pluk

Forget the Dr. Who IP, I just want Karen Gillan Land plz.

On Friday, visited the park for opening day. There were vibes I guess?
 
Security process was long with many taking over an hour to get in. 
 
Some areas looked fresher, such as the new mural & (yet to open) Highstriker and others less-so. Banana looks naff without it’s theming. 
 
Amity seems to be a hive of activity with the new stage. I like that the park has more entertainment, but unsure how I feel about the location. 
 
Operations were a mixed bag. Stealth had the best, Inferno didn’t open until the afternoon. Colossus ran one train. Saw was squirting loads of water on the in-line. Still painful!
 
Old Town is (basically) dead! Events/advertisements dominate the new white fence surrounding the former area. The toilets, BK etc. are likely now just part of the jungle. Wet Wet Wet gone (no real loss) and a new (random playground). 
 
Tried Vibes Kitchen. It’s alright, but basically Infinity with a new name and random menu IMO. The Cod goujon baguette meal was adequate. 
 
Overall a fun day, helped by the weather. As much I’m excited for Exodus, I feel most of the park is looking rundown and tired. Especially The jungle. Not to mention audio was messy. 
 
 

This seems like as good a thread as any to post this in...
 
I passed my PhD today!

I don't think I could bring myself to visit with all that nonsense going on. Fortunately it'll be a few years until my daughter is old enough to be making a visit likely, hopefully by then this system will be on the scrapheap, but it feels like a one way situation at the moment. Once reliant on the queue jumping cash it's hard to come away from.

Merlin can build new parks from scratch without a wince, they don't have a tight budget in the slightest.
They could put a full size coaster in here if they fancied it, they are choosing not too.
 
This change looks insignificant, likely for groundworks, utilities, access.

Merlin can build new parks from scratch without a wince, they don't have a tight budget in the slightest.
They could put a full size coaster in here if they fancied it, they are choosing not too.
 
This change looks insignificant, likely for groundworks, utilities, access.

Has there really not been a post here for over a year, even with Velocicoaster opening. Wow. 
 
So I managed to get over to Florida after a two year delay and part of the trip was to give Universal a bit more time to enjoy. I usually give the whole resort a day to do everything but this time each park got a day. Which I think is more than enough as with good planning you can get on everything you want really easily. 
 
Whilst everyone rushes to Hagrid's and Velocicoaster, we started with Hulk, Spiderman, the Seuss rides, Forbidden Journey and Jurassic Park before 10:30. Which is the ideal order as it covers over half the major stuff before going into the longer waits. Baring in mind, the last time I went, the Dragons had only just stopped duelling so majority is new.
 
So:-
 
New Hulk- Rides better then the previous version and the soundtrack really adds to the ride. I still maintain that the last third of the ride are a complete waste of time but the first two thirds are so snappy, precisely paced and hit after hit that I am more forgiving than I was in 2012.
 
Spiderman is great, still remains a revolution in dark ride design and is a lot of fun.
 
Seuss land is nice.
 
Forbidden Journey has aged really well. It is a lot of fun and now that it doesn't command an hour queue at a minimum, its so much easier to ride and a lot less is hanging on the ride experience to deliver. My fiancé doesn't understand a thing about Harry Potter but appreciated the effects and ride experience.
 
I'm completely biased in saying River Adventure is one of my favourite rides at the resort. I love dinosaur themed attractions, I love Jurassic Park and I love the variation and story telling of this attraction. It's so much fun and the physical precense of the dinosaurs really adds to make this a 10/10 attraction. So there.
 
So to start..
 
Velocicoaster. So this is one of the best rides in the world. I think we all saw this coming but it further refines the successes that Intamin have had with Maverick, Taron and Taiga and I think adding this in a Universal park, one that commands huge attention  in the theme park industry will bring Intamin a lot of success. We got four rides in various rows and it delivers in every seat. It feels like what would happen if Taron were more refined. Thats not to say that I think its better then Phantasialands ride (The jury is still out on that front) but the two are very similar in terms of sensation and pops or airtime litter both rides. Pacing is important to me and this ride has it in droves. The theming is okay, I think the story itself is a bit forgotten the moment you complete the first launch and it just becomes another rollercoaster albeit this has a beautiful location over the lake.
 
Next Hagrid's motorbike thing. We waited an hour each for both of our rides and this ride is okay. It throws every Intamin trick in the book at you and its frankly a miracle that this works. I don't think its the greatest ride in the world because the Harry Potter implementation is a tad too weak for a Hogsmeade ride and frankly a lot of it is just a bit meandering. I admire the ambition if nothing else.
 
So thats IoA for another decade. A great visit.
26F85C4E-CCD9-4EB2-801F-3CFE4F83D57B.heic

Merlin can build new parks from scratch without a wince, they don't have a tight budget in the slightest.
They could put a full size coaster in here if they fancied it, they are choosing not too.
 
This change looks insignificant, likely for groundworks, utilities, access.

...changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
 
Bowie, the ride. At last, a theming idea I can get behind.

...changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
 
Bowie, the ride. At last, a theming idea I can get behind.

That song was also used in Shrek 2............

Throw in an animatronic over-sized hand and crystal ball being juggled on the lake and a Labyrinth-themed Fright Nights attraction and then this will be the best thing ever.

...changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
 
Bowie, the ride. At last, a theming idea I can get behind.

It's loggers, isn't it? 😄

Going back to the name, I hope we see a simple, crude name that milks the height.
 
There's the likes of Fury 325 and Intimidator 305, for example, which have their height included in the name. This exists in part to take the UK height record, something which is very hard to envision being broken any time soon (after all, Big One's record will have stood for 30 years by the time this opens).
 
Something along the lines of Rampage 236, Bolt 236 or whatever. Just a simple noun followed by the height to get it across. It's not something that lends itself to a heavily themed ride, but then, this isn't the type of ride that needs that.
 
 
It's funny, because in the past, I've never liked the ideas of names like that. But I dunno, it just feels like it fits for this.

It's loggers, isn't it? 😄

Parm Pap's posts clearly say to me that the Derren Brown IP is being extended due to it's incredible success, and the new coaster will form part of Derren Brown Land, featuring the UK's first coaster themed around a mind control man.

It's loggers, isn't it? 😄

It's loggers, isn't it? 😄

It's loggers, isn't it? 😄

It's loggers, isn't it? 😄

I don't like to be negative, but I hate it for that adverse camber nonsense straight out of the station. Pack it in.
 
Overall though it looks alright I suppose, which seems like some mental apathy for the height record in the UK. It just seems that everything I'd want from a hyper isn't there. A straight ahead killer drop, multiple airtime hills, and length. This is like a greatest hits of elements of other coasters they already have, just a bit bigger.

I don't like to be negative, but I hate it for that adverse camber nonsense straight out of the station. Pack it in.
 
Overall though it looks alright I suppose, which seems like some mental apathy for the height record in the UK. It just seems that everything I'd want from a hyper isn't there. A straight ahead killer drop, multiple airtime hills, and length. This is like a greatest hits of elements of other coasters they already have, just a bit bigger.

I don't like to be negative, but I hate it for that adverse camber nonsense straight out of the station. Pack it in.
 
Overall though it looks alright I suppose, which seems like some mental apathy for the height record in the UK. It just seems that everything I'd want from a hyper isn't there. A straight ahead killer drop, multiple airtime hills, and length. This is like a greatest hits of elements of other coasters they already have, just a bit bigger.

Anyone know how big the RAP queueline is for the new coaster please, cheers.