pluk

Seeing that I stand by my previous concerns. Lackluster.

So much has changed since my last visit 7 years ago, it's incredible really. Possibly worth going back just for the cupcakes!

Fastrack should never be considered an essential. If it is the system has already failed imo. Increasing fastrack price will have no effect on how much a themepark day costs if you don't use it. And that's fine. But it has to be remembered that every single fastrack sold is to the direct detriment of a queue full of others who are jumped when it is used. How are those people to 'maximise the enjoyment of their day' if they are queuing twice as long (not an exaggeration) for rides without being forced into buying it as well? And at that point you are making a day out unreasonably expensive. Good. There's only so many people who are not to prepared to queue the park (and all the other guests) can reasonably handle. Not in mine. Sounds about right tbh, considering the continued repeated times that one person is going to make a queue full of peoples day that little bit worse. It all adds up.

I've been busy and not been on any other sites to see the reaction, but I can fully understand if it's not all positive. I've been screaming as loud as anyone for a modern wooden coaster in the UK, it is my favorite type and desperately overdue. The problem here is the cross valley plans, which would almost certainly have been a world beating beast of a ride, are still in mind when we look at a fairly standard appearing take on a modern wooden coaster. This looks pretty short and uninspired really, kind of just placed on an available bit of land which could be anywhere, rather than integrated into the surroundings or other attractions. With a patch of land the size of the old flume site they could go huge, have something spectacular. Maybe a flume as well, with the coaster sweeping around it. Take it into the woods for some natural and established cover and interaction. Just something. I'm sure it'll be a good enough ride, but 'good enough' is obviously not what we want or what I believe the park really need. It feels daft being so negative about a ride that no one has ridden, but the plans are pretty clear so I don't see how this can deliver something truly special. I'm sure personally I'll love it when I'm on it, I can't think of a time when that hasn't been the case on any woodie I've ridden, but that will forever be tainted by that 'what could have been' feeling. It's a real shame that this is seen by the powers that be as a sufficient ride to follow in the footsteps of previous SW's, very telling of the 'good enough' era of Merlin we seem to be in at the moment. That phrase seems to course through everything they do.

Wherever it lands, if I'm not at work I'll be there!

Great report, thanks for that Jamie. Been an absolute age since I've been to Pleasurewood, and it's relatively close to me. I should drag myself back there sometime soon. I could ride Roller Coaster, Mountain Tubs and Snails all day every day and never get bored of them.

These plans have been out 24 hours and still no no limits recreation has hit the forums? I'm disappointed in you all.

Sorry, but that is rubbish. Funfairs are every bit as safe as theme parks. Incidents and errors happen at both, but the checks on travelling fairs are just as sttingent as those at fixed locations, and on top of that as they are dismantled and reassembled very frequently they actually get much more thorough visual checks than the parks rides which remain built all season long with lots of areas not able to be visually inspected. Don't fear the funfair. Visit it, support it, and enjoy it.

It's not just that the hype has died down between us enthusiasts, it's as is it is being actively suppressed by Thorpe. Like they want us to forget it exists at all, no teasing been going on for a while now. I'm supprised they've not used those mirrors on the outside to make it appear the building isn't even there. Move along, nothing to see here. This does not fill me with confidence that the opening is anything like imminent.

It wasn't not working. It's not supposed to trigger every ride circuit, they set it to go off every so many circuits. The most frequent I think I've seen is every other, and I think it goes as low as one in 8?

Dreamland in administration but remaining open. Such a shame. I hope they can make it work. On bbc website. I can't link, it just does this... this HTML class. Value is http://www.bbc.co.uk anyone know why it does that?

Best to leave it on your shoulders really. (just sit normally, with your back up straight and head against the headrest, as the restraints come down. Do not pull the restraint too close to you as that can get uncomfortable. After that you can move around as much as the restraints allow, but you'll want to brace yourself to an extent to stop your bead bouncing of the restraints with lateral movement)

How are towers going to recover from a 25% drop in a single year? I'm sure that to a certain extent people will naturally migrate back once the Smiler incident is out of their heads, but sweeping cuts, a poorly received new/rehashed attraction, a slap of paint and a lackluster looking SW8 surely won't help and do not fill me with confidence for the long term. A shame they didn't come out with all guns blazing this year; those figures show the parent company can clearly afford it when even with their two biggest properties seeing a nose dive they managed an increase across the whole estate. Slightly off the theme park topic, but a shame to see Tate Modern losing a huge number of visitors. Was it closed for part of the year or something? Always worth a look around if you find yourself at a loose end up town, I thoroughly recommend it.

They have never announced any DJ line up previously either as far as I can recall. The MoS name is the draw, the DJ's themselves will be pretty much unknown, and are likely to be of similar quality to your local nightclub on an average Saturday night. You won't be getting a Pete Tong or Avicci so don't get your hopes up. From my limited experience of making it to these nights, it's been a mixed bag DJ wise. The 90's night a couple of years ago started off with a fantastic DJ, but by the end of the night it was embarrassingly bad. Still a great night with the right people, but don't think of it as a 'serious' club night like MoS would like to believe they still are; it's a branded disco. As ever, I won't be there. I'll be keeping the drunken buffoons of my local town safe instead, rather than being out and being one myself.

