so it was a break from the other rides. This log flume is evil! It's good fun but the second drop (which is tiny) goes straight into a corner with a tiny splash zone, therefore the person at the front (which was me) gets absolutely drenched as a whole wave of water comes over the side! Also, the splash on the final drop sailed straight past everyone and landed straight on the person at the back, who said it "was like having two buckets of water thrown at you." It's still a great log flume, and in the right weather would be really good. Family Star is a spinning coaster which I rate higher than Magic Mouse at Brean, it was good and the fact that it spins throughout the whole layout makes it better. Very odd name though! Whirlwind is a new spinning coaster which was tiny, but was still enjoyable considering that and a good kiddie coaster. RIDECOUNT: Roller Coaster x13 Haunted Hotel x8 Family Star x3 Evolution x2 Whirlwind x2 Waltzer x2 Fun House x2 Dodgems x2 Snail Ride x2 Mulan x2 Log Flume x1 (The tiny drop is deceptive! It goes straight into a corner meaning that the person at the front gets soaked!) Sky Drop x1 Monorail x1 Big Apple x1 4D Cinema x1 Freefall (mini spinning drop tower) x1 Twister x1 TOTAL: 45 Photos! Most of these were taken after park close. Roller Coaster, this is great fun; The ride on the right is Whirlwind; Haunted Hotel; Evolution, an amazing flat ride; We also had a brief visit to Joyland (about a mile away from the Pleasure Beach) and went on The Snails, Tubs ride and Spook Express (£1 per ride) which were a bit hilarious! Although I'm not joking when I say that I got airtime on the snails! Thanks for reading.

