Coaster
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Posts posted by Coaster
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On 12/17/2020 at 7:48 AM, pluk said:
I don't get the TPWW hate. I'm no fan, I'm no fan of any vlogger really as I find the whole thing a bit of a cringy embarrassment, but he turns out comparatively decent videos and seems a nice enough chap. I watched this Adventure Island one, what with it being my home park, and he shows the place off really well. Made me want to visit, as his series of videos at the end of summer from loads of smaller parks did for those places for the couple I saw, and having people visit is exactly what these smaller parks need.
He travelled from a tier 3 area to visit Adventure Island and claimed it under "work" which, IMO, is nonsense. The idea is travelling to a lower tier for work should only be done if essential, not to go and ride a few coasters.
It's also setting a bad example to his followers and is one of those things where just because you can find a loophole, it doesn't mean you should.
He has also been on a blocking spree on social media with anyone who has dared to question his actions, and has referred to them as "trolls" even though many are just (rightfully) calling out his actions as selfish.
Earlier this year when the allegations came to light, he also tried to hide those at first by removing the replies to his tweets. He's awful IMO.
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Nooo "the good one" has gone.
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It very much feels like Chessington prioritse one feature of theming to look good in marketing material as opposed to a well-rounded product.
Tiger Rock for example, apart from the rockwork tiger head, the rest of the ride's theming is now very tired, disjointed and doesn't really flow very well at all. The main tiger head also looks very tired now, it almost feels like as soon as the marketing photos have been taken, they don't really care how things look.
It's probably true of Merlin as a whole but it feels really obvious at Chessington. Wicker Man for example focuses on the big theming structure, but there is at least some depth to the theme and it feels like an overall package rather than "just" the centrepiece.
Of course, this isn't done yet, but it's more just an observation of Chessington/Merlin.
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Amity Beach (3)
Colossus (5)
Depth Charge (5)
Detonator: Bomb's Away (5)
Flying Fish (5)
King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5)
Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5)
Nemesis Inferno (8)
Quantum (5)
Rocky Express (5)
Rumba Rapids (5)
Rush (5)
Samurai (5)
Saw - The Ride (5)
Stealth (5)
Storm in a Teacup (5)
The Swarm (5)
Tidal Wave (5)
Timber Tug Boat (4)
Vortex (5)
Zodiac (5)
Nemesis Inferno +
Timber Tug Boat -
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1 hour ago, JoshuaA said:
This is fair, though I understand why people would be critical and still visit the Merlin Parks. If you're not in the north, then basically its Merlin or drive to the other side of the country lol. I also don't get too much of the hate anyway, Merlin have their faults, some big downfalls, though they are not the worst thing in the world. They sure do have an annoying obsession with worlds firsts, Thorpe Park is pretty neglected, but they do treat Chessie and Alton pretty well, and their Legoland properties are usually well kept and well invested in.
There is many parks ran worse, look at Six Flags parks. Portaventura, I feel like people are overly harsh sometimes. Including myself. Merlin do a lot of things right. Though it would be nice to have some independent parks down here.
Yeah I can see why people still get a pass, but it's frustrating to see those who are angry about the price increase still pay money to Merlin instead of supporting independent parks. (I do include myself in this, I used to own a MAP but this year was the first year in a while without a Merlin pass for me and I haven't missed it).
In relation to the standard of the parks, I really don't get much enjoyment visiting them anymore; Chessington's Howl'o'ween was a good effort this year, but Alton Towers felt pretty flat and tired on my visit. Thorpe, the less said the better, I didn't visit this year.
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2 hours ago, JoshuaA said:
Okay so for people in the midlands/the north of the country, yes there is a fair amount of other options. Lightwater Valley, Flamingo, BPB, and a couple more. But down here in the south east its kind of the only option for parks. The only park down here is Paultons, which is nearly two hours away from me, and a 3 hour train journey. Paultons is a great park, but not quite something that I could go to year round for thrills as great as it looks. Thorpe Park, Chessie, and Legoland are my nearest parks. Besides Paultons the only other option I really have is Brighton Pier for a spinning mouse and a Pinfari looper.
