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Matt 236

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  1. Matt 236
    Once Upon A Time, in a land of Merlin empire lived a Creaky Themepark Fanatic who had a life long dream to visit Disneyland Paris. Living under the curse for 21 years, many attempts to break the spell in 2014 were unleashed, but none prevailed.

    However many months later in to 2015, The Creek encountered Buzz Lightyear & Remy who cooked together a magic plan.

    Joined by a Mickey Taking Sorcerer.

    And The Spell Was Broken!!! Matt Creek had made it to Disneyland Paris. Transformed back to his normal Creaky Disney Self, he was about to enter a world full of magic and one that was immune to horrendous staggered opening hours, budget cuts, Fastrack sales, One Train operations and very run down areas.

    The Car Train which takes you from England to France, the beginner of the magic.
    We stayed at the Aparthotels in Val'D Europe during our stay which was very cheap and nice to stay in too [ a bit like having your own little apartment really].
    Day 1
    After a few hours sleep and croissants for breakfast, it was off to the most magical place in Europe [although it;s probably second after Europa].

    The Val'D Europe Shopping centre, a predrink to all the magic.

    The platform for the train that takes you to Disney. And for One Euro Seventy, that really is rather magic.

    Matt Creek wears a Mickey Mouse shirt [and socks], to prepare himself for the magic

    A Double Decker train. What is this magic?

    And with a few moments like that, you arrive at the gates as if by magic.

    The surroundings of the Disney Village, we will experience that magic later

    And it is here where we find the real magic starts to work it's way in,
    OMG WE HAVE ARRIVED AT DISNEYLAND PARIS, I REPEAT WE HAVE ARRIVED AT DISNEYLAND PARIS!!!!!

    Spring theming at the entrance to the park. It's touches like this which make the surroundings even more magical

    Main Street USA, the theming and attention to detail is just magic.

    This theming is magic,

    But it is this view here where it really is truly Magic.

    Creek In The Magic
    The attention to detail in Main Street is just superb and just amazing. Pictures can't justify how great the setting and the build up to the castle in distance is superb. It's an even better park entrance view to Towers Street which in comparison to the vibrant Main Street looks like a worn out town during the recession.

    Magic

    More Magic

    The attention to detail in that Castle is magic!!!

    Another view as if by magic!

    Discovery Land, this area is lacking the magic more from the rest of the park at the moment.

    This is because Space Mountain is currently closed part of a long refurbishment. And with the covered scaffolding, elements of the different facades have magically disappeared.

    Videopolis whilst closed is looking fresh as if given a lick of paint by magic.

    And now it's off to do our first magical ride of the day, Star Tours.

    And here's an arcade after the ride. Least it's more magical than the one in Oblivion.
    Star Tours was an amazing first ride. The queue line was heavily themed with different spaceship crafts and characters from Star Wars and built up to the attraction rather nicely. The ride itself [was just as good as you went around in a spaceship like craft passing different scenes and settings from the Star Wars films and it really did feel as if you were flying. Rating 8/10.

    Inside The Magic

    Buzz Lightyear Laser Blasters, this ride has a magic throughput

    It's just as magical from the outside

    Some people don't think this ride is magical, but I can't find a mark anywhere

    Even The Shop Is Magical
    Buzz Lightyear Laser Blasters was a ride I really enjoyed. It didn't beat Star Tours in terms of my favourites but I did like the ride very much. I don't know why it receives haters because it is really a good ride and much better than Laser Raiders & Tomb Blaster [at least in it's current state]. 7/10

    More Spring theming. It's just magic

    More Magic

    The Lion King. It's like I'm reliving my child hood, the magic

    Words can't express this magic

    A mysterious magical structure lies in the distance

    Which even a big green fence cannot destroy this magic

    It's magic I tell you

    The reason why Disney beat Merlin is because things like this are often magically well kept

    The Big Magic Thunder Mountain

    No Matter where you look at it from, it's completely magic





    There's so many photos taken from the trip, If I were to comment on all them, there would be a shortage on Magic.
    Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is an absolutely amazing ride. The high quality immersive theming [which is present at most of Disneyland Paris] makes this ride look visually stunning. But what makes the ride from good to great is the fun impressive layout on this ride, from the exciting dive undrground at the start and the end of the ride to it's interaction with other ride trains and plenty of fun twists, turns and hills on the way. Big Thunder is now officially my favourite family coaster and so far best ride at Disney. 10/10

    Phantom Manor, this place is full of dark magical things

    Just make sure you don't use your flash on inside, otherwise you will receive a magical complaint from staff
    Phantom Manor was another good ride. Not my top favourite, but I still really enjoyed it. I love rides with a dark, spooky and Gothic style theme and this ride falls in there nicely. I liked all the effects they used such as the hollow dancers and singing heads amongst other things. 7.5/10

    The most magical thing about this chandelier is it's still standing and hasn't been been removed and left empty like a certain park ;]
    Now for a magical relaxing break.


    Am I the only one to think that this rock used to be more magical?






    The views of Big Thunder you get from Thunder Messa are truly magical
    Thunder Messa is a loverly little boat ride that takes you on a relaxing journey on the rivers of Frontier Land. it's such a relaxing ride to do and escape from the crowds [if there's any] and with the light green colour of the river, heavy level of trees and big thunder nearby, it feels like a nice gentle boat ride in America during the early 1900's.


    Even the walkways in disney are magic [and not mishmash tarmaced paths].
    And That ends Part 1 of my trip report, part 2 coming round shortly full of rough boulders, Caves that you can get lost in for 15 minutes and much more Mickey taking.
  2. Matt 236
    As very much everyone is aware, I will (hopefully) be making my first ever trip to a Disney park one month from today, a time even this far off I'm absolutely buzzing for.
    However, still being a 'Disney park virgin' for the time being, I though I would conjure up a series of rides, places and attractions ive been on that I believe the closest 'present' experiences I've had to the authentic disney rides I shall be riding, whether the result of this is fairly close or just a complete joke in comparison.
    All in all, this list is just a bit of fun at the end of the day.
    1/ Big Thunder Mountain- Runaway Mine Train Alton Towers

    Plus Inferno's volcano for the theming

    2/ It's A SmallWorld- Bubbleworks Chessington

    3/ Phantom Manor- Duel Alton Towers

    Probably the closest accuracy in the list
    4/ Pirates Of The Caribbean- Pirate Falls Treasure Quest Legolañd Windsor

    Apparently it's not a pirates life for me.
    5/ Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast- Laser Raiders Legoland Windsor

    6/ Autopia- Grand Prix Blackpool

    Mark9 will appreciate this one
    7/ Pinoccio's Daring Journey- Pinoccio Tivoli World

    Slightly more accurate
    8/ Snow Whte's Scary Adventures- Alice In Wonderland Blackpool

    Only one I could think of places I've visited
    9/ Peter Pan's Flight- Fireball Adventure Island Southend

    Yes, very accurate. Really, I couldn't think of anything in terms of suspended dark rides I've done, so this had to do.
    10/ Indiana Jones Le Temple De Peril- Turbo Brighton Pier

    Ok,I'm didn't actually ride this, but I saw it. I think it's pretty accurate at least in the layout though.
    11/ Storybook canal boats- Fairy Tale Brook Legoland Windsor

    12/ Star Tours- Angry Birds 4D Thorpe Park

    Since I'm yet to do a simulator, this is the closest I could find. Maybe I have hit a new low.
    Now for the Studios rides
    13/ Tower Of Terror- Hex Alton Towers

    More so on experience than hardware.
    14/Crush's Coaster- Sonic Spinball Alton Towers

    Couldn't find anything exact so this will have to do.
    15/ Rock an Roller Coaster- X Thorpe Park

