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Mitchada04

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Everything posted by Mitchada04

  1. 1. Hex 2. Defi De Ceasar 3. The Haunting 4. De Palais Du Genie 5. Villa Volta 6. Cassandras Curse 7. Houdini 8. Merlin's Magic Castle 9. Haunted House Monster Party 10. Belantis' one 11. Feng Ju Palace
  2. Mitchada04

    Wicker Man

    And they weren't technically lying. They were talking about fusing fire with the ride, all being one experience. Having 2 flame towers at the top of a woodie that hardly ever work or theming a racer to a fire dragon isn't really fusing the elements? And Wildfire is literally just called Wildfire, no real fire. It's a clever use of word play but I don't think Towers were wrong in what they said if you look deeper into it. Lightning Rod should be the one getting huffy as that nearly did fully fuse wood and fire in real life!
  3. The reasoning for further cuts is because the midways are struggling now as well. But of course, Merlin won't cut them back or stop investing in stupid numbers of those even though it is clear people are fed up of them. Instead, they tighten the budget further on Towers because why not, they've already ruined the park. The second half of 2017 was actually really good for the park numbers wise and many were expecting a better 2018, if not at least the same plus WickerMan. But no, Towers gets a nice new coaster and a fresh amount of cuts. Merlin sure know how to make money. Hopefully with falling out of the FTSE100 too the shareholders will boot Varney off and whip the company into shape. They have the money to do great.
  4. The only thing is it won't be a quick job. The video talks about how they have to fit into the busy schedule of the steel manufacturer, and a lot of the pine wood would need replacing and that is hard to source. Which is where I see Merlin having the issue. They'll be paying the price of a large investment and it'll take the timescale of one. RMC may not have been mentioned because the Intamin prefab structure design is so different to that of normal woodies? Maybe that itself would prove an excessive amount of work too. The fact it was forced shut by TUV though during an inspection says it all, maintain your rides better.
  5. Maybe Heide are starting a civil war with Merlin and putting the pressure on them! It would say a lot though if Merlin don't fund this, it's one of the parks major attractions and I'd much rather them reopen it and see no investment for a year or 2 over getting some Peppa Pig land (which I guess is safe to presume the two slated for next year are going to Heide and Garda as they can't go to our parks)
  6. It'll be Walking Dead. It's in the project name in the plans- "Thorpe Park Resort/ X:\NWO WD" Plus, they can market it as the worlds first Walking Dead coaster.
  7. They can actually go higher than 50 metres on the island behind Swarm. They'll just have to apply it separately compared to what the MTDP approved (which will be irrelevant by then anyway), same with coaster length, they can go longer. The only strict guide Thorpe have from the council is imposing views. A coaster of such height as Stealth or partially Swarm have to have quite an open structure. There's a reason Stealth got a nice new support layout compared to other accelerators, so a woodie if it were to go to 50 metres would have to have minimal points higher than 80/90 feet to satisfy this, or a really open support structure. But yeah essentially there is no set height restriction anywhere on park, you have the limit from Heathrow of like 500 feet or something, they just have to apply for it ala Stealth and it might be more of an argument other than that agreed in the MTDP.
  8. At least Storm Surge will fit in "you need to leave the apocalyptic area come into the safe zone" vibe
  9. For years X had a 1.4 height restriction and was deemed a thrill ride. And going backwards by no means made it a "thrill coaster" but no one complained. If it goes back to that way so be it, if they do it properly then yeah it could be good. If there's a ride and its themed around the Walking Dead but only has a 1 metre height restriction and you as the parent choose to take them on it fully knowing its themed around a horror zombie TV franchise, that's your issue.
  10. Back when it opened Valhalla was a spectacle. Worthy of winning the best water ride awards (it winning it this year just proves how silly those awards are). But look at Blackpool as a park since then, rides started closing all over the shop due to declining gate figures and profits. And with Valhalla being stupidly expensive to run cuts have to be made. And, the problem with making cuts is then reversing them down the line. Management will see that the ride operates fine, it still looks okay to new riders who know nothing else and it is still popular. I'm sure you could have Valhalla back to the good old days, but you certainly wouldn't be getting Icon. And then imagine removing it, fanboys would go mad, Blackpool would lose one of its iconic rides. It's a difficult situation and Blackpool still just doesn't make enough money to justify solving it. It is a real shame but that's just generally the theme park industry in this country nowadays.
