Mitchada04

It was snowing at last years AP day which may have put people off going Merlin do seem to have a better system in place for AP days now than they did before though.

I've had loads but the notable ones are: Saw The Ride: It was the first or second weekend of Summer Nights, pouring with rain and we went on Saw. Go 1 was fine but for some reason we decided to go a second time and got stuck on the turning transfer track, in the rain, with no side rails to get off on to. So the mechanics pushed us backwards and we got off via a step ladder. Was good fun as we got the best part of Saw, a walk through the workshop and free hot chocolate The Swarm: It was mid 2012, me and my friend were sat front row and we left the station, just. The front of the train had just started it's incline on the lift and it stopped. We couldn't hear any of the announcements and after 10 minutes we suddenly moved half way up the lift to then stop again. After absorbing the gorgeous view we finally made it to the top and had our ride. And people say The Swarm is a short ride Back in 2008 on a school trip we had a rollback on Flying Fish. It went around normally for 5 circuits then rolled backwards through the station. That was strange. I've had many of the Stealth breakdowns where you get on, pull down your restraint then they rise and tell you to stand back behind the gates. Many of them.

So they create a capsule that is designed to last the life of your pass and now not only are they charging you per refill they've made the capsules smaller! I suppose it's what Universal and Seaworld do so Merlin are copying from far superior (in terms of quality) theme park chains. Woo, go Merlin!

That's the one place I'm not at all surprised it has stalled on! The train goes tediously slow over that before diving into the main launch. The first time I watched it in person last year I thought if anythings going to roll back it'll be that.

Seems the Stealth area is getting quite a bit of attention! I can't believe it's taken 8 years for it to get a shop and this new Diner should be even better especially if they make the inside feel like an American diner. Hopefully they'll also repaint the Stealth sign. It's not much but that's 3 park improvements already for this year (Stealth shop, diner and Mexican Cantina extension) so hopefully lots of other things are also happening around the park.

Not the biggest piece of new ever but today Thorpe Park have submitted plans for a small Stealth shop to be built opposite the queue line stairs/next to the photo shop. http://planning.runnymede.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=187207&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Runnymede_AA/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Runnymede_AA/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING

I'm not too sure what my first big ride was in general, was probably one of Florida Disney rides in 2003 (I think I did Thunder Mountain etc that year). If not, February 2005 for sure when I did all the Disney World coasters (except Rock n Rollercoaster), Gwazi at Busch and if it hadn't broken down Scorpion which would have been my first inverting ride. But later in 2005 I did my first inverting coaster which like many others was Nemesis Inferno. So in response to the topic question, my first big coaster in the UK was Nemesis Inferno.

Does it have to appeal to families though in not being overly thrilling. The number of children who get upset because they are too small for Thorpe's coasters or just in general is high. People assume that young kids don't like thrill rides, not all true. You can't know that when you don't allow small kids on thrill rides due to height restrictions. Not every child is scared off big rides that go upside down, many want to go on them and can't wait to be tall enough. So why not build a thrilling wooden or whatever and give it a 1.2 height restriction (like Wodan or Outlaw Run has) and as long as you don't give it an overly dark scary theme children of the 1.2 height will ride. With the removal of Corkscrew at Towers and so on Britain lacks thrilling rides for children and at the same time older families. The only inverting rides at Merlin parks (with the removal of Submission) for people under 1.4 metres are Zodiac and Enterprise. Not great for children who look for something thrilling that they can ride with their parents.

Woo! Clearer view of Oblivion's break run!!!! Shame to see it going in my eyes, I always enjoyed it and it's a cool bizzare ride to watch. Hopefully it'll be replaced by s thrill ride, maybe Merlin could buy two of them and give one to Thorpe as a Slammer replacement (I'll be sad to see that go as well but you do have to appreciate it must cost a fortune to keep going with little success).

This meet was fantastic last year and I aim to be there! And Mark, I guess it's because that's Easter weekend?

I'll be there!