    The only comparison it could ever be.
    16/ Ratatouiee- Wallace & Gromit Blackpool Pleasure Beach
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Wallace_%26_Gromit's_Thrill-O-Matic.JPG
    17/RC Racer- Kobra
    18/ Dumbo- Flying Jumbos
    19/ Slinky dog- Knights Quest
    20/ Tram Tour- Orient Expedition p
    21/ Space a Mountain is again X due to lack of dark rides, but it will be closed when I go.
    One Month to go now!!!!!!!!!!! I shall be reviewing the place for real when I finally visit.
    I don't own the photos.
  3. Matt 236
    So Christmas is almost here as 2014 gradually comes to an end in what has been one of the most mixed years for everything [in what could easily be material for a new soap opera]. However here I will only be mentioning the theme park side of things [after all it's a theme park forum).
    Unfortunately compared to a number of active members here such as Benin, my theme park collection trip is on a much smaller scale, as someone quoted to me talking about how comparing Thorpe park to Universal & Disney World was a bit like comparing a corner shop to a large supermarket, something which is very much the case here, but carrying on.
    Thorpe Park
    Total number of visits 12
    visited March 2x,April, May July 2x, August,October 5x
    In what might be the park's busiest year for a while, Thorpe has had a very mixed season. The park has seen some minor but excellent improvements such as a new map, improved eateries [Amity Fish & Chips & Cantina extension] and the Inferno shop [which has some great touches in there].
    Park events this year were also on a roll and the easter event at the park looked very good [although I didn't actually make it this year] and Summer Nights improving further with not just the main coasters open but also opening of rides such as the teacups and Dodgems on top of a park wide DJ. MOS was just as good as last year [maybe even a little better] and Fright Nights delivered once again bringing us Studio13 [a decent replacement to the Asylum], some great improvements to Blair Witch and Face It Alone, which is an amazing experience for anyone who loves scare mazes and wants to experience them on a more extreme setting.
    OK, moving on to something [which I appear to be dodging opinions upon] and that is the opening of Angry BIrds Land, perhaps the greatest opinion splitter since Saw, some people seem to love it whilst others hate it like the plague. For me there I love and hate it for different reasons.
    I love the installation of the new 4D cinema and Dodgems. The cinema offers a fun,interactive & immersive experience for the park [plus a much needed indoor attraction too] whilst the dodgems offer a decent filler ride for the park with the Bird VS Pig car designs offering some good competition which hasn't been seen since the Beanoland days. The area also gives us a new area dedicated to families [something Thorpe have lacked in recent years] and utilising space that was previously rather wasted.
    What I didn't like about the area though was the fact it has divided the Amity area in half [one of the park's best area transitions] and feels a bit shoe horned and Detonator's retheme feels a bit cheap [pun intended] and more could've been done [the ride music is fine by the way]. I also don't like how the flooring and lampposts in the area are very miss mash in comparison and should've been redone.
    Whilst the park has made quite a lot of improvements, there is still a long way to go before perfection as the park is still suffering from ongoing problems such as Fastrack, ride breakdowns, Stealth & Samurai in particular were unreliable this year [though the engineer team I know do work very hard [which could do with a few more in numbers] and the continuation of 1 train ops on weekdays and mornings on peak days. There are also a lot of park areas that do look very worn such as Canada Creek which still had no new Loggers tunnel, Ranger County & Rumba to name some.

    This year we also said goodbye to yet another classic attraction at the park, the Rangers Caroulse, an attraction which was in service at the park for 20 years which disappears to make way for the highly speculated 2016 dark ride. Whilst just a Caroulsel contained rich history of Thorpe's past, not just being the second to last park Ranger attraction to survive but featuring a collage of former park ride vehicles onboard including Phantom Phantasia, Thunder River & Hudson River Rafters. Lets just hope the park salvage as many horses/models from the ride as possible [if there is no chance of the attraction's return].
    Best Year since 2009
    Alton Towers
    Total visits 2
    Visited June
    Arguably the most magical theme park in the Uk and our nearest port of call to Efteling, Europe & Euro Disney. during the last few seasons some could argue the magic has been lost a fair bit with three disappointing seasons in a row. 2011 saw one of the lowest number of guests and 2012 featured the then disappointing Sub-Terra ride [amongst still low attendance]. 2013 was supposed to be one the year the park shined as a whole but was trashed completely due to how the park's big new coaster The Smiler was handled overall plus it's poor reliability.

    Whilst far from perfect, 2014 appears to have been a better year for the park. Operations seem to be on a roll again, ride reliability is better [bar a few exceptions] and improvements in food and entertainment too.

    Whilst having naturally low expectations, I was rather impressed with the new/re-themed area that opened replacing the ageing farmyard. The area is full of life including freshly re-imaged rides, plenty of themed walkthroughs and gardens and lots of friendly enthusiastic staff. The In The Night Garden Ride was very good in particular with it's animatronics and storyline, Postman Pat was a great fun ride full of heavy themed models and the Get Set Go was a brilliant re-incarnation of the random Squirell Nutty [it feels more like an experience now].
    As I'm not the biggest fan of IP's in theme parks [bar some exceptions], the idea of brand-name here makes perfect sense and fits in well within the park.
    Scarefest proved a mixed bag this year giving us the new Scarytales which looks to have been a good addition however with the loss of one of the former Scaremazes Carnival Of Screams, which was not replaced.
    Best year since 2010
    Chessington
    Total visits 2 [very very nearly 3]
    Visited April, May [almost October]
    2013 at Chessington [to some] was complete shambles, park falling apart, poor/slow operations, closed rides, disappointing opening hours and also a fire at one of the park's newest outlets. Nothing seemed be done right [even the new Zufari ride].

    However for 2014, the park's come it's own again and whilst [stastically speaking] hasn't installed a 'proper' new ride it's improved much of whats there significantly. The hugely retimed Scorpion Express [formerly Runaway Train] whilst definitely being better with the now removed rock face, has a lot more personality now with it's quirky features such as abandoned town backdrops, moving/squirting Scorpion and fire tower plus the overall back story of a town overrun by Scorpions and new soundtrack. Despite losing the Boiler in the queue [which is now in the ride area], the queue line is still nicely themed [for Merlin standards] with interactive elements and the like throughout the queue.

    Other additions such as the re-imaged Market Square, Mexica & Transylvania areas also impressed me among noticeably better park operations among having more soul altogether this year. Amazu is also an interesting update to the monkey walkthrough which looks nice and updated compared to it's old form and whilst the Azteca hotel has taken up a fair portion of land that could've been used for new development it should hopefully bring in more guests and customers to the park and also the theming [on top of the retheme of the 1st hotel] should definitely add up to the wild/exciting experience for staying guests.
    Sadly I never [quite] made it to the now rebranded Howl'O'ween event which looked very good from the reviews I saw and heard about, but who hopefully this will finally happen in 2015. Speaking on 2015, I'm looking forward to see what more the park will be doing as we will see a big update to the penguin enclosure and a new show [after all penguins are rather popular at the moment plus more updates to the park overall.
    Whilst a massive improvement to the disastrous 2013, there's still a long way before the park gets back to it's old 'magic making' days [pre2005] as there's still lots of areas at the park looking old,worn and forgotten. Falls, Tombs, Skyways & Bubbleworks are good examples of this.
    Overall
    Best year since 2010
    Legoland Windsor
    Total number of visits 2.5
    Visited, April,September, November

    Despite it's lack of anything groundbreaking or eye-catching in the last few years, Legoland continues to remain as popular as ever [shockingly receiving even more guests than the nearby Thrill Capital]. Unfortunately, 2014 wasn't the best of years of the park as once again nothing too exciting and worthwhile for those over 10 appeared with the main new addition being a big new play area replacing the ageing Rat Trap and a chunk of the enchanted forest walkthrough.
    Unfortunatly the other new attraction for the park this year was the [3rd] re-theme of the Pirate Falls log flume featuring new models, audio and storyline. Whilst the new one features better audio and looks a lot more fresh in appearance I still prefer the original as it featured more charm and humour then.

    Aside from a new play area and re-themed log flume, the park also received two further additions which are perhaps unwelcome appearing in the form of Burger Kitchens. Located in the Pirate & City areas of the park, these outlets see the replacement of Burger Ranch & Crossed Ribs [an eatery that has existed since the early park years and did some good BBQ food]. Despite offering more indoor seating for cold/bad whether days these aren't a good addition as the food line up at Legoland has been reduced slightly and Burger kitchens haven't been renowned for good quality [I'm still yet to try one actually].

    Despite not being too impressed with the park during main season, I opted out [and paid the perhaps overpriced fee] to visit the park during it's Christmas event which despite the reduced ride line up [and park access] I really enjoyed as I virtually had the park to myself when I went not just getting on rides without queues but getting actually rides to myself and the park was also lit up beautifully with loads of lighting scatted over the park making it feel like a christmas kingdom. It was a truly magical experience there [either that or I'm reflecting on the amount of friends who went to Euro Disney at that time of year ].
    2015 was set to be one of the most exciting years for the park for a while, with the addition of a big scale immersive themed Haunted House attraction [giving the park another much needed dark, high capacity and older aimed] ride. However unfortunately this plan was ripped to shreds due to the selfishness of the residents and local council resulting in the rejection of the plans [despite recommendation] and what we will be receiving instead will not just be on a smaller scale but also strongly unappealing too. I just hope the park can send an appeal and get this ride approved in the future instead.
    Blackpool Pleasure Beach

    Blackpool for me was the biggest theme park venture for me [at least outside of the Merlin circle] in what proved to be one of the most exciting weekends this year gaining lots of new credits at the famous Pleasure Beach. Whilst it's no Disneyland, it proved to be surprisingly good with some very exciting coasters including Grand National, Steeplechase and Avalanche with each ride holding it's own. I also got to experience the highly immersive Valhalla which is an amazing experience and is the best uk water ride by a country mile.
    Many of the other rides also proved to be very good too including Wallace & Gromit which was a very good dark ride whilst Alice [although rather dated] proved to be an entertaining and fun attraction]. The only ride that left me feeling disappointed was Impossible which was just pants.