  11. The pass system needs a complete overhaul. Starting from scratch with tiers. To remove parks during August is just odd. I get it adds value to the premium, I get Disney do it. But it's not like any of the Merlin parks are near capacity at August weekends that they're having to turn paying guests away on the day. There's easier ways to make the valuing better, just keep standard price rises on the standard pass and offer premium holders more. As all they've done here is rise the premium price and reasoning it as "well you can still visit August weekends so that's costing you another tenner." Just a bizarre way to go about it all.
  12. What is an original design nowadays though? Technically speaking from a business sense. Like Mack have sold a few Blue Fire clones, now that ride was solely designed for Europa and to advertise the ride type, but to get custom some parks could only afford an already made model. Now obviously some rides are harder to clone such as Taron with its theming, Nemesis with the rockery etc. But it happens. There's that pure Oblivion clone on a hill somewhere in Asia. Smiler? Seems pretty unique to Towers, but Gerst advertise it with a model number on the infinity coaster brochure and have an awesome model they take to IAAPA. Odds are Merlin have some exclusivity deal to the design, as I'm sure is the case with many ride layouts. But in a few years, if someone wanted a Smiler clone Gerstlauer aren't going to turn away the business. Because, end of the day that's what it is, business. I agree original designs are fab, and parks should where possible create a ride to suit them and not just plonk down a ride with little thought. But, for the smaller parks this is what they can afford, and in a sense puts them out there on the map. For example; that park getting the Juvelen clone I'd never heard of. It is now on my radar and might be worth a visit knowing they are getting a ride that is a proven success. Plus, it's easier for me to get to. I'd rather a park full of amazing cloned rides than poorly designed, naff rides.
  13. For a lot of smaller parks it allows them to build a tried and tested layout that will be a hit without spending all the money on design. Vekoma made a business from selling multiple SLCs and boomerangs. And I know what clones I'd prefer to see on the market. More creds, more parks. I see zero issue. 99.9999% of people that have ridden Takabisha will not trek New Jersey fora nick themed park. And anyone who does will most likely go "oh they have one of those back home and it's pretty good."
  14. Mod post: The poll is for people to vote for days they can do. Not for people to fix and ask their mates to vote for who may not even turn up and they're just trying to make the numbers so the date they want wins. The whole point is to vote for a majority so we can get the most people to the meet, New and old members and not just regulars or 'cliques' The above 2 votes were as a joke against Paige and will be stricken. It's unfair to close the poll early as some people may be waiting on a work decision etc so I am reopening it and it will close tomorrow at 8pm as planned. Any issues please PM me. Keep voting unbiased for the success of the meets
  15. Taron's second launch is fab. Stealth I adore, and it definitely has force, it's like the 4/5th fastest accelerating coaster out there, so the outright force is there And Hulk. Hulk's launch is just so cool throwing you into an inversion. Thirteen when it speeds up from switch track to the station? That's pretty punchy, better than Rita's that's for sure
  16. Like a seasonal special of a magazine, welcome to my bumper edition of all thing Halloween! So this year, it started late September (we'll be doing it in August soon don't you worry, watch you backs Mickey's not so scary thing) As per most seasons, it began with the press night at Thorpe This is a fab way to try out the new rubbish Before these metal fences get full of people The two new Walking Dead mazes; Nightmare was lovely to look at, but far too open, far too short and had no ending. Very naff. Sanctum was even worse, like stupidly short. Saw Alive is the same, Platform was much better with an actual middle section now. And Big Top is now a very well rounded, complete maze. Roamers this year were awful, bring back the good old roaming style of 2011. Theming was alright in places, places you don't expect. Like by Flying Fish Preview night of Tulleys! Felt very stale this year. Is it the first time we've not had something fully new? The tag onto Hellements just makes the thing bearable, Chop Shop is still a boredom machine of repetition. Colony and Cellar are still fab though and hayride a good laugh. But I feel they're pushing to have more mazes and losing quality? There'll be NINE next year. Europa has 5. Thorpe have 5. Most events are 5/6. Mad The following weekend was back at Thorpe for the meet. Here's a nice photo of Swarm, cloud and Stealth. And the Amity effect Friday 13th. Would be rude not to go to an event. This started our trip to the midlands for 4 different Halloween events, starting at The Howl! I have no photos from inside cos I was preoccupied! However, this event is much smaller than its sister, Tulleys. 