Coaster

Still shut, no signs of testing as of yet...

Yeah, and to be honest the classic attractions are what makes BPB unique. They are making progress - Goldmine and Magic Mountain (which were both old attractions and were knackered tbf) were taken out and replaced, but I am glad that they are retaining the vast majority of their old rides, and keeping them in a top notch state.

Where are the waterfalls?

I'm not disputing that, but suggesting that a ride should be bulldozed because you don't like it is taking it a bit far. I'd happily see Air, Rita and Flying Fish bulldozed if that's the case!

You're talking rubbish now. Firstly, everyone who comes off it (apart from arrogant teenagers) has a smile on their face, it's a great family attraction and it's timeless. Secondly, I fail to see how it's the Tomb Blaster of Blackpool. It hasn't been ruined by laser guns, nor has it not been bothered with. Yet again it's seen lighting changes, fixed effects and a more mist effects put in this year. Meanwhile, Tomb Blaster is rotting away - none of it's anamatronics move! I know of loads of people who enjoy it (none of them are in their 90's). How is it outdated? It's not like Alice, which I'll admit is past it's sell by. It's a timeless classic IMO and they aren't going to bulldoze it when it's served them tirelessly for over 100 years. Plus, bulldozing it would also take out a huge area of the park as it's build underneath a lot of it. Do some research.

Oi! It's hugely detailed, well themed and has character. It's not a huge special effect machine but it doesn't need to be.

I found out recently that the River Caves at BPB is over 100 years old! (It opened in 1904) To be honest, I think that's amazing. Not only that it's lasted that long, but the fact that the whole park has evolved around it (literally - it's built under a huge section of the park). I am also told that apart from the addition of ambient lighting, various effects and audio, almost all of the interior is entirely original. Obviously there have been a few new props here and there, but the vast majority of it has been there for 110 years. (I couldn't see Merlin (or any other park for that matter) keeping a dark ride in such a good condition for that long!) The amazing thing is, it is still a brilliant dark ride today!

Who has spotted the crocodile in one of Inferno's ponds? I noticed it last weekend, has it always been there?

This coaster looks quite dull in my opinion - a lot of weird transitions but no real speed after the first section.

Nice to see them letting people know in advance, something that you don't see many parks doing nowadays! Please be a second train!

I think that the cave on Zufari would really benefit from a door at both ends - it would be darker, more atmospheric and the tacky sheeting roof would be hidden.

I'm sorry but if BPB and Oakwood can maintain wooden coasters (five of them in BPB's case) than a park with a company behind them as big as Merlin can.

What's happened? (Btw do you mean Thorpe or Towers seeing as it's in the Towers trip report section?)

Sounds good, why not on Saturday as well though?

It should be chlorinated anyway in this day and age, it's quite disgusting to be honest.

Probably the same thing that happened to all the other water effects - either gone or broken/switched off.Who remembers the waterfall on the way to the tunnel? (Not the one over the entrance, there was one at the side before the tunnel). Think it was removed around 2009/10. I wish they were more devoted to their attractions, rumba has the potential to be quite good.

I think that they should use the main queueline (meaning that they could eliminate the backwards queueline and use it as a fastrack queue (if they must)), then just have guests queue up for the backwards rows in the station. On busy days they could use the old front row queueline as extra holding space if there is high demand for the back rows.

That would be the preferred option in my view, as the queue would move quicker.

Funny that it was so poor on Sunday then, I wasn't just basing this off then though, also most of 2013. On a positive note ( ), I'm sure that it felt more forceful yesterday than I've ever known it! It was off loads last year (and I don't just mean rainy days).

It's quite saddening to see Rumba rotting away again, it's way overdue a refurb now. I still can't believe that, after seeing the video of it as thunder river, they took out all the rockwork and left it as a bare warehouse!

I do like it, I just wish that they were using it in the way that it was intended to be used. E.G: No water jets No fire No alien sound effect in the tower Backwards seats (stuff up the queueline, make the baggage hold chaotic, look stupid, aren't even that good IMO) Rarely achieves it's full throughput due to slow operations, even when it does the main queue still moves at a snails pace due to overselling fastrack and the fact that it's only 5 out of 7 rows. All of these make problems a brilliant ride just 'good' IMO, it was fantastic in 2012, since then it's gone downhill quite a lot IMO. It's still my favourite ride at Thorpe, but only just. The adverts on the billboard are peeling off as well!

Oh yeah, there was also no fire on Sunday.

I miss X:/ No Way Out. I do like X though.

Should probably be quite quiet if you go there first. To be honest it wasn't that busy later on in the day, about a 20/30 minute queue - would have been less if they had all the cars running.

Just something I've noticed - neither of The Swarm's water sprays have been on at all over the past two weekends. Quite poor really given that it's still a relatively new attraction.