    Other attractions I was able experience included the Blackpool Dungeons which was a very good experience and whilst there were some flaws, some elements were better than the London ones including the Drop towers at the end. The circus show and tower themselves were also very and interesting [the latter offering some loverly views from the top]. Coral Island was an interesting attraction with a cool monorail and ghost train which was sadly ruined greatly by funny and moody staff.
    Oakwood
    Whilst having a very enjoyable trip in 2013, I sadly never had chance to return to the park in 2014, however by the looks of reports, that was possibly for the better as the park had apparently gone backwards greatly, featuring poor operations of rides, lots of rides closed daily and many areas completely rundown [which make Thorpe's flaws sound almost forgivable]. Lets just hope the park learn from their mistakes next year and finally open the Sleepy Hollow area.
    Disneyland Paris
    Where do we begin with this soap opera of my life? Well, It didn't happen [at least in 2014].
    There were at least five attempts to get to the park in 2014 [no exagerration] but a lot of things down to budget, timing and personal reasons [which I'm not going in to] none of these trips were successful so I never got to see Remy. 2015 however will hopefully break this spell.
    Tivoli World

    Like the last 5 years, the park has virtually remained unchanged still housing the same ageing/out dated attractions that have existed for many years. The park hasn't gone backwards but it certainly hasn't gone forwards and only receives a mention for being the only theme park in Europe I managed in 2014.
    What looks ahead for 2015?
    In terms of the uk parks, not much I'm afraid at least for the Merlin parks as so far the only new additions confirmed are glorified log cabins, a retimed area [without any new rides] and a new penguin show and enclosure, meaning we won't get any official rides [as we currently know].
    For smaller uk park's though it looks a better year though as we will definitely be receiving some new attractions next year. Blackpool will be getting the Red Arrow flying ride, Paultons will be getting a brand new themed area called Critter Creek, Drayton are getting [yet more attractions] in Thomas Land and Oakwood will finally be receiving it's new Sleepy Hollow themed area.
    As for Europe, Efteling will be receiving a new major exciting dive coaster, Gardaland will be receiving a dive coaster, Hansa will be gaining a new exciting coaster whilst parks in Denmark and one of the Walibi ones are expected to also earn new rides too.
    And this marks the end of 2014, roll on 2015 I say, a year I will hopefully be getting some new parks and several across sea [that aren't Tivoli World].
  4. Matt 236
    Welcome back to part 2 of my exciting trip report at Blackpool.

    Lego Spongebob welcomes you to this next big instalment of the blog [Wow! are we at Legoland now?]

    Speaking on Big, I think it's finally time I give this giant a ride then! It's a massive beast that dominates the whole park, so it should an amazing ride then ;]?


    And it's time to review, Vertical Reality!
    In 1994, the big one was a massive tall beast that was major large scale ride and investment along with being the tallest coaster in the world and being only second to Nemesis in greatness. 20 years later though and much of the greatness has dried up. Whilst the big one is far from being an absolute awful ride, it's also a long way from being an amazing one too.
    The ride starts rather well, with a brief pre-lift section and then the long lift which offers some great views of the pleasure beach and surrounding area as the world beneath gradually disappears. Once reaching the top, the ride goes down the drop suddenly swerving right and the ride speeding up as it's drops to the bottom, which is a thrilling and intimidating experience with the gust of speed, smallish restraints and massive drop. Since the ride has started so well it will continue with this greatness during the remainder of the experience.
    The answer to that unfortunately is no! After the first drop, the ride loses much excitement and force as the ride climbs it's first hill, which unlike most hyper rides it doesn't fly over it but instead gradually reaches it whilst losing speed along the way until it's almost crawling when it reaches the top. The rest of the ride doesn't really fulfil much either as there isn't much force or too much thrill for the rest of the ride which is quite disappointing, also there isn't a great deal of airtime on this ride which considering I was sitting towards the back and these types of rides should feed upon it was also disappointing too.
    It does well in taking you up a great height with an intense first drop along with giving good sights of the park and area, but apart from that it doesn't quite fulfil the greatness in the giant dinosaur it first appears. That being said I shouldn't really complain too much as it is the uk's tallest and perhaps largest roller coaster [ultimate is of course the longest] and that we've actually got a large ride on this scale on our island, considering how little space we have and so many of our parks are heavily restricted on what they can actually build [especially Legoland, Chessington & pretty much almost every park]. I think it will be a long time before we see another massive ride on this scale [if ever].

    From one Arrow to another Arrow, it's time to ride the one and only Steeplechase, because no other rides of this type no longer exist in the world apparently,







    So what are my thoughts on this ride rarity? whilst it looks rather average and generic off ride, it's actually a great roller coaster ride, it doesn't have any gimmick, it doesn't have any unique elements, nor does it need any of these as it's such a great all round ride, with it's fun racing element, scenic views and interaction with other surrounding rides and it's loose and open restraints as only a seat belt holds you in, a fun and slightly scary experience.
    From one horse race to another, it was time to experience the Grand National, our fifth and final wooden roller coaster on the trip, one that was highly appraised by many park and coaster fans alike. But would this be the ride to top my coaster list at Blackpool or even take the crown away from Megafobia as best woodie?


    Can't believe I didn't take more pictures of the ride, I guess the rush around riding at the park and the fact most of the ride can only be seen outside the park are the main reasons I didn't. Anyway, what did I think of the ride?
    Grand National was amazing, it was such a fantastic great fun ride with it's racing coaster element, multiple drops and hills which give quite a lot of airtime [ more than Big One ever will] along with a great paced layout makes this a great fun thrilling ride. But the big question, has it become my favourite my favourite all top time woodie? The answer to that is yes, however only to the ones in the park. It's such an incredible ride and there's not really a bad thing I can say about this ride [apart from the loud station brakes maybe] as it doesn't fail to deliver greatness during it's ride experience. Megafobia still holds on to no.1 woodie [for now] as that ride is just so intense. We need more woodies here in the uk [Merlin take note].

    Before we move to our next ride, I KNOW A GUY THAT WILL GET ON YOUR NERVES! GET ON YOUR NERVES! GET ON YOUR NERVES!

    Time for another ride which will also be another first for me, my first bobsled coaster and NO! We are not at Europa before you ask!



    So, what did I think of Avalanche then? I thought it was a really good ride actually, gains a lot of speed in it's circuit and flies through those helixes which is just an incredible experience with the train coasting down the tube rather than the usual track setting on many other coasters. Just wish the ride was longer really as it ended just as I was really getting in to it [love Mack rides]. Hope to try the other few mack bobsleds one day!

    I had really been through quite a roller coaster revolution on my trip to Blackpool and the final new coaster had to be the appropriately named, Revolution.


    And that was all the Blackpool coasters completed. Despite looking like a mediocre one trick pony, this ride is actually pretty good. You're thrusted forwards first of all in to the loop the first time which is quite good, but then the backwards launch is a feeling like nothing else, the feeling of being pushed in to your restraint during the loop is such a strange and slightly scary experience as you feel like you're going to fall out!

    Moving on from the coasters now and it's time to take a trip in to wonderland, I've a golden ticket


    And what a wondrous ride this turned out to be. Whilst in no way is this a ground breaking or top notch, it's fun little dark ride, full of charm, humour along with being a generally pleasant attraction to experience. Incidently, this ride is a sort of knock off from the original Alice In Wonderland ride at the California Disneyland with it's cheshire cats style vehicles,indoor-out door dark ride sections and storyline which opened seven years before this one [why am I referencing so many other parks on this TR, especially Disney]?

    From one extreme to another and now it's time to enter Valhalla. Wait a moment, the waterfall isn't running, I hope it isn't closed.