Merlin around the London and surrounding areas kind of own the monopoly on theme parks. I would totally visit BPB more if it wasn't 4 and a half hours away. And the only merlin park I actually like is 4
hours away (Alton). If there was a big non Merlin park that had some great coasters I would totally ditch Merlin, but sadly if you want good coasters Thorpe is really the only option for people here..
I don't think Merlin are all bad as well, Six Flags do a lot of things WAY worse. But its not quite as well ran as a Cedar Fair park. If Thorpe wasn't such a mess I would have a better outlook on the chain, Chessie and Alton are both respectable IMO. Even if a little rough around the edges.
These passes are kind of bad, I do think the park should compensate for charging more for less. Even if its just 30 minutes exclusive rides on one ride. I also think for people like me, what are my options? Paultons is a good two hours away from me, there isn't a huge amount of options. Unless I wanna fly, which is hard at the moment. So yeah..
I understand the location thing, Thorpe Park and Chessington are the easiest parks for me to get to, but I'd much rather drive further and visit different non-Merlin parks because I find the whole experience much more enjoyable and rewarding.
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There are so many independently owned theme parks and visitor attractions in the UK that offer a much better experience than Merlin's, I used to see things differently, but nowadays I just have no interest in the MAP even without this latest price increase.
Why not support the parks and businesses that really need it, and visit somewhere different next year? I can't see the logic behind giving Merlin another £200+ for the same old stuff every year?
Of course, it's different if you still enjoy Merlin's offering, but those who don't, why pay more for a MAP when there are so many other options?- Martin Doyle and Ringo
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It'll look nice for a couple of years I guess. See Tiger Rock..
- Mattgwise, Ringo and Martin Doyle
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23 hours ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:
@Hethetheth who is this Mr Gil who you all keep taking about? Is Mr Gil a high up Merlin Entertainments \Chessington employee? I am glad that you have all accepted that the return of Forbidden Tomb is real news and that you should all be excited.
I also have some exclusive genuine news that Room on the Broom will be called Room in the Hocus Pocus Hall next year!
The maze will go back to also using its previous name because Nick the cleaner found an old sign from Hocus Pocus Hall and thought of how good it would look added to the current sign.
Inside the maze you will be required to wear 3D glasses once again, not because anything is in 3D, but just because they look funky.
- Martin Doyle, Matt 236 and Ringo
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Amity Beach (5)
Angry Birds 4D Experience (1)
Colossus (5)
Depth Charge (5)
Detonator: Bomb's Away (5)
Flying Fish (5)
King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5)
Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5)
Nemesis Inferno (8)
Quantum (5)
Rocky Express (6)
Rumba Rapids (5)
Rush (5)
Samurai (5)
Saw - The Ride (5)
Stealth (5)
Storm in a Teacup (5)
Storm Surge (5)
The Swarm (5)
Tidal Wave (5)
Timber Tug Boat (5)
Vortex (5)
Zodiac (5)
Nemesis Inferno +
Angry Birds 4D Experience -
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Amity Beach (5)
Angry Birds 4D Experience (5)
Colossus (5)
Depth Charge (5)
Detonator: Bomb's Away (5)
Flying Fish (5)
King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5)
Lumber Jump (3)
Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5)
Nemesis Inferno (3)
Quantum (5)
Rocky Express (5)
Rumba Rapids (7)
Rush (5)
Samurai (5)
Saw - The Ride (5)
Stealth (7)
Storm in a Teacup (5)
Storm Surge (5)
The Swarm (5)
Tidal Wave (5)
Timber Tug Boat (5)
Vortex (5)
Zodiac (5)
Nemesis Inferno +
Lumber Jump -
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It's a shame that Wicker Man's lighting package seems to be missing after just two seasons. Surely it would have made more sense to install it on a permanent basis initially?
Unless I'm mistaken and it was on during Scarefest, however it definitely wasn't when I visited for Oktoberfest.
