pluk

and that's how you make a backwards launch exciting. Someone tell th13teens crypt. That looks like a fantastic family ride, just superb.

I'm going to suggest that this has not been updated yet, the download comes from this page which still says indoor and outdoor seating which is wrong now. Neither fajitas or nachos were an option, but burritos (not on that menu) were. I didn't notice any 'old el paso' signage either, so maybe they've changed supplier? Or maybe I just wasn't looking.

Alvey playing the 'I know something you don't know' card like the king of the douchebags he clearly wants to be. Nothing really to go on yet with this one, have to wait and see.

Nice, bet that's a great day.

I'm not complaining about it 'now', I've never been in it before to compare it to previous, but it is a really limited menu. See, even that wasn't a listed option as far as I saw. It was literally 4 variety of burritos (chicken, beef, veg, somethingelse) served with nachos. A choice of fries or nachos would be a start, but there are so many possibilities with Mexican it is a shame to have nothing else. It was delish though, so I'm not complaining at all really!

Would be nice to be able to, but I don't know any of the right people. How many people do you get at these hired out events?

I'm pretty sure the only reason this is a rule is that slamming open seat belts onto hard rides as they move breaks them, doing them up greatly restricts the movement of them.

Aside from the ride itself, they really could do with tarting up the rejigged entrance. It makes more sense putting the bag hold there as it used to cause a blockage, but it looks really dirty and messy and is far too well lit. Not the best first and last impression.

The Mexican Canteena little extension is nicely done, but the menu is crazy small. Burrito or burrito with nachos or nachos, someone show them a Taco Bell menu. Food was decent enough though.

The current music is more varied, is recognisable and sounds great. I wouldn't want them to go back. If anything it should just change occasionally to keep it fresh, but last years music was a bit bland compared to these proper tracks. Intrigued that the lighting could change, less is more remember!

I thought Colossus was the smoothest I've felt it in years on Saturday, it seemed to glide round beautifully. New trains would be amazing, the current ones don't seem to be a fan of me breathing, but if it ever happened I'd be beyond shocked.

So many of these rides are such slight variances on the same thing I struggle to care to be honest. Big spiny pendulum ride is like the next big spiny pendulum ride.

When it went from Chessington back to Mondial to be refurbed they found significant cracks to integral parts of the ride which could not and would not have been picked up by routine maintenance. If left unchecked they would eventually have lead to a catastrophic failure. It isn't just rumour; the discovery led to a safety bulletin being released to all owners which is published, the fault was shown in detail and was clearly the Chessington model. For those after sauce it is in the depths of LTCi technical bulletins, but can't be bothered to search through it. The upshot is of course that regular checks are now in place for similar issues should they occur, so the ride is perfectly safe. And it is really really safe when no one is on it, like now!

One other thing I've noticed, a lot of character seems to have been lost from the train itself with this sprayed over all one colour look. It used to have a lot of detail which is now gone.

It was closed at about 3 minutes passed four when I tried to get on it yesterday! Which was a shame as it would likely been my last ride in its current guise and had been down when I tried to get a go earlier in the day. Oh well, bring on the birds.

Exactly, something like that. It seems quite simple to me, I've no idea what they are thinking with what they've done in terms of either use or look.

The few fat heads that are left really stand out now, there's a string of them still on the overheads across the bridge when leaving the park. I really like the new branding and style, it's just the map that is god awful.

Or, and this is extreme thinking I know, just rearrange the seating blocks and some other minor expense bits of theming to a zig zag (ie cattlepen) formation so the preshow was viewed while shuffling through. Now it seems you have a choice of watching the show while everyone jumps you, or walk straight though and miss it. It makes no sense at all.

As an Essex-er myself I feel your pain. Hello and welcome!

OK then... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5972632/Woman-getting-married-to-fairground-ride.html

Also from Chessington Buzz... They've realised they have made mistakes with Zufari, and then to remedy it have made it worse. What in the world is that?

So Chessington Buzz report that the strobes have returned to the finale. If that is proper strobes in proper darkness then wow. Also, it's blue now I don't know what that achieves, but there it is.

The most extravagant drain hole cover theming in the world?

Yep. Without seeing it in person, it does look like what they have done has been done quite well. But, and it is a huge but, there looks like a hell of a lot of space where there is nothing at all so it's a bit bare and more importantly is separate from the ride itself. Surely it can not ride as well than it did through the closely placed caves. It now looks to me like Flying Fish with brown underneath instead of green and fake buildings behind instead of The Swarm. As a ride experience surely it can only be worse?

It is probably true that the general light level is lower now than before with the lightning moved, but at the same time it is never truly dark like it was occasionally (in normal operation, not our special rides) when they were all together and all went off together, and the properly dark times with only laser are the best times. The music sounds great being so loud, doesn't sound quite so great from Colossus queue though! And we did have smoke, but probably not as much as last year. It was thickest at the start of the day.