If there's a new coaster coming in 2015 it'll be all over the park in March. Not going to lose out on a bit of marketing are they? And all this about it happening in 2016 would mean it would clash with Towers next large investment. Who's to say Towers will get something large in 2016? And even if they do, in 2002 we got Colossus and Air in the same year. The way I see it is Gardaland have had a 4 year gap between Raptor and the new dive coaster next year so they might give Thorpe a 4 year gap. But then Heide has had a 3 year gap between Krake and Flight of the Demon so who knows! If they don't put planning permission in soon though it won't be opening for March next year. Nothing to say they won't open a new coaster in sumner 2015, especially as it seems Merlin have given up with first day of the season openings.

In this final instalment of my Florida adventure we look at 3 parks in the dark, SeaWorld, Universal Studios and Island's of Adventure. So let's begin! With SeaWorld's beautiful tree! Because it's Christmas! So even the lake was full of trees! There was an ice rink Red SkyTower A Christmas train set Decorations Mythical beasts Penguins Another tree And fountains! So SeaWorld is beautiful at night especially with Kraken and Manta! And welcome to Universal Studios! Where the minions were lit up! A concert under Rockit Lit up Optimus Their Christmas tree Water screens With minions, lasers and fireworks! Bye bye Studios Here we come Islands! Where the Discovery Centre lit up the lake Suess was bright as ever With one fish And a cat Down in Hogsmeade Dragons were challenging And the lake was glowing! One of the best area entrances got better! With night time adventures And the Discovery Centre up close A Lagoon of Toon! Home to Dudley Popeye And partying dogs But watch out (terrible image) Doctor Doom is about! But so is Spidey! We're safe again Watch out It's not going to work The Hulk. And that concludes my Florida adventure. I hope you've enjoyed reading all my entries

Our penultimate instalment takes us to what has become my favourite theme park... Welcome to Universal Studios Florida! What will this chapter of our adventure have in store I wonder? The Cat in the Hat shall enlighten us! Let's start back... To the Future Now home to Jebediah Lard Lad And Clumsy Wigum! Watch out for Kang and Kudos though! They'll put you in a spin And make you a bit Tipsy Or Sirly. DuffMan doesn't care though As long as you buy Duff! And then treat yourself to a Krusty Burger thanks too Krusty himself! Moving on we have Men In Black! Which really isn't a disaster (even though some peoples scores were!) Something tells me the Amity retheme has gone a bit overboard... Christmas Tree was Rocking out over the Christmas period! Really it's a massive grey shed. Hiding a red train. Time for a musical interlude Not enough? Have some Blues Brothers as well! Warning Civilians, your help is needed! E7 Error! E7!! Optimus Prime needs your help (or just wants whatever he is pointing at, probably a dink) We were called away from the music to try and stop a doll? This I can understand, but really, a doll?! Of course not, this was the Horror Makeup Show! What's this? Hop? Ohhh, the film about a bunny! Garfield didn't want candy so instead This was actually due to Macy's parade. The All Star Parade didn't happen while we were there so every half hour one of the 4 floats/routines would come out and do a performance followed by a meet and greet. The 4 acts were Hop, Despicable Me, Dora, and SpongeBob! On our first day it was a huge surprise but a great one at that! Shrek 4D And to conclude let's talk about in my opinion an overly underrated ride (or highly criticised for flaws that have been resolved/improved) Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit! This element is great, really pushes you out of your seat and a great high speed change in direction! It's a fun ride which has massively improved since I rode it in 2009! Opinions are free and everyone is entitled to their own but these are mine. And this Twister of events brings us to the end. A little write up on two things before I finish. Transformers: Using the same technology as Spiderman this is a brilliant dark ride and is much more screen based than Spidey (that's why I prefer Spiderman over it) but it certainly feels much more involved at times with the riders being a key role to the story. Despicable Me: The ride basis is exactly the same as Jimmy Neutron but just a much more complete experience with more pre shows and guest interaction. And MINIONS! Enough said. So thanks again for reading and we hope to see you one more time!

It is a strange one, you stand outside the entrance and there are loads of people yet once inside it is dead bar Harry Potter world and even then the rides on there has short queues. Not being a massive fan of Potter I didn't care about meandering aimlessly in all the crowded shops for hours so the empty rest of the park was brilliant. What I'm worried about regarding the Mummy and Diagon Alley is surely the public are going to find Gringotts Bank just s bigger better version of the Mummy? I guess time will tell but at least the expansion should stop everyone going straight on to Minions giving that an 80 minute queue from the start.