    That Looks more like it! The ride was closed during most of the day and didn't actually open until quite late in the afternoon, we must've meant it had quite a few problems as it broke down several times after that as well. We decided to join the extremely long queue for the ride which cost us around 90 minutes of time [we could've used for other rides]. But was it worth the extra long wait?
    The answer here actually is Yes, but just about. Valhalla is a very long and very wet water/dark attraction which features an array of drops, effects and a drenching. Some of the thing included on this ride are just incredible! going in to a long hot room with heat and fire one minute, then entering a freezing cold one with ice,misters and the like the next is absolutely incredible, is this is before I get on to the backwards drop, immense sound track and other elements too.
    Valhalla is an absolutely amazing ride and experience, it's so breath taking when you see it all and everything inside unfolds and well worth the time. The ride makes almost every other water ride in the country look like a travelling Zamperla log ride [even Loggers] and is something that wouldn't really look out of place at a park like Efteling, Phantasialand or even Europa. Absolute masterpiece. Hex however is still my number one dark ride for the story and towers alone, but Valhalla comes in at a very close second.
    Moving from a breath taking experience which despite being ringing wet, I still couldn't get over, we headed off to get some final rides at the park whilst it was gradually getting dark before closing. But the question is, which rides did we finally ride, or even re-ride during the twilight hours and which Big addition would be chosen as the finale and first proper night ride of the trip? Only time will tell, but you'll just have to wait until Part 3 submerges.
  5. Matt 236
    It's been my intentions over the last few years to try and visit to try and visit a new theme park or attraction each year, which started with Alton Towers in 2012 and Harry Potter Studio Tour, Madame Tussauds, The Dungeons along with a return to Oakwood [after 15 years] in 2013. At first I wasn't expecting to receive any new park credits for 2014 with Paultons Park called off and Euro disney put on hold.
    This year it was my intentions to visit a park that was of the following, 1/ was a major place with top class rides, 2/ was outside the Merlin circle 3/ a place outside of the uk. On this trip, I was able to achieve two of these, by finally visiting Blackpool Pleasure Beach, a park I have been wanting to visit for some time and home to a large collection of prominent rides to the uk/world theme park industry [though some are hit and miss in places] where I would gain a whole new list of ride credits [and first].


    Upon entering the park, you are greeted by a number of different things, one is the sheer prominence of rides that appear in front of you towering in the back ground, particularly the Big One which pretty much dominates the whole park, the second is the amount of former rides laying dormant at the park. The monorail and ark are two of these, both of which I saw before even getting properly through the gates which isn't the greatest thing to see.

    The first ride/new cred of the day was the infamous Wild Mouse. First opinions of the ride describe it as a small compact and doesn't look too exciting, however this ride has some tricks up it's sleeves!
    Despite first appearances, the ride is surprisingly good, very fun and quite scary at a few occasions too, with its sharp tight turns, bumpy rattle through the track and it's sharp and sudden drops, an experience with just seat belts and no restraints is quite intense. A great classic that shouldn't be overlooked despite first appearances, plus my second ever woodie!

    From one classic to another [most of Blackpool's rides are classics], it was time for the one and only Ghost Train.

    A few minutes later and my spooky distraction was over. I quite enjoyed this ride and it's got got quite a few interesting elements to the ride including the roller coaster like drops, moments of the ride going outside and the spinning tunnel with train lights [which seem common to some ghost trains]. Whilst it's not on the leagues for rides such as Hex & Duel, which may be a bit of an unfair comparison to begin with, this ride wins it over for novelty and ride length and is an example of what a traditional Ghost Train ride should incorporate. It's certainly better than Castille Del Terror at Tivoli and Spooky 4D, both of which probably aren't as old as this which already states it's point.

    From one dark ride to another, our next attraction was Impossible, which comprised a set of indoor attractions all joined up together, starting with a mirror maze, a series of strange objects and illusions and a small haunted swing style ride where the room spins around. This wasn't the best of attractions as it mostly felt like a cluster of attractions just stuck together to make one big ride. The Mirror maze was alright, but the swing ride was so dull it was laughable. I'm sure 30 years ago [long before Hex] the swing element would've actually looked pretty but now, it's so bad it's good!

    After a random mediocre experience, it was time for some white knuckle fuel on Ice Blast, which is now the only non coaster thrill ride in the park with Bling gone. The ride starts with the seats raising up slightly and then lowering gradually where riders are instructed to secure all loose valuables [like there's chance now], before the capsule is thrusted upwards, then downwards and then up again, until height is lost and the pod gradually lowers back to the ground.
    The ride is ok, the launch is pretty fun and thrilling as you are pushed in to your restraint flying up followed by some small hits of air time and the then the end. Not a bad drop tower, however it certainly doesn't beat Detty but is much better than Bounce!

    After launching back to earth, it was time to take on another woodie who is the grand daddy of them all at 91, it's time to take on the Big Dipper.



    The Big Dipper is such a fun coaster to ride, as it leaps from hill after hill during it's circuit, offering a reasonable supply of air time, whilst it's not as good as Megafobia back in Oakwood, one must remember for a ride of this age it still provides an excellent experience which is great fun with lots of thrills along the way. Another great woodie.
    By now on the trip it was time to take on a ride that I and many had been strongly anticipating during our trip, one that would offer an immense ride experience and tick quite a few boxes for firsts. This ride was known as [drum roll].

    Infusion








    Well first things first, it sure looks rather pretty for an SLC. This is the first one I've actually ridden. Having heard of many of these ride's being rather rough and uncomfortable [including this one], I set my expectations for this ride rather low. But would my opinions be just as rough once I had finally ridden it?
    The answer to this in most ways is NO! Whilst the ride was in no way perfect or in anyway a patch to a B&M invert, this ride was surprisingly good and did beat my expectations. The first half for me was quite fun actually, it rolled through twist, turns and inversions whilst over a large lake of water and fountains. It wasn't really rough at all infact I could almost call it smooth.
    The second unfortunately wasn't as the ride did seem to get noticeably rougher, as I bashed my head in to the restraint outside of choice several times, making the ride a little painful towards the end. Not a bad ride really and I enjoyed most it. The end is certainly rougher than Colossus but maybe not as much as Saw.

    Following on from my hit and miss SLC, it was time for ride on the Grand Prix, which is sort of Blackpool's equivalent of Autopia, although this ride existed before any of them were built as I'm aware!



    Not a bad little ride, but not remarkable either. The ride pretty much takes a journey down a spiralling descent passing nearby rides such as Avalanche & Revolution among others, gradually turning around ascending back up the spiral to the station where the ride finally finishes.

    Time for another cracking ride, me thinks!


    Technically Blackpool's newest contraption, unless you count it as a retheme from when it was the Gold Mine [something I never got to try unfortunately].
    Despite getting very mixed reviews [some loving it and others hating it], I'm going to definitely say I love this ride. I've always been quite a fan of Wallace & Gromit [especially growing] and used to watch the movies on VHS on a fairly regular basis [wow do I sound old] and would enjoy seeing all the action whether it be the penguin train chase or Gromit flying in the red plane.
    For me, the ride has captured the world of Wallace & Gromit very well, which is full of funny gags, rich detail in theming and settings along with high quality scenes and animation throughout the whole ride, also including plenty of audio dialogue and of course the catchy theme tune as well. In terms of overall quality, this ride does kick all of Merlins other existing uk dark rides to the curb [at least in their current forms], with Hex being the only exception.
    It may lack the originality of many other rides out there, but it's a great fun family attraction and whilst the ride mostly consists of prominent scenes from the four shorts and film, I think it's paced very well and fits together perfectly. The ride is such high quality that I would say it's almost at the league of some of disney's dark rides [something I cannot properly clarify currently] and the only slip up on the whole dark ride is the scene where the penguin is falling in which the movement mechanism came be seen!
    Currently my 3rd favourite dark ride at the moment of writing. You'll find out what my top 2 favourite are shortly.

    Leaving Wensleydale behind us, we set off to Nick Land and decided to take a ride on the big orange track thing in the distance known as Nicklodeon Streak [formerly Roller Coaster].



    It was quite a fun and enjoyable ride with quite a few bits of airtime and force. I wouldn't say it was as good as Dipper and Mouse but it still a great ride, I'd put it on top of Infusion anyway. Also this ride running just one train [with the state of the 2nd not looking ready for adding]. Apparently this ride is almost always on just one train [unlike the others], at least the queue wasn't too long and it was more pleasant than waiting for one train Colossus.
    I think it's time to jump on another coaster now. I'll say Blue Fire!

    oops, I meant Blue Flyer, just remembered I'm in Blackpool not Europa [one can dream]. This is not a bad little, quite a fun little woodie for kids to do, certainly not my favourite by far and perhaps my least favourite coaster, but then it's aimed more for kids and young families. Still it's another credit and woodie to add to the collection.
    By now, all these woodies and other rides made us a bit hungry so we decided to grab some lunch at the park, where we decided to head over to the conveniently named Coaster bar, positioned on one of the pathways between Dipper and Avalanche.