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1 hour ago, Marc said:
Hadn’t really thought about it like that tbf but I’d say Gruffalo, Tiger Rock, Walking Dead The Ride are all good examples of a revamp improving the ride. That said I guess you could argue all 3 were better in their original form (Maybe not XNWO!)
Fingers crossed Valhalla is a similar improvement!
I have to be honest, I strongly disagree with this.
The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure is, for the most part, very well done and an improvement on the version of Bubbleworks that immediately preceded it, but only because that had fallen into poor condition.
Tiger Rock however, aside from the new show-piece tiger head, which already looks tired and dated, they completely ruined the theming after the first drop and the majority of other features now look out of place or in desperate need of a paint job. I much preferred Dragon Falls.
Walking Dead: The Ride too, ruins the ride in my opinion. It isn't suited to the hardware at all and it was much more enjoyable and fun to ride as X IMO.
Valhalla does not need to become a lifeless bland IP-driven investment, and I thoroughly hope it isn't in any way similar to Gruffalo, Tiger Rock or Walking Dead!
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Confirmed
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Amanda Thompson has tweeted this;
However, it looks as though the "opening 2021" text has been removed from the sign;
Sadly this could suggest it has been delayed?
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I don't know about Croc Drop, but croc of something else comes to mind..
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So, 2020. It goes without saying that this was a tough year for everyone; with everything else going on in the world, theme park visits feel like a pretty unimportant thing to talk about, but with everything else being so awful, they provided a much needed escape for those whom felt comfortable to and/or were able to visit.
It has been a very different year, and with that in mind, theme park visit lists will look very different this year. With this in mind, did you manage to visit any parks this year, and if so, which ones?
I took the opportunity of a "step-back" from normal times to re-visit and support some of the independent parks in the UK. I was pretty careful with planning my visits to be during quieter times, which usually worked well, and I'd say that I felt pretty safe during my visits. Whilst there were guests at some parks who didn't follow regulations, e.g. not wearing masks or getting too close in queues, I didn't hesitate to tell them to keep a further distance away!
My park visits (in order) were;
Before First Lockdown
Blackpool Pleasure Beach x4
After First Lockdown
Brean Theme Park x1
Oakwood Theme Park x1
Alton Towers x1
Fantasy Island x1
Chessington x1
Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach x1
Pleasurewood Hills x1
Adventure Island x1 (Added in December)
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Fear Island was very good (aside from Millennium being down) on the Friday just gone. Would highly recommend!
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I thought Tomb Blaster was meant to have had a refurb?!
I rode it on Sunday and...
- Axe alley was just pitch black, couldn't see anything
- Boulder totally broken and not even spinning
- Half the scenes just pitch dark
- Voiced audio was overdone and inaudible for the most part
The only improvement was uplighting in the very first scene and decent new lighting on the mummy scare at the end. Everything else just felt broken and disjointed.
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22 hours ago, JoshC. said:
In the one sense, you can argue it's not any different to any other indoor queue line, which still exist. The reasons indoor mazes didn't run was a mixture of things: not enough space to incorporate actors and guests with social distancing, lack of appropriate ventilation, etc. An indoor queue line is very different to an indoor maze. And in all honesty, I would feel perfect fine in a Covid-sense queueing in there if everyone was wearing masks and social distancing (though I know this is unlikely).
But yes, it's hard to disagree that it's an unusual choice all things considered. It's equally unusual that both outdoor mazes have crouch sections, which see many guests touch the sides / top for stability. Not something that's been mentioned a lot, but something that does make you wonder.
I guess it is similar to indoor queue lines, but many of those are unavoidable in getting to the ride and most have more space than that tunnel, which is very narrow. Also ironic is the fact that (to my knowledge) Walking Dead: The Ride is closed this year because of the indoor queue-line and exit not being deemed safe for COVID? In which case, how is this different?
It seems strange that a scare attraction which has been redesigned supposedly with COVID safety in mind is using a very narrow tunnel for guests to queue in. I mean, surely that's more unsafe than using the tunnel in the way that it was used last year with one group at a time going through? Just makes no sense to me.