It was indeed Duelling Dragons it's pretty much unchanged apart from the queue line has been redone to resemble you walking through the caves or whatever to get to the dragons and that they no longer duel.

It's certainly strange that a park of such scale has received little investment in new rides (especially its first 10 years of operation) yet it is still rated highly amongst enthusiast. Just shows, high quality rides and experiences in the first place will lead to success. I think Harry Potter world has made Universal realise Islands full potential especially with the talks of a Jurassic Park extension for 2015 ish (when JP4 is released) and other ideas that I'm sure are always in the works. What is staggering (in my eyes) is how by opening Harry Potter world (which is actually just one new awesome ride and a re-theme) Islands equalled Studios attendance yet they're regularly investing. Either way I think the future for Islands is brighter (even though it was never dull) and if they can utilise an evening show on the lake or something then it will feel complete.

I thought Sidders would be more of a 'Thing 1'

For the first 8 days it was empty! Longest queue at Islands was 20 minutes for Forbidden Journey, everything else was pretty much walk on. It picked up from the 21st but even then other than Forbidden Journey at 75 minutes, the queues stayed around 30 minutes tops.

This latest instalment even has adventure in the name, welcome to Islands of Adventure! Let's take it one island at a time! And let us start in the wacky world of Suess! Which home to one fish, no two fish, are they red fish or blue fish though? And an exceedingly unique carousel! Moving on from Suess we enter the Lost Continent! Which now feels even more lost. Sinbad, a decent show when you ignore the construction going on behind it. Now time to enter the place many will be wanting to see... The Wizardring World of Harry Potter! This actually moves! And the first challenge, Dragon Challenge! Champions you are ready for battle good luck! Hagrid's hut! With a Hippogriff! And the masterpiece of the whole area Forbidden Journey! Yes it is a massive shed behind but up front it is sure impressive! Bye bye Hogsmeade And hello Jurassic Park! Home to DINOSAURS Of course And this beautiful view! Wonder what happens here? This happens! Moving on Toon Lagoon! Best water ride I have been on. And last but not least, Marvel SuperHero Island! And The Hulk!!! A view from Port of Entry And the car park concludes this chapter! Don't worry, more photos of Islands will be appearing in the night time photo edition! But until then, thanks for reading and join us again at Universal Studios!

22nd I'll be there, 29th I probably won't. So fingers crossed for the 22nd

I still don't quite get the positioning of the Fright Nights preview nights/days. Really would expect them to be on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd before the first weekend. Otherwise, it's not a very good preview Wouldn't be surprised with the way they added "Preview Days" and have now removed them that they aren't actually finalised yet.

It did exist as Cypress Gardens (okla something and it was orange). Flying School and Coastersauraus were also their before.

Of course there was going to be a shed, it is a Merlin creation I don't know if this an American thing or just how Legoland Florida chose to set them but both Wave Surfer and the Rocky Express whatever it's called seemed slower than they are over here. The Dragon; dark ride part is much better as a whole probably because it doesn't look/feel warn out. The tunnel out to the coaster is also a bit clearer with a story of the wizard. Boating school was smaller, Driving School looked bigger. The laser raiders had a few more effects interacting with the car and the audio is clearer but it is essentially a clone. Project X is run much better than Jungle Coaster ever was, even before the lids. They have 3 space towers in Florida which I bet helps the queues and they don't have the stupid seat belts that the operator had to unlock with a key. Their miniland is much better in my opinion but maybe that's because it looks new, has working effects and is of different areas to our one. I preferred it to the one in England maybe because there was more for the older generations to do? Plus the gardens which is a nice place to go from the manic Park. If you have a spare day out their and some money I'd recommend it, especially if you can get the 50% off with a MAP (didn't have any trouble doing this they even gave my ticket half price without my pass).

At Cypress Gardens I remember Storm Surge being a fairly decent ride. It did have tipping buckets and waterfalls down the slide and the horrid structure wasn't as noticeable as it was surrounded well be trees. It's amazing what trees can hide! And there is a squid surfer (think they called it Wave Racers?) And it is really clean, sparkling actually same with the water in the splash battle. It is a really clean park and hopefully it will remain that way and be a success.