    I went in for the Chicken Fajita in the end which was ok [sadly the picture didn't turn out as well as hoped] , not the most amazing thing but it edible, good enough and not bad value for money, plus the wedges were pretty decent [beats Oakwood's offering by a country mile though].
    Whilst eating, we were all amused by a selection of songs playing from a slightly quiet and muffled speaker here. But these weren't ordinary songs though as these were intact all songs from Disney movies [snow white, Pochahontis, Enchanted etc.] which was certainly something I didn't expect especially in Blackpool. This made me rather happy whilst eating my food, having always a rather big fan of Disney [one day Disney].
    And that concludes part 1 of my exciting trip and weekend away in Blackpool, but Which big ride had a very big queue which became a big surprise? Which ride had a big trick and which big disney character sort of has their own big take at Blackpool? Stay tuned for some big updates in part 2!
  6. Matt 236
    Hi and welcome to this third part of my exciting weekend in Blackpool. Here's how the story continues after our wet immersive ride on Valhalla.


    It's heading towards the end of the day and twilight has arrived [no the ride sadly].




    The park looks really beautiful at sunset, and despite being the tail end of the day it just makes the park come to life, it looks just as beautiful as Thorpe does at this time of day.
    By now it was time for some final evening/ twilight rides. Another round on the Grand National was first which provided an even more amazing experience this time, as our train was literally flying through the circuit giving lots of airtime and excitement, helped by the fact we won the race too. We had another go on Big Dipper was very good again, but not quite on Grand National's reign. Another go on Wallace and Gromit was taken, I'm just a very big fan before our final final ride during our trip. But which Big attraction did this turn out to be?








    For a brief moment, I would just like to mention just how beautiful the park looks at night, it's amazing and quite possibly the best park I've seen at night.
    Anyway back on topic, I'm sure you've guessed the final ride of the day [or should that now be night?] and that's The Big One. The ride at night was both very good and very bad this time. Very good in the remarkable night time views you see below, the racing around the track at night and the first drop being even more intimidating at night. The drawbacks of course were the ride still lacks force in most parts and the ride was also surprisingly rough too as it was rather violent and jerky TBH [who said you need shoulder restraints for a rough ride?].



    And the day was over. Blackpool is a really good park despite the place getting a lot of slack as they seem to try and put a lot of effort in to the place despite the amount of empty and SBNO ride spots. Apart from the slightly grumpy cleaner lady at the end, It was an absolutely fantastic day and I get to return here again one day. For the 4-5 hour drive up here, the journey was just about worth it. Another thing here is just how many firsts and records I have achieved during this trip including my first wild mouse, first racing Steel & Woodie, Tallest coaster in the uk [and tallest one I've done yet] plus doing my first SLC.
    Moving on, our trip at the Pleasure Beach may be finished but our trip and time away certainly isn't. Whilst having some chips, cheese & Gravy up the promenade whilst looking at the beautiful illuminations which just look amazing along with the occasional dressed up and lit tram which was a magical experience, we headed to the South Pier. While most headed for the Waltzer, I headed for the Log Flume with Toofpik which cost a fairly reasonable £3. The ride was alright, just a standard general compact two drop log flume you see at many fairs and small parks. Good for another ride credit, although it does make The Flume look like Chipas.
    We then headed to Central Pier where there were more fairground rides around, but none of us could be bothered to do any more and just had a cheeky drink at the bar at the back of the pier. When finished, we set off back down the pier to head to one of the best themed and looking amusement arcades on the whole promenade, Coral Island.

    Full of many amusements and video game machines, I was quite excited of visiting this place at first, plus not to mention what makes this place look better than most other arcades is it includes a couple of rides including a Pirate monorail and ghost train ride. Walking you do feel quite excited and with rides and arcades over here it's almost like going in the indoor bit of Fantasy Island or the Trocadera [in it's hey day when it was open]. Sadly the Ghost Train was closed when we arrived meaning we first headed for the Pirate Monorail which for £1 was quite a bargain.

    And so began the ride. It's not a bad little attraction, which goes around most of the floor space of the building giving some ok views of the surrounding area, plus there's also a brief random inside section which is separated from the rest of the arcade which includes some pirate theming elements and random audio music too. There's also guns to shoot random targets along the ceiling too although sadly the scores were turned off at the time we were riding.
    It's a very lucky we were actually able to ride this in the end as the lady operating this was a bit funny as she said this was a kids ride and weren't able to go on it without children. Luckilly Peaj managed to talk with the op and we were all finally to get on the ride. The events with staff didn't get much better as the time progressed as security guards pushed us on from a couple of video machines for no reason which gave me quite a bitter taste in my mouth. They're supposed to be bringing in customers, not scaring them away! decent arcade, unpleasant staff.
    After walking back to our hotel where dominoes pizza, TPM twister and general meet chat and banter occurred it was time for bed as we headed off in preparation for the second and final day that awaited us in the morning.
    But what towering events await us? When will the trip excitement unravel like a circus and who's waltzing off in a magical world only Merlin could control? Wait and see in Part 4.
  7. Matt 236
    Hi and welcome to Part 4, the final instalment of Creaky Northern Adventure. After a pleasurable day at the pleasure beach, a night of exploring two of Blackpool's [best] piers and a not so bright Coral Island, the trip was set to continue on the 2nd day which would conclude the trip. The big question, where would be heading to next?

    With so much to do at Blackpool, you'd struggle so much to find any exciting attractions and ones that stand out from the others, after all it's not there's any other tall landmarks on the seafront.




    Of course, there's one thing there we should visit. The Blackpool Tower AKA Merpool Tower, because of the fact it's located in Blackpool and owned by Merlin, it even holds two typical traits two by having not the longest of opening hours and includes it's own bed of scaffolding.

    However before we go up to the eye of the tower, I think it's time to go and explore a pretty common Merlin chain attraction that seems to be getting around a lot of places these days. This place is, The Burger Kitchen
    Of course it wasn't [although FYI there actually is a Burger Kitchen on the 2nd floor of the tower] as we explored Blackpool's take on the Dungeons. So, What did I think? I thought they were actually very good actually, a lot of the scenes have the same high quality, gross, immersive experience the ones in London have [and in some ways a little better too]. The drop tower was certainly better at this one and despite getting more of a ride at the London one, it certainly feels a lot more coherent here as it feels like you're actually going up to be executed and then dropped when you're sentenced.
    A very decent attraction, not to be helped by the wonderful Natalie on tickets . The only flaws in the whole attraction for me was the bit with the Saxons/Vikings felt a bit meh due to it mostly being a cinema screen with things going and bits moving [though it's good they added that bit of history though], the stairs going down in the forest which detracted things a little, I'm sure not much could've been done in the building, but still not forest in the world has stairs [a slope would be a better option IMO] and the arcade at the entrance which just detracts a little [there's video arcades everywhere].

    A tasty Fish & Chips for lunch and admiring of the sea front and it was time to experience the Blackpool Circus. Unfortunately cameras/photos were not allowed [another typical Merlin trait] and anyone was caught with one, they would stop the show and get a staff member to take it off you and give it back at the end .
    The circus was great fun, filled with humour, excitement and amusement throughout. I did particularly enjoy Mooky the clown with his funny jokes and interactions, especially at the end when they got members of the audience involved to act out a simple silent movie/play which was such fun to watch [WHY WHY WHYYYYY Delilah].
    The rest was good too. With BMX cyclists, strong man, motorbike ball racers, synchronised swimmers/acrobats, beautiful gorgeous showgirls and even a working fountain [Merlin aren't good with working fountains], it made an amazing show to experience that definitely reflected and summed up the life, soul and atmosphere that Blackpool provides. I can definitely see why they call it Vegas of the north now.

    Once we fountained out of the fairly big top [but it's actually on the lowest level of the tower], it was time to have a look at the Blackpool Ballroom, which despite not being the cup of tea for most of group was certainly a grand gem located there, with it's grand old fashioned decor, sea side/old time atmosphere and the grand Wurlitzer with it's distinctive rich tone playing out throughout the dance floor. Tpm's Mer and Peaj even took a dance on the floor of this famous ballroom.

    Waltzing away from the ballroom now and it was time to complete the tower's attractions with a flight to the top of the tower itself. Built in 1894 [100 years before Nemesis was awakened back down at Towers], the tower was born. Standing at a staggering 518ft [480 accessible to the public], the tower can be seen for miles. It's design was also inspired from the Eiffel tower in Paris too [near Euro Disney].

    The tower offers some simply breathtaking views from above giving sights for many miles of the surrounding area which is so beautiful to see. I'll let you see for yourself rather than bore you with more talking.




    You can even see the big One.