Unless the re-route has purely been designed in an attempt to justify the £10 charge? In which case, they've essentially made the queueing system less COVID safe because they've only thought about how to justify an upcharge with minimal actual investment into the attraction.
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I find it unbelievable that an event which didn't run indoor mazes due to COVID safety, lets a lot of people pack into a small claustrophobic tunnel to queue?
- LukeP_8, Ringo and Martin Doyle
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I can't remember all of mine, but here's a few;
Ghost Trains
- At a very young age, I broke down on the Ghost Train at Folly Farm (back in the days when it was pretty scary) next to a skeleton, we were sat there for ages before they put the lights on and came and pushed us out. I was terrified!
- Terror Castle at Brean - breakdown and evacuation, enjoyed it!
Valhalla
- Breakdown before lift 1 and evacuation
- Boat failed to engage lift 1, staff pushed it and continued ride as normal
- Block breakdown in waterfall room before turntable, blocks had to be operated manually to enable us to enter the turntable, leave it and go down the drop
- Breakdown in wind tunnel, lights came on, three boats stuck in wind tunnel and a fourth waiting to go down the drop!
- Breakdown and lights on before the last drop (has happened multiple times)
- Boat bump in last section before final drop
Alice Ride
- Breakdown and evacuation, again was very happy!
The Big One
- Multiple e-stops on the final break run (when the ride is running too fast)
Steeplechase
- Temporary stoppage on second lift-hill, restarts after a few seconds usually.
- Standard not quite making it back into station and being pulled in by ride staff job - happens a lot.
Big Dipper
- Stoppage on lift-hill (not the one where it waits for the block to clear, this was longer and Infusion was also stopped on its lift so can only assume it was a power-cut of sorts).
Grand National
- Train didn't quite make it off the brake run and back into the station, got evacuated (I'm counting it!)
Samurai
- Stuck on it for 20 minutes whilst they tried to park the thing, I had a nosebleed and no tissues so was dripping blood everywhere! I think people in the queue thought there had been some sort of accident. I did offer to clean it but was told they would do it!
The Swarm
- Breakdown before entering the station, then it overshot and went back onto the lift-hill where we sat for ages before they had to send us round again to get us off.
Stealth
- Four times in a day it failed the launch, fifth time we managed!
Astro Storm
- Breakdown on the first block brakes after the initial drop, sat there for ages, lights came on, then staff gradually moved us manually from one block to the next. Took about 40 minutes in total but I was quite happy getting to see the ride with the lights on!
Megafobia
- E stop on the brake run at the end of the ride, staff reset and got it going again in 10 minutes.
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Plenty of attractions of different types operate free (admission included) timed ticket slots on a first-come-first-served basis, so let's not pretend that charging £10 per maze was Thorpe's only option here.
I understand that the parks have suffered a lot financially this year, but nevertheless I don't think it's right that Thorpe have introduced such a hefty fee for these mazes when they are essentially one that has been around for years and Blair Witch without the IP. Ultimately I do not believe it represents good value for money and it feels as though Thorpe are exploiting the fact that they are one of few operating Halloween events this year by charging such a high amount.
- Ringo, Martin Doyle and TPJames
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So we've got Icon's track, Big One's trains and Colossus's layout? Flamingo Land are king of original ideas here!
Adventure Island - Southend
in UK Attractions
Posted
Vloggers can work from home, many changed the style of their videos over the first lockdown so they could continue providing content from home. There's always stuff for enthusiasts to talk about if they want to, there's no need to go around putting other people at risk.
The restrictions (attached below) clearly state where necessary, visiting a theme park isn't necessary work. He can film and upload from home.
It also brings the question of whether he should be doing it morally, given that it will encourage others to do the same and add to the problem causing parks to have to close.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-3-very-high-alert#travel
In relation to the allegations, are you seriously suggesting that hiding tweets from the victims was an acceptable response?! Many YouTubers at least upload a video explaining what's happened when things like this happen, even if they are proved false, to provide their subscribers with the info. Shawn tried to brush it under the carpet rather than address it, and barely addressed it properly even when he was forced to.