Coaster

2 hours? Seriously?

Vampire is closed today.

Glad I didn't book a ticket, preview day or not that is a crazy amount of rides closed.

Oops, yes I did!

A nice update from the Lost Kingdom area, it looks fantastic! https://youtu.be/nhNWKm5G-9Q

I would hope that My Bloody Valentine is replaced at the very least, it was lacklustre last year - bring back E10!

I agree completely with this, but it seems that anything other than rose-tinted positivity isn't allowed on here. EDIT: This post now looks rather random after the others have been removed.

Of course it can't be put down to budget cuts completely, but I would say that it is the most likely reason for the decision to axe it considering the financial position Merlin are in at the moment and going by past projects. I agree that it's better to axe the tower than something in the building, but neither would be nice!

That looks really nice, also saw somewhere that the horrible purple queue fences have been replaced/repainted which is good.

I haven't seen it in person but I'm really not a fan of that sign, a brand new vinyl cloth doesn't exactly scream out "ancient tomb". They should have just reverted back to the name Forbidden Tomb, the old sign is still there and it looks so much better.

Not sure why Amity Cove has been renamed to Amity Beach, the latter sounds far better. Aside from that, I'm glad to see the return of themed areas on the map.

It will be disappointing if the tower doesn't get built. I remember the debate a few pages back about budget cuts being made to the attraction after a few years - it's really not good if they are happening before it has even opened.

To be fair if people have made the effort to visit and lots of rides are closed then they have a valid complaint.

This. The closures are bad in their own right but the lateness of the announcement is completely unacceptable.

Where is the tower? Besides this the rest of the building looks quite nice (apart from being too similar to other ones at the park but this has been discussed already), shame about the red warehouse though.

Urgh, was hoping for some new mazes this year rather than the same ones again. (Well, there is seemingly one new attraction but it sounds like the other mazes will be the same).

Really impressed to see the effects restored!

Very disappointing to see so many rides closed, and it is also poor that they have left it until now to let people know about it. Still, I can't say it was a surprise given the rumours have been pointing towards multiple ride closures for months.

Hopefully that is the case, but I'm not so sure as several of the rides rumoured to be closed at Alton are still on the website. I just can't see any reason for them not being mentioned when Colossus, Swarm and Rush were, unless they will be late opening in 2016?

Slammer will be available on preview day?! I'm not keen on the fact that they haven't mentioned X or Samurai at all, that seems a bit strange.

For something done on the cheap I actually quite like them, apart from the "best ride ever" one.

Good idea, that is exactly what I am doing.

I did wonder why Slammer wasn't on there!

Really not good to have two major coasters down. Why are they failing to have rides ready for pass days nowadays? I remember visiting Annual Pass days in the past and everything was open (there were a few breakdowns but that's to be expected on the first public day).