    You get some beautiful views, until the [Merlin] safety net obstructs [for safety of course] and getting good pics is then a lot harder to achieve.












    The viewing platform



    It's a bit like a prison. A pretty prison in the sky.





    And that was it! Blackpool tower offers some truly remarkable views of the whole surrounding area. I may have wandered back to the Merlin circle, but it was well worth it for this jewel and new credit, not to mention I've now got myself another new resin and souvenir from my fantastic trip here. Legoland Discovery Centre & Warick Castle are now the only unique Merlin attractions I'm yet to do in UK aside from the countless Dungeons and Sealifes [JoshC].
    Blackpool also has a sea life and Madame Tussauds I hear you say? Unfortunately we didn't manage to try these attractions as not everyone in our party had a MAP at the time and also it was time call Blackpool time as it was getting late and as most had school, uni or work the next day none of us wanted to be too late! These weren't the big losses at the end of the day as the Sealife is probably similar to the one in London and much of the Madame Tussaud's material are items no longer needed from the London attraction.
    Once walking back to our cars, we said our farewells and it was time to say goodbye to Blackpool and hello to the long journey home with hours of motorway, traffic, seating with only company, ride themes and a cheeky mcdonlads on the way to keep me going.
    I had a fantastic trip in Blackpool and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Pleasure Beach was brilliant, The tower was Brilliant, The Cirucs was brilliant and the Dungeons, Ballroom, Piers and the rest were also very good, not to mention the great company I had up here that weekend too, with some great laughs, TPM Twister, Late Dominoes pizza etc. If amusement parks, Video arcades, sea sides, exciting nightlife and impressive shows,illuminations and random midway attractions are your thing, Blackpool is the place for you!
    It would be very easy to spend a week or even a fortnight out here as there's so much to do. Two days at the Pleasure Beach, One day at the waterpark and Piers, two at the Tower and surrounding midways along with another two chilling, visiting the arcades and more of the night life and culture and you're easily already got plenty to do with a week's visit here, plus there's plenty of hotels and BNB's near or along the seafront.
    One day I hope to return here again for another visit and re-experience the great things I did on the last trip and some ones I didn't do last time, including the missed out ride creeds at the Pleasure Beach [River Caves, Flying Machines, Nickland etc.] among others. The only problem with Blackpool is it's such a b**** to get to as it takes 4-5 hours each way to get as it's so far away, not to mention the horrendous traffic on the road and you need to really stop a couple of times on the way to get food rest your legs and use the facilities once in a while, but apart from that, it's good.
    Big Thanks goes to Peaj, Scary Coasterboy, Mr Fish and many others for making this trip possible and helping arrangements towards the fantastic weekend it became. Hopefully I'll be reporting on another major park someday outside the Uk Merlin circle again, although if it's a while then it could well take the Mickey .
  8. Matt 236

    A Themepark in Europe

    By Matt 236,

    As part of my annual holiday, I would have the opportunity to see and visit one park [just one] outside of the uk and the Merlin circle. But the big question is, which park would it be?

    Well it's definitely not Port Aventura for starters.

    Nor is it Europa Park.

    And it certainly is not Disneyland Paris either [more to come on that tagline later].

    But the big question is, which theme park in Europe did I manage to visit this year?

    The answer to that question is Tivoli World. But the big question, out of all the places to visit, why have I returned back to this average mundane park for?
    The answer is this, every year my family and I rent a villa out in Spain and despite being home to exciting parks such as Port Av and, Warner and Terra Mitica [places I can only dream of seeing currently], the nearest of those is at least five hours away. This means the only theme park available within the surrounding area is this place.

    So, having been about a year since my last visit to the park, has much changed at the park since my last visit? The answer to that unfortunately is no! However there have been some minor changes around the park.

    The first thing to note is the Tokaido [powered] roller coaster which was closed last time I went,however was up and running again when I visited this time.

    What did I think of it? I didn't, the ride is rubbish. It goes around the circuit 5.75 times, why 5.75? For some reason, the ride starts by going backwards and then eventually launches in the forwards direction. It goes through the circuit [properly] five times before passing it once more looking like it's going to do another lap, then suddenly it slows down, stops and then reverses bcd to the station. This ride never used to do this.
    Surely getting five laps around is a good and generous thing? Not for me it isn't. Despite having similarities with Scorpion and Fish's layout, except the first helix is missing, the trains have a strange and uncomfortable design where riders sit in two's but one is in front of the other instead of beside meaning they push in to you during the sharp drops and turns. There's also no seat belts either . The ride is also very rattly and rough [no doubt due to it's age] where each lap passing on, the ride becomes more and more uncomfortable, infact by the end, I just wished the finish already.
    Didn't like this one at all, gone off it in most ways. Makes Flying Fish look like Scorpion Express and Scorpion look like big thunder. Cleanse it with fire!

    Next up was this ride, a sort of Vintage Cars style ride. TBH it didn't much as wasn't too interesting and the only good bit of the actual ride was around the half way point, where you get a half decent view of the surrounding western stage area.

    Next up is the Twister [good name choice ] and to consider this one of my park favourites and the first ride I [actually] enjoyed is quite concerning that this park isn't that good [it probably isn't].

    Hang on a moment, I thought I was at Tivoli World not Disney. Oh Wait, it's another of those Disney knock off rides [sort of].



    Despite not being the most amazing of dark rides [Hex,Duel,Mk1 bubble works], there is something I seem to really like about this ride [having done it 3 times during my visit]. I don't know whether it's because of the ride's general charm with basic but noticeable models, the catchy upbeat soundtrack outside or just the fact of wanting to see euro disney.


    Moving on, and it's time to take flight on the park's [large] ferris wheel [they have three for some reason]. You can get some really nice views of the park [which isn't a very big place] and surrounding area.




    Castillo Del Terror, quite possibly the worst ghost train I've ever been on. TBH nothing really works [anymore] and the few things that do seem to only happen after the cars actually passed. The most exciting part of the ride for me was actually when the car went outside of the warehouse building, which probably shows how poor this ride actually is, I've done ghost trains in fairgrounds better than this one.

    Time for a short break whilst I have some ice cream.




    OK, back on topic and hang on a moment, we've gone back, back too far! Actually this is the dinosaur walkthrough at the park, which is ok, very well themed [or at least it was when it was installed] but sadly like much of the park, it feels dated, worn and behind it's time.





    Next up is the Montana Rusa [spanish for Roller Coaster which is an original name imo] which for once didn't have a [long] queue. Did enjoy this ride lot, it's a bit like one of those old cyclone style like the one at Clacton.

    Time to for another [decent] ride, this time on the drop tower. Enjoyed this one a lot, a fair bit of drop time but still won't beat good old Detty.

    Meanwhile next door, a green mesh fence has suddenly appeared. I wonder what's going on here?

    Looks like one it's rides has been stripped down in to pieces. This ride is a Top Spin [which I was hoping to finally ride], however it was closed last year as well so something major must be wrong with it.






    Tivoli has some loverly gardens positioned in the park, and whilst they're perhaps seen better days, it's still a loverly place to see and walkthrough on each trip there.

    The Show boat, this a funhouse style attraction where you walk around the boat featuring numerous obstacles and things plus a view outside. They also stage a pirates of the caribbean show here as well, which unfortunately just got boring after a little as it got repetitive.


    What's that in the distance I wonder?

    Ratonlandia, what's this?


    A sort of walk through attraction which depicts living mice. Certainly quite a strange and random attraction to have at a theme park, but at least this bit is now open again [it was closed for several years for something].



    Nightime, and now the park really comes to life and despite the saying everything looks better at night, this place truly glows.

    Time for a Caroulsel ride you say? This was the best at the park [they have many [too many]].

    They also sold some pin badges here too. This one however took the mickey









    The park just seems to come to life at park, sort of transforming from a rather mundane theme park to a magical place with life. There;s also plenty of show here as well including a circus show, which was quite funny and included a space theme plus traditional spanish flamenco with live musicians. This one was also very good.