PARK OPEN: 10am - 5pm RIDES CLOSED ALL DAY: The Tide Traveller, Laser Labyrinth (Enigma opened in the afternoon due to a technical issue). Overall, we really enjoyed Pleasurewood Hills. It helped that the park wasn't very busy, meaning that re-rides were plentiful. It's a nice place overall, the countryside setting gives the park a similar feel to Oakwood, however it's not on a massive hill which we were thankful for when walking around! Atmosphere is the biggest improvement needed IMO, as there is no music played beyond the main entrance (apart from themed music on a few attractions). I think that the music playlist at the entrance should be played around the park as well, as there wasn't any atmosphere which was a shame. I was really glad that there was no fastpass system at this park, it's probably one of the only theme parks left in the UK that hasn't gone down that horrible route. Seeing as it was my first visit, and for the benefit of people who haven't visited, I'll review some of the rides; Enigma is a really fun coaster, don't expect anything amazing but it throws you about a bit (which is good), has a surprising amount of force for such a small ride and is just generally good fun. It also wins the award for the most brutal brake run in the history of roller coasters from my point of view! Wipeout, fantastic coaster and I would have loved to re-ride this a lot more (considering that it had no queue all day) but unfortunately I was quite ill all weekend, and therefore only managed five goes as I was suffering from severe headaches - still, nothing stops theme park trips! The coaster is really quite forceful in places which surprised me, although I do still marginally prefer Revolution at BPB due to the airtime. Hobs Pit is an amazing attraction. POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD It's a really well done ghost train with a walkthrough and pre-show before the ride, and exit corridor which has "Hob" talking in a menacing way and sometimes an actor. The ride uses lots of clever effects such as holograms, projected pits, bodies coming through the wall, as well as rotting flesh smell effects, lots of gory scenery and sound effects of "Hob" talking throughout. The walkthrough section also has projected bugs on the floor (accompanied by leg ticklers), a claustrophobia tunnel complete with skeleton and the pre-show features a miner getting stabbed in the eye... lovely! For a relatively small budget (£500,000) this dark ride is brilliantly themed, and whilst there are some dead spots and some of the effects could be executed better, I was really impressed with this and would consider it to be in my top 5 dark rides. It just goes to show that you don't need a massive budget to create a good dark ride, just creativity. Purely for point of comparison, I would put this well above Nemesis Sub Terra at Alton Towers or Saw Alive at Thorpe Park. Actors are also used well in the walkthrough parts and at the end of the ride as well, quite convincing even if they did seem disappointed that "we didn't die!" Marble Madness is a standard travelling mouse coaster which came from Flamingoland, but it's a fun coaster and runs three cars fairly efficiently in comparison to the other coasters. Wave Breaker is much better than Depth Charge at Thorpe, I'm sure the dingy actually left the slide for a second! Hyper Drive is a strange concept, it would have been much better without the bit in the middle, and if they were using more than six cars! Fireball is a KMG afterburner. I'd heard that it didn't go all the way up, this wasn't the case on our go as it did, but juddered in an alarming fashion causing us to get thrown upwards, which I haven't experienced on any other examples of this ride. Was still fun though! Jolly Rodger drop tower is good and quite forceful, think Detonator at Thorpe but slightly better (IMO). We really enjoyed the day, but I do have to question how they would cope on a busier day as operations were not great - I'll list a few examples. - Enigma only has one train, which seats 8 people. This wasn't too much of a problem on our visit, however I hate to think about the queues it gets on busy days considering that it also has an offload station, which takes more time (it was clearly designed to run more than one train). - Only six Dodgems in operation on Hyper Drive and five on the Mini Dodgems, meaning that these attractions built up queues even on quiet days. - Hobs Pit only has three cars. Again not a problem today. - Wave Breaker was only operating one side out of two, leading to long queues despite the park being quiet. Luckily we managed to catch it without a queue. RIDECOUNT: Enigma x7 Wipeout x5 Jolly Roger (Drop Tower) x5 Hobs Pit x4 Rattlesnake x3 (Clone of Treetops at Oakwood, but runs better and slightly better themed. Stayed on as there was no queue). Marble Madness x2 Kite Flyer (aka horrible flying toast rack) x2 Timber Falls Log Flume x1 Wave Breaker Dingy Slide x1 Fireball x1 Hyper Drive (New Dodgems) x1 Mini Dodgems x1 Chairlift x1 Mini Train x1 Tales of the Coast x1 TOTAL: 36 Photos! Note that most of these were taken after 5pm, hence why the park looks so quiet. Wipeout, a fantastic Vekoma Boomerang; Enigma, a surprisingly fun coaster; Hobs Pit is brilliant, so good for a smaller park; Marble Madness; Timber Falls; Hyper Drive, this was a bizarre addition to the park considering that they already have Dodgems; Jolly Roger Drop Tower; Thanks for reading.

What a farce. Chessington are becoming the worst operated park in the UK very quickly.

Yeah it's brilliant, me and everyone else all enjoyed it.I can see why some people wouldn't enjoy it though, the hangtime on it is bizarre to say the least.

I had a great day here! The wooden coaster is great fun, Evolution is my new favourite flat ride (taking over from Slammer), and I really enjoyed everything else. I know it's not exactly theme park quality, but it's an amusement park, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. It was great to see a park which still takes advantage of a token system as well as wristbands. Full TR here: http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/10948-great-yarmouth-pleasure-beach-sun-24th-may-2015-ptr/#entry209541

It has only taken them until the end of May to get the park fully open (actually, not even fully)...Don't think that's anything to be celebrated really.

Most of Chessington's rides have increasingly poor throughout, and coupled with the fact that there's usually at least one ride closed (often more than one), queue times are just awful most of the time. The capacity of various rides has also been cut down significantly over the past few years, e.g. Vampire.

I must say I'm pleasantly surprised to see Colossus finally receiving a repaint. Only time will tell whether it is the whole ride or not, but at the moment it definitely looks hopeful. Top work Thorpe.

I didn't realise that you actually got to go on both sides on one go! That looks pretty awesome, even though it's a steel coaster in my opinion.

It's such a flawed ride design that S&S (the company who manufactured it) have told Thorpe they don't want anything to do with it, meaning that Thorpe have to deal with all problems and source the parts themselves, which is proving difficult for them. That's what I've been told anyway, it may not be 100% accurate.