5 mazes but all very close together and this really worked in my eyes. They had a few roamers but all the actors going to and from break would like run at people on route too. The clown maze was alright, hotel de basquerville had great sets, but the scares were very front heavy so being at the back did nothing for us. House of Hounds had such a build up, not an amazing middle but the best use of a puppet I've seen. It physically pushed you over in the claustrophobia tunnel. Then there was Squealers Yard and Shed. Squealers is one of the most intense mazes with being physical I've done. We went through as a 3, and the actors were crazy. And it just kept going! Shed was kinda like Cellar in that it had inhabitants and was conga, very well themed as well with some good jumps. Overall a fab little event. I think this is only its third year? The next morning Hi Mr Scarecrow, do you like all the bunting? Scarefest, not to be confused with the later to be visited Screamfest 30 minutes down the road Obligatory Nemesis photo Expensive lunch And bam. Maze building. So the 3 in here. Terror of the Towers- It's a solid maze, I said this last year and I stick by it. It works. If this was at Thorpe you wouldn't complain, it's only cos Towers make you pay for it and it's next to much more intense mazes. There's nothing wrong with it. Altonville- We had an awful run through. No being dragged away, hardly any grabbing, caught up with like 2 other groups. I've heard this a lot about this one though this year. Real shame. It has an ending now though Sub Species- Pre-show is still fun, the door scene good fun even if it's cut back slightly now. Seems hit or miss, me and Phill had good runs but Jack didn't. In general this year the actors seem less aggressive but Sub is still fun as it's an actual maze, a game. 2 endings as well now so I got a nice shiny new one, yay! Then there's this one. Eh. It looks nice, if the SW8 queue gets some of these set pieces I'll be happy. But batching in like 25 people at a time yeah. All odd. No ending really. Idk. Eh. Oh look, a place that knows how to do a scare zone Simple yet fun! Have a nice Smiler photo And off we went to Screamfest! 5 mazes. As per starting with the clown one. Decent enough, really like this entrance feature though Little DJ in a box with lights. He seemed like a cool guy Strategic photo to have crap next to it? Maybe. It is pretty naff. Bland walls, nothing happening. Worst new thing There was a fire 'show'. Roaming people with fire at other events were better but hey ho. Soul Seekers had a great start, got lost in the middle then no end. Love Hurts is brill. Such a cool concept going into the sewers, completing weird tasks by a crazy scientist to perfect matching up singles And then the other new maze. Starts with a little tractor ride around a hill, then you arrive at the party to "enjoy" the local corn maize. But, a lunatic has also just escaped jail with his banditos. And it all goes mad. Actor runs through the corn, 4 things that feel finale worthy but it isn't over. So much fun, kept going, glad it was left till last! And that's Screamfest, some good concepts and mazes, then some awful ones. Back at Towers the next day we decided to go family friendly with a flash mob from the awesome ancestors And House of Monsters! They really need to advertise this more, it's so much fun and worth every single penny of the £5. Cheesy as a slab of cheddar but a great laugh and interesting little maze ending A fun photo of Smiler Another flash mob And off we went to Twinlakes for Xtreme Scream Park With roaming actors who know how to pose perfectly. Ta mate 6 mazes, 2 rides and a load of roaming actors. We were all very much looking forward to this one especially after the stuff we'd heard. Stilton Hall Hotel was insane. 