    Our last stop will be the Union Express, a railway diorama which was quite an interesting distraction.



    http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy267/mattthemepark/DSCF2006_zps5a6391d6.jpg
    http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy267/mattthemepark/DSCF2010_zpsc205d32c.jpg
    And that marks the end of the trip. So What did I think about it this time?
    To be honest, it's much the same as last time, same rides, same settings and apart from the mouse walkthrough and that powered thing being reopen [which I guess you could say the park has gone forward a tad], nothing at the park has changed. It's certainly no Alton Towers, Thorpe or even Chessington, but somewhat has a nice feel at night with all the lights, shows and fountains going on and is a park I don't really go for the rides [which excluding a few are rather average]. I suppose this park is better than the uk ones in some ways, the late nightie hours and closing [which is 2am in summer], the many shows and features that were installed in the park in it's prime [now passed their best] exceed these, but it's still a park crying for some major updating.
    I don't know if I'll be revisiting Tivoli again yet, [if I go away to the same place next year probably], but hopefully the next blog outside the Merlin circle won't be this one. I'd only recommend this park if you're staying in the Malaga area [considering the next nearest park is 3 hours away]. If you're going there for theme parks, you've probably chosen the wrong part of Spain.
    Adios
  9. Matt 236
    After accomplishing a sufficient amount of work at uni, I thought it was time for a visit to Legoland Windsor. Supposedly my home park (as this is where my pass is sorted), this would be my first visit to the park for 2014 to see what changes had taken place and to check out the new (re-themed) attractions at the park.

    In the near distance lies Pirate Shores, the re-themed Pirate area of Legolañd and also the area's 3rd retheme since it's existence.
    I was rather impressed with the parks recent additions such as the hotel, Star Wars Walkthrough and Duplo Valley and hoping this years updates would continue that good standard.

    After entering the park, here is the entrance to Pirate Shores (formerly Pirates Landing). The sign looks bright, striking and an improvement of the pirate landings one. The support structure remains the same though.

    Apart from the slightly changed sign, the first change to notice in the area, is a new selection of models located just in front of the Jolly a Rocker. They're ok I guess, nothing too striking however a pretty good addition theming wise.

    And now it's time to try out the first re-themed attraction, Pirate Falls- Treasure Quest (formerly Pirate Falls), the 2nd re-theme of the park's log flume ride (however not much actually changed on the 1st). First we are welcomed by This bright new sign welcoming us to the entrance to the ride.


    The queue area for the ride. This section has seen a number of changes including the rebuilding of the queue shelters. Whilst having a similar design to the original ones, these make look nice and fresh compared to the old ones which did look a little worn.

    That being said, the empty area in the middle of the queue looks rather dull at the moment, which used to be home to building blocks for kids previously and despite some theming being added, it just looks a mess, dirty and unfinished.

    The shaft above the drop has also been completely rebuilt in the same style of the original, which was good to see (as the old one was starting to look pretty worn).

    And finally (it's difficult to see from here), some new models. Almost every model on the ride has been replaced for the retheme, making the ride almost new again.
    But Here's The Big Question, How does it compare to the original theme?
    Despite being re-themed in 2010, most of the ride remained the same and though many models were looking rather worn and some effects not always working, the ride was still very entertaining with its humour, creative storyline and animated figures.
    Unfortunately, I cannot really say the same for the new one as what's been delivered in the new one compared that above can only be described as dry and bittersweet. The ride's new storyline is less amusing, diverts off to pointless characters and situations which don't add to the storyline and lacks any kind of humour.
    The animatronic side is just as disappointing as there are few things animated in the ride compared to the old one which in comparison to the ride now was flooded with them. Scenes such as pirates mistreating a monkey being replaced with the (apparent) protagonist and antagonist of the new story fighting, which whilst sound effects are included, not a single movement is included in this scene.
    Whilst there are numerous new water effects on the ride such as squirting skull heads (after the squirting mice) and frog fountains at the drop (Legoland love their water) plus a new piratey soundtrack and improved audio around the ride, this sadly cannot make up for the disappointment in the rest of the ride.
    It's almost like they had loads of ideas for the re-theme for the ride to start, but then suddenly lost motivation and effort to finish the ride, gave up and just plonked everything in, Compared to Fairy Tale Brook's re-theme, the ride is quite a let down.
    The only good points are the new audio and sound system and that the ride now looks fresh and new (except a few areas). Overall rating, 3/10.

    Moving on disappointing Treasure Queuer, it seems Burger Kitchen has now invaded Legoland. Gone is the Crossed Ribs BBQ, an awesome restaurant that sold food similar to Calypso BBQ and existed at the park from day one.

    Seeing that it looked little more than a metal shed when being built, the facade they've used to conceal it isn't bad and makes it fit in the surrounding area much better.

    Which is a pity they couldn't hide it from above, even painting it brown would've done the job.

    The inside isn't any better either. Whilst Crossed Ribs was never (what I call) heavily themed, it was at least more related and coherent to a pirate setting. This interior and design though, has as much coherence to pirate shores as much as Tesco or Primark does.

    Whilst the area so far isn't that great, let's take a look at the new play area they're building, which doesn't appear to be open yet.

    And is still under construction. Not a single part of the new area has even been constructed, plus there's still some leftovers from the old (and removed) Rat Trap still in existence.




    Apparently the play area was supposed to be open for April. However by the looks of things, that will probably be closer to June.

    Meanwhile in Lego City, Burger Ranch has also been replaced by- (wait for it), another Burger Kitchen.
    Personsly I think it looks horrible outside, it ruins the character of the area, doesn't connect the remaining rock theming and just sticks out like a sore thumb.

    Whilst the indoor section is perhaps marginally better than the interior of Pirate Shores, I'm not that impressed by it, although I suppose the fact there's more undercover seating is good for when's there's heavy rain at the park.
    Amity Fish and Chips at Thorpe (in comparison) looks much better than either of these though and that isn't perfect either.

    Elsewhere in Lego city, the Xbox gaming zone has had a makeover.





    Whilst I've never been a fan of the gaming zone (and never will), I can say this a slight improvement over the old one. A big improvement would be to rip it out and bring back an awesome walk through similar to the Magic Theatre!

    We finish this update with a look at the miniland area of the park, one of the few parts of Lego that are still magical and done right.







    Miniland is such a nice place to visit whilst at the park, the buildings and creations the model makers have built are excellent. It's a shame this area doesn't always get the love and attention it deserves.

    However, hopefully those years of neglect will be coming to an end, as part of the area (now completed) will become a brand new Paris area in miniland (although it looks like it has replaced a former area).








    The attention to detail is incredible and it looks very well done. So far this looks like the only thing the park has done right this year. Hopefully it will look very nice when completed.

