Coaster

Amity Beach (5) Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) Bouncezilla (3) Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bomb's Away (5) Flying Fish (5) Jungle Escape (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (6) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (4) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) Saw - The Ride (5) Stealth (6) Storm in a Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (5) The Walking Dead - The Ride (5) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (6) Vortex (5) Wet Wet Wet (5) Zodiac (5) Nemesis Inferno + Bouncezilla -

Amity Beach (5) Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) Bouncezilla (6) Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Derren Brown's Ghost Train: Rise of the Demon (2) Detonator: Bomb's Away (5) Flying Fish (5) Jungle Escape (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (6) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) Saw - The Ride (5) Stealth (5) Storm in a Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (6) The Walking Dead - The Ride (5) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (5) Vortex (5) Wet Wet Wet (5) Zodiac (5) Nemesis Inferno + Derren Brown -

I can't wait to see it reopen in 2021 with all the groundbreaking effects replaced with cheaper and unimpressive alternatives. Whoops, I never said that!

I'm sure Thorpe have claimed in the past that they have five world class roller coasters, I'm not sure if they still do.

I'm unfortunately going to have to miss this, we have found my cat with an injured back or leg this morning (we're not sure which yet) so rushing him over to the emergency vet. Sorry I can't make it but hopefully another time.

That is amazing.

I am considering attending. I've never been to a meet before and am quite unsure but hoping to come.

Yeah, sort of - I meant that the coasters are short but aren't impressive enough to really have an impact; whereas some short coasters are intense or interesting enough that it doesn't matter that they aren't longer (Inferno for example). I do appreciate it's more of an enthusiast and/or personal opinion thing though.

I fully agree that Thorpe's coasters are too short and not impressive enough, but it is true that as enthusiasts we have a very different outlook than most visitors. I really rate Nemesis Inferno, it's a ride I have really come to appeciate more in the last few years. It's intense, forceful and just feels like pure quality from start to finish. Stealth - Too short and not impressive enough to justify it (again, more of an enthusiast thing as it is impressive to most guests). Colossus - 10 loops crammed into a short(ish) layout for the sake of it, trains are horrendous. Used to have a good presence with all the landscaping, now a concrete mess. Saw - Poor quality ride experience and can be very uncomfortable. Lots of missing effects, lighting and theming. Swarm - Too short and lumbers around the inversions, doesn't pack a punch. Theming gone to ruin. Walking Dead - Perfectly good as a family coaster, but unsuitable theme makes it inaccessible to families!

Pleasure Beach's website appears to show that Wild Mouse is coming back next year! Yay! It's not really.

I never thought I'd find myself voting Alton Towers as the best UK park. Blimey.

I have finally got round to updating my top 10; 1. Magnum XL 200 - Cedar Point 2. Phantom's Revenge - Kennywood 3. Steel Vengeance - Cedar Point 4. Milennium Force - Cedar Point 5. The Big One - Blackpool Pleasure Beach 6. Wild Mouse - Blackpool Pleasure Beach 7. Cyclone - Coney Island 8. Maverick - Cedar Point 9. Troy - Toverland 10. Grand National - Blackpool Pleasure Beach

The cheapest price for a 2020 Blackpool season pass was £89. They are £99 currently. The full price of £189.60 (1896??) is ludicrous but since the passes are valid for the season (and not a year from the date of purchase), I doubt anyone pays full price.

It doesn't look as tall as Colossus. Weird.

Are they?

I wouldn't visit Alton Towers on a 4pm close day because hours as short as that don't appeal to me. If the park was open longer, I would be more likely to visit.

I have been on a behind the scenes tour of Valhalla so it's possible (in small-ish groups) but I don't think PB would want to open it up to daily guests, it's not the easiest building to navigate and the interior looks very different with the lights on. It would also depend how much work was taking place inside the ride daily I guess.

I'm in two minds about the idea of closing Valhalla for a year. It certainly is a problem area for the park with astronomical running costs and it hasn't been impressive enough to justify these costs for a few years IMO. The state that thing was in this year, it may as well have been closed. If the closure enables them to restore Valhalla to its former glory and reopen in 2021 with the dark ride element as impressive as it was when new, I fully support it. Whilst the effects are costly, they could potentially make modifications to the way they operate so that they are more reliable and cost-effective without changing much of what the rider actually sees. On the other hand, my concern is that making the ride more sustainable could mean taking out the impressive effects and replacing them with cheap alternatives. We have already seen key elements of the experience broken all year, so they could be planning to make cheap replacements (e.g. timed lighting and sounds instead of fire). Valhalla was my favourite ride at its best, but it was designed as a theatrical experience with the most ambitious special effects I have ever seen. These do break from time to time, and I don't remember a time where every single effect worked at once, but in the last 2/3 years they've stopped fixing them and the general standard of scenic presentation has plummeted to rock bottom. In its hey day it was truly the most amazing ride I've ever experienced though that is difficult to believe when riding it today. The other thing to consider if Valhalla spends a year out, is that we have essentially lost two of the park's best rides (even if only temporarily in Valhalla's case) and only gained Icon. Valhalla isn't the same ride anymore and a refurbishment could either restore it to its former glory or ruin it further.

It's closed season again, which parks did you visit in 2019 and how many times? If you are visiting any parks over the winter these can be added in as and when! I'll start; Blackpool Pleasure Beach x8 Thorpe Park x5 Cedar Point x3 Phantasialand x2 Liseberg x2 Alton Towers x2 Kennywood x1 Six Flags Great Adventure x1 Coney Island x1 Kings Island x1 Toverland x1 Efteling x1 Walibi Holland x1 Duinrell x1 Oakwood 1 Tusenfryd x1 Quite a busy year for visiting parks abroad, less UK visits but still a few.

Valhalla has had lots of issues this year. Boats sinking with riders in on more than one occasion, there was one instance where riders had to evacuate themselves from the boat due to the water being waste deep! Bumps between boats, this does happen from time to time but it shouldn't do with Valhalla's ride system, also bearing in the mind the ride hardware was designed to run 20+ boats and bumps when running 8, not good. I have experienced a few bumps and it can be quite brutal, bearing in mind how heavy the boats are. Issues with the block system around the first turntable (I experienced this first hand). The ride hardware is knackered, all of the above have come from publicly posted reports/pictures and/or my own experiences on the ride. Effects have been dreadful this year, most of the fire has been down all year (I have heard due to the splash from the final drop flooding the sensors), ice room not working at all, I could write an endless list of how poor it has been on my rides but I'll just say that it has essentially been a clunky oversized log flume in the dark this year. I do not believe the rumour that the ride will be SBNO next year until it's confirmed reliably, but at the same time, there are reasons why it might have to be.

Depth Charge, Rocky Express and Teacups all seem very reliable and give families something to do, why do they need to go?

I haven't and won't be.

It would have been better to allow the passholders in this week and not next week surely?

Bring back Calypso BBQ.

Adventure Island.