2 floors, a full hotel tour, and some crazy even kinky actors Hoodoo Voodoo. The best hooded maze I've done. Was like a funhouse with changing floors, wall texture, actors etc and had a decent post hood section with huge voodoo dolls, and an odd finale Just a roamer, but better than the previous nights 'show' The Village was long. But a good long. 4 different building, one being a creepy school with a cool blackboard effect. Only thing that let it down for us was the finale or kinda lack off. Something we'd noticed a lot this year in general from events First half of Pie Factory we saw no actors, just loads of actor runs and potential. Then we caught up with a chain of people and actors. Shame as this maze had massive potential but ending up in a huge group ruined the second half The night ended in jail. There was some really cool effects in here, and again a decent length, plus the façade is just great with the guntower going out onto the lawn of the events like arena. There wasj ust no ending! And that concludes our weekend away! As storm *MET office being stupid so want to name everything that has a bit of wind or rain or storm storm name here* I headed down to Dreamland for the first time It's a cute little park with some great vintage rides The famous "Lets piss off the local flats with a loud coaster" Magic Mouse (no joke, this thing pretty much rests alongside their balconies, even waved at someone who wasn't as impressed) And a wacky worm. Technically a bee actually. With 4 or 5 laps. Can't remember but it was too many To kill some time we went to a shell grotto. Yup. It is what it says on the door Enough of that nonsense, Screamland time! 6 mazes and a photo opportuning shipping container The maze in the mirror maze is a joke its so short. But has a cool show start. Brotherhood is a new maze, hooded but different and quite a cool hooded concept. Considering the number of hooded mazes I've done this year, we didn't hate it. Carnival of Freaks, great start with Alfonso, weird ending where they trap you in a room that looks like the start. Crank Jack killed our knees, you are crawling for so long! The ending is cool though, we got so lost we ended in an actor spot and got screamed at (in character). Prop store was annoying, had some really nice old Screamland stuff but with a pulsing strobe so you can't properly see it. And then a very expected photo finale. Final cut and Dead n Breakfast is a cool concept going from one maze straight into another. The smells were authentic like popcorn, and a few cool effects but not as good as I'd been told they were in previous years And then to end the Halloween season like a pro, 2 years running. Howl'o'ween. Curse of lost tomb is worse, they don't do half the interactive stuff anymore. Roaming actors were a major plus this year, Tomb Blasters queue had like 5 in. Creepy Caves is great. They can't run a timed ticket system at all, we waiting nearly 80 minutes in the queue but the maze was good. Good story, cool concepts and effects. After the first scene I had no idea where we were in relation to the caves. So overall, a fab spooky season! Hopefully next year will be just as eventful
  17. With the rumour of CCL being rethemed at Towers for 2019 as well, and a strong rumour being for it to become Lego themed, Lego Movie Land? Would work as its own area, they have a dark ride building that could be repurposed, an unused 4D cinema, some cars etc.
  18. It was the end of July, time for another trip Norwegian was really cool to fly with, comfy seats, free wifi and cheap. Gatwick to Landvetter, easy. After a very easy bus journey and dropping our stuff in the hostel, we were on park queueing for Balder This is possibly the smoothest Intamin I've been on. Made some pretty cool noises over the airtime hills too and the tunnels were fun especially at night Eh Liseberg banana train! This was really fun, especially in the rain where it gained some serious speed Swing on a hill, Rush but a bit cooler Some nice views A horrid device. Unless you ride it like a chairswing like I do The park then gets really nice at night The next day was really wet. So we went kid cred hunting And did their haunted house maze thing. Upcharge but cheaper if you have an unlimited wristband. Not very scary but very well themed The rapids were pretty fun. If a bit spinny This was torture. The queue was long and the ride cycle even longer And all the views were ruined by rain And then the sun came out. The park is littered with game stalls. But some are quite well done like this Balder ski ball one Loke And a photo of Helix Oh yeah, I won the group a 2kg Toblerone Was actually a load of mini ones, but still very nice Our final day we wandered the city Some of the buildings were lovely And historic trams! For our big like group meal we went to Hard Rock Which was cool and really large Including this virtual bowling alley And this Back to the lovely city A wall had to be climbed Gained some amazing views from the additional few metres Chilled in the harbour for a while And then it was time to get our bus back to the airport And that's Gothenburg. The city is stunning and well worth a visit especially if you're already out there. Liseberg, decent place but lacks a dark ride especially now the only they have is gone. But if you like flat rides and a few coasters you'll be fine!