There is nothing wrong with queue jump tickets being issued as 'compensation' for those caught up in a ride breakdown. That has been a thing for a much longer time than the concept of fastrack has existed; back in the 90's it was completely standard at Chessington and Atlon for the entire queue to be given an exit pass each as they filed out if a ride had a total queueline emptying shutdown. In terms of how it is used now, I'd rather fastrack didn't exist at all and that the park just charged what it needed to turn the desired profit and everyone queued up equally. In that case, a queue of people with an exit pass is nothing really and can easily be absorbed by other rides with no major issue. But if in the parks eyes fastrack does have to exist then this can still be done without being so hugely disruptive to everyone there. The first problem is with how the whole system is set up at the moment, with the amount of tickets sold seemingly unlimited and with no tight timeframe for returns, meaning the queueline can't cope at the best of times. Lets suspend reality for a moment and say that there is an actual timed allocation of tickets for a given ride at a given time. If were the case then the freebie tickets need to come out of that allocation and not be an unchecked excess to it. That way the rides will be able to cope and other guests not unduly inconvenienced. This stuff seems so simple, but time and again the parks get it very wrong. I find a queue line on an even moderately busy day a very frustrating place to be now. Reserve and Ride seems to be dead and buried, if only they'd have put a bit of the time, effort and money that was chucked on that on getting the paper system to run smoothly, and not trying to work to an always un-achievable aim instead of keeping it simple, then maybe we'd be in a better place with queue systems rather than making the same mistakes that were being made a decade ago when it was new.

Comment of the week. That should be a thing on here actually. As for the announcement, shambles etc etc etc. Must be costing the park a fortune in people holding off visiting, has it been unusually quiet? I'd expect it to have been. Who is the project manager and are they now seeking alternative employment opportunities?

Looks relentless, love it. C'mon UK, some one, anyone, build us a new woodie!

Currently enjoying: Lucifer (Amazon) - A bit cheesy at times, but very enjoyable I want my wife back (BBC1) - middle of the road but funny comedy Flowers (C4) - proper weird but funny comedy Marcella - (ITV) - very annoyingly procedurally inaccurate police drama, but still quite gripping Gardeners World (BBC2) - when I grow up I want to be Monty Don

Surely they'd want it open for some off peak days to find their feet before hitting it with a bank holiday weekend crowd?

I'm voting out, for various reasons based mostly on my own experiences, and a good number of these relate to the results of free movement of people among member states. I imagine to some here that will make me some sort of massive racist, but I think not to be able to see the issues this is causing you'd have to be pretty willfully blind to the world outside your window. The current system is madness and we'd be well shot of it. Our courts should be the highest in our land, our borders should be ours to control. There is absolutely nothing to stop continued trade and links with the rest of Europe and the rest of the world without being part of the union, as other countries have shown. I'm not saying it is all rosy leaving, there are clearly some benefits to membership, but they are vastly outweighed by the negatives for me. The European Union as a concept could be a good thing, it could be used to make trade and movement easier without damaging the sovereignty of those involved, but it is currently trying to effectively be a 'country of Europe' and is far far too powerful. I'm old enough to remember how those politicians (not so much the public as mass communication such as this didn't exist then) were vilified for daring to challenge the plan to join the Euro in the same way that people wanting out of this mess are now. It didn't work then either, and thankfully we kept the pound, I'm just hoping we get the right result this time too.

Rather proving you don't while saying you do does not mean you do. Whatever, this is off topic now. Back on topic... What's the best music at Chessington then? Clearly the answer is Bubbleworks, anyone going to try and disagree?!

What? Having English spoken in an accent in keeping with the area the ride is themed to isn't remotely racist. So are we saying the 'seet back and hold tight, thees is a bumpy ride' in a Mexican accent is racist on the Mexican themed rattlesnake? Should everything only be in the Queens English, banishing accents? Mental. I don't think you understand racism.

We've stayed at the Through Ivy House (or similar name) a couple of times, it's a b&b right by the gates, which is handy - it's closer to the turnstiles than the on site hotels and carparks! There is nothing else around, obviously, but I prefer it to the hotels and it's pretty cheap midweek. Generally have dinner and a few drinks in the hotels, then an evening stroll back. Although there's nothing much about it's also a good base for some nice county walks on days off from the park if that's your kind of thing, like it is mine. The Chained Oak is a nice stroll and a must, obvs, and a slightly longer walk to The Ramblers Retreat which is a slightly odd cafe restaurant place in the middle of nowhere which does AMAZZZZING desserts. Lemon Meringue Pie about 2 foot tall, I kid you not. It's a must!