  19. I have intention of writing a bumper Halloween blog post with all the scare events I'm visiting. But to do this I should really catch up. So from a good 3 months ago, here is Efteling and their 13 hour day celebrating summer nights or something. We were staying in the very nice Loonscheland Hotel. Our room was suitable for up to 5 people, not sure how comfy that would have been but for the 3 of us it was fine. Very nice bathroom, comfy beds. All good. We had a view of the service yard. Fresh breakfast each morning was great though with breads etc. Climbing frames and goats made it even more fun! 1st July. First day of the festival and Symbolica opening. We used our ERT to wait for it to open Pardoes (?) happy to get a ride about him And the hoards arrive! We made the first batch of guests (should I brag about this?) and it's a very nice attraction. Fun for everyone. Enough of this. Let's start the party! Commencing at 6pm, there was a parade Which was basically of all the entertainment that'd be on offer that night So each land had an offering and a timetable of different events. There was so much going on it was fab And a marching band. Think there was one near the front too So Ravelijn land had sword fighting And other stuff. Was like a mini Warwick castle We then went and got some food from this pop up stand area, was nice. And then these guys got involved, with an amazing repertoire of music they were much entertainment. As can be seen, Josh has a video Carnival had a random sing-a-long session. The area by the rapids had these dancers and Flamenco The Swiss (?) area by Bob had this guy, Steinbok. He was very popular, a comedic singing act. Had like a cult following it seemed. Was a very nice atmosphere though The best in my eyes were the street performers in Arabian Nights land. This guy not giving ice cream (it was free if you could grab it from him) Some magic act. And I think I might have been roped into buying an authentic rug? Flying Dutchman had one of those not moving people who then does move. And then it started to get dark! Steinbok still holding a crowd! And then the beautiful fountains. They had 3 shows on that night, Aquanara as normal, symphony 1 and symphony 2 which were different music configurations from the attractions around the park! We ended up seeing both symphony's and had an amazing night. Possibly one of the best theme park events I've attended. All included in your ticket price It must have now been 11:20 but the park were in no rush to kick us out. So much so they had all the acts from throughout the park at the exit area saying bye to everyone, taking photos etc The entrance is annoyingly large and doesn't fit in my photo. Next time, Liseberg and the city of Gothenburg!
  20. I think Tulley's was a bit stale this year. With nothing new this year and only minor tweaks it felt very samey. Yes Hellements has new things but that's just fixing an issue they've had for years. Coven apparently had new scenes but it almost felt shorter, Chopshop is still the same. Very marmite maze, it's either gonna make you love it or go eh. The clown maze had some changes once again but none of it felt overly new. Colony and Cellar weren't touched which is good as they're solid consistent mazes which is good for an event to have. The street theatre this year didn't seem as large as previous years or as entertaining. It just felt like they could have done more. They have 8 attractions, push the boat out with one, try something new. Might take a year or 2 off from Tulley's now unless they have a big shakeup. Like they say, you can only have so much of a good thing.
  21. When shall we meet for our annual Stealth culling?
  22. Can it be earlier in December eg not the busiest weekend for Christmas in London?
  23. Rumba is an old ride, it's a game of either putting into into winter early or it comes out of winter late for next season. It needs work, the park know that but don't have the budget or time to do it over the set closed season. So it's either close it now when it wouldn't have queues even if it took off a small load from the FN crowds or lose it during Easter when the weather can be really nice and it can be busy with families. Neither is great but it's the lesser of the 2 available evils. Or they could just do the bare minimum on it and it'll be unreliable again all year. Short term pain for long term gain. Rush is annoying and no one wanted it to end the way it has for the season. But that again is out of Thorpe's hands, they'd been trying to get it re open with lots of work going on over late August. Other than that, IAC has always closed at this time of year, Loggers can't be included as for what it's worth, the ride isn't part of Thorpe anymore. And Slammer is gone too. SBNO stuff ain't great but that's how machinery works. Sometimes it costs more than it's worth to fix something. None of this is trying to excuse Thorpe, but Thorpe aren't to blame for it all either.
  24. If they were that fussed then they'd change the wheels based on the season. But I'm not trying to dig at Blackpool here, just stating you can't dig Colossus either as it's not in Thorpe's hands.
  25. Yeah but Blackpool has a silly excuse in my eyes. Having 3 trains but they all have a different set of weather wheels on when they could just change the proxy sensors and run the faster trains, or do what Thorpe and others do and change the wheels on both trains as the seasons change. Notice Swarm has fresh wheels again as they'll be the colder running wheels till the end of season. A broken train that Intamin take so long to fix is out of Thorpe's hands. Not an excuse, but the reason.
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