    Overall, although I had a good day when I went, I felt rather let down and disappointed by all the new changes to the park this year except the Paris miniland. Pirate Shores has replaced all the soul and character of the area with bland generic pirate settings, the burger kitchens just don't fit in and the Xbox zone is still an a X box zone, if I wanted to play on an Xbox, I'd just play on one at home instead of using it at a themepark.
    Legoland was always a park I associated with good theming and upkeep in it's years open (though far from the likes of Disney) and the park always had a 'mostly' well kept look at the best of times. However this appears to have changed for the worse in 2014 with many effects not being fixed and repaired and new outlets with little to no theming appearing.
    It's saddening to see one of your loved childhood parks ripped of soul and character and not just blandly themed burger kitchens and life-less theming replacing once amazing theming on one of your favourite rides, but also things like the giraffe model being removed from the train just for a marginal increase in capacity and the toilet signs (previously Lego figures) replaced by a more simple and generic design replacing them (m for male f for female).
    "]http://s798.photobucket.com/user/mattthemepark/media/DSCF1274_zpsaed4990e.jpg.html]
    Overall unless you have an annual pass and/or live within less than an hours distance of the park, I would perhaps not bother visiting Legoland, for 2014 at least. I've always been a big fan/supporter of the park, but most of he changes at the park for this year are just so disappointing and the park sadly at the moment is little more than a corporate money pit and not really worth entry at half price (forget full price).
    If you're thinking of going to Legoland, visit Chessington instead as it's much better!
  10. Matt 236
    Welcome to part 2, my list and ratings will now continue. 
    7/ Busch Gardens  Home to three excellent B&Ms, a good RMC and other mostly decent rides that complement the lineup. Busch Gardens was one of the parks I was most anticipated about.  Well, the rides I can happily say met their expectations. Montu is a fine invert and Sheikra is probably my favourite dive coaster. Iron Gwazi may be the lower of the three RMCs, but it’s still awesome. Cobra’s curse was disappointing but the water rides weee good.    Now, for some reason or another, there felt like something missing here, and for once I don’t think it’s the rides. The place seemed to lack atmosphere for some reason, like there was nothing there. I don’t know why this was the case, but would controversially say some of the UK parks are better in that regard.  Secondly, the operations. Bad, maybe not terrible but still bad. Most coasters were stacking with 4/4.5 minute dispatches that make Merlin’s look like Europa Park :o. The food was ok, but probably the weakest of all the parks out there.    It’s a one day park that can’t be overlooked if you are into decent rides. But I was perhaps expecting a little more.    6/ Sea World  Busch somewhat didn’t fully meet my expectations. But Sea World kind of exceeded them. To some, there will always be controversy held against this park, due to the Orca captivity. However one must remember the park’s mission to preserve and help such wonder lis creatures.  Moving on, the park is certainly taking the right direction now, by focusing more on themed rides and experience to distance itself from it’s original roots. The calibre of attractions are mostly good. Mako is absolute bliss, Kraken definitely one of the better sit down loopers and Journey To Atlantis a well rounded attraction. Mantis wasn’t my favourite coaster, but it packs some interesting elements and Ice Breaker is just one slightly flawed train design from being an ideal family coaster.  Must get on Infinity Falls someday! 5/  Universal Studios  Now, this is where it starts to become more difficult, because basically the top 5 is full of parks I largely adore.   The first (and original) of the two Florida Universal parks. The studios packs a lot into it’s action filled park. Unlike Islands Of Adventure, the park doesn’t feel like it has too many contrasting themed areas, although they do exist. Diagon Alley is definitely the flagship area of this park, with it’s stunning theming, shops, entertainment and culinary treats. Escape from Gringotts is a phenomenal attraction from the moment you join the line until when you exit. I think Diagon Alley is better themed than Angry Birds Land. Sorry Josh! The rest of the park is hit and miss I guess. You have older classics rides which feature greater theming and details, then you have the newer stuff which is a lot more screen based. Men In Black was Fun and the ET ride was lovely. Revenge Of The Mummy was adorable and I enjoyed the Simpsons ride for what it was (I like the show). Transformers was ok, but there are better out there. Don’t bother with Fast & Furious, it makes Derren Brown’s Ghost Train look like Rise Of The Resistance! Maybe. 4/ Epcot Weirdly enough, Epcot was probably the Disney park on this I was most excited for.   It’s basically a park of two halves. Future world which houses the majority of the park’s attractions in pavillions and world showcase, which I will get back to in a second. The selection is strongly varied. You have the classic attractions which are seemingly more educational and the newer items which are more tied to their catalogue of popular IPs. A blend I think works perfectly well. Spaceship Earth (not to be confused with Eurosat) is a highly educational attraction and charming one at that. It reminded a little of the Spirit Of London, which was likely inspired by this resultantly. Guardians Cosmic rewind was incredible and felt like a mix between Crush’s coaster and (the Paris) Rock N Rollercoaster. Mission Space was intense but better than expected and I largely enjoyed Test Track. Living with the land was interesting but maybe drags on a little. I felt slightly disappointed with Soarin to be honest. I ran out of time for Figment.  World showcase is the more unique and picturesque area of the park, featuring numerous themed areas to several countries of the world. Each area is unique, beautiful and even features cast members from that region working there. Numerous places serving food and drink are also there. The pizza in Via Napoli located in the Italy Pavilion was sublime. Numerous attractions also operate within World Showcase. Frozen Forever After is a highly sophisticated attraction which features stunning animatronics and set pieces. Even if one isn’t a Frozen fan, it’s worth it, so don’t let it go (couldn’t help myself). Ratatouille is almost identical to the one at the Studios park in Paris but still good. The Cabalerros boat ride was an uplifting attraction.    3/ Disney’s Hollywood Studios  We’re on the final three. There’s something I like about parks themed to movies and this place is no exception.  This park has clearly seen much expansion and redevelopment in the last 5+ years and I would guess most of it may be for the better. Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge is more than just an area, featuring some stunning theming, effects and places selling unique beverages. Blue milk was rather nice but pricey. Rise Of the resistance is nothing short of a masterpiece and Smugglers Run is also enjoyable.  The rest of the park isn’t too over shadowed either. The original tower is just spectacular in every way and I hope it’s left alone. Toy Story Land is a pleasant area, Slinky makes for an excellent family coaster and Midway Mania is fun. I prefer it to Maus if I’m honest. Star tours is wonderful and surprisingly doesn’t look out of place despite being another Star Wars ride, Muppetvision is a joyous show.  Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a genius modern dark ride which perfectly balances screens and physical effects yet almost feels overlooked by the other wonderful additions in this park. Rock N Roller coaster was alright, but it isn’t a patch on the one that used to be in Paris. Shame.    Whilst the park seemingly gets longer lines and potentially lacks some ‘filler’ a lot of the attractions are actually worth their wait IMO.  2/ Animal Kingdom  One of the more relaxing parks you’ll find in Florida. Animal Kingdom may lack the ride selection of other parks have, but it compensates this with some stunning shows, theming and rides. Avatar Land is one of the most stunning areas ever created. Flight Of Passage is super immersive, I loved it and I’m no massive Avatar fan. The boat ride was nice enough too, alongside exploring the whole area. Kilimanjaro Safaris is both entertaining and educational, to levels Zufari wishes it was. Dinosaur is a great dark ride that I think sometimes gets overlooked by the others and the Kali rapids are mostly decent.  Now, Expedition Everest. The ride looks good, the setting, the theming is all very nice. The ride? I’ve got to be honest was disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, there are worse coaster out there (much worse), but for me it just didn’t do much and rides like Slinky Dog and Big Thunder I personally preferred.    It has some good shows, I liked Tough to be a bug and the entertainment in the Harambe area. All it really needs now is another major roller coaster to fill in the gap the Primeval coasters left and the park will be great!   And before I announce the winning park, here’s some of the other bits and pieces there are to do, besides the parks.    Old Town Kissimmee- An old western style town with shops, bar, restaurants and more. It’s very American and very lively, however I wouldn’t recommend the Pizza Hut at all.  Disney Springs- It’s basically a giant shopping outlet, but somewhat Disneyfied. It has a vast selection of shops and restaurants ranging from Lego, Planet Hollywood and Raglan Road (an Irish pub). Theres also several Disney based stores there including the giant World Of Disney. More substantial than say the Disney village at DLRP, but maybe lacking the charm.  City Walk Universal- Universal’s answer to Disney springs but substantially smaller. Has a nice vibe and outlets, Voodoo Donuts are nice and I do like a Hard Rock Cafe.    Icon Park- Not a bad place to chill, assuming no crazy people are holding protests but otherwise nothing special. All your usual Merlin midways nestled under one roof. I wouldn’t bother with the 7D dark ride unless your trying to kill time. The adventure golf 2 minutes away is decent though.   I didn’t do the Kennedy Space centre, nor Legoland Florida. I know some of you will be disappointed by this.    And now, our winning park is (drum roll). 1/ Islands Of Adventure  This was probably always the park I was most excited for, but yet it still managed to exceed my expectations.  This place basically has everything I want in a theme park, thrilling roller coasters, immersive dark rides and more whilst perfect nestled within several immersive lands. Plus Mythos, my favourite theme park restaurant without a doubt.  I love Veloci-coaster, which is easily my favourite non-RMC coaster and perfectly blends itself as something between Helix and Taron. Hogwarts is a beautiful area with a stunning dark ride and magical coaster which now makes for an excellent tribute to one the films best characters (RIP Robbie Coltrane).  Pop eye is without doubt the craziest yet stunning rapids out there and I also adore the Jurassic River Adventure, even if it is starting to show it’s age in places. I’m not the biggest of Marvel fans, but Spider-Man was amazing and you could say I’m something of a fan myself. Hulk I enjoyed, but for a 6 year old B&M, it was a little bit rougher than I was expecting, which concerns me slightly. Kong was ok and Zeus’s landing is fun for what it is. Sadly got spited by Dudleys.  Dream trip, complete! Maybe I’ll return one day. Maybe. 
  11. Matt 236

    Creek’s Orlando Adventure- Park Ranking

    By Matt 236,


    Theme park trip
    Creek’s Orlando Adventure- Park Ranking
    Orlando! A prime tourist destination and a paradise for lovers of theme parks. After nearly 5 years of waiting, I was finally able to experience this wonderful place. In what is without doubt my favourite park trip to date.    Having experienced numerous attractions out there, rather than write full on reports which might be longer than the upcoming Avatar sequel, I’ll just condense it into a rating list. Where I’ll focus on the main aspects.    Right let’s begin.  13/ (Un) Fun Spot Orlando  Probably the most depressing and underwhelming park experience I’ve experienced to date. Lack of atmosphere with next to no crowds, tonnes of rides closed with staff who are clearly bored. The GCI & inverting afterburner ride were fun, but everything else was largely forgettable. We were done in just over an hour and happy to leave. 12/ Fun Spot Kissimmee  Definitely the better of the two fun spots. This one had crowds,atmosphere along with more rides running. The sky swing is better here, but it’s all about the sky coaster, which is the tallest you’ll find out there. It was honestly the craziest thing I have ridden in my life, but awesome too.    Sadly their wooden coaster Mine Blaster has aged like curdled milk and is remarkably rough, very concerning for a 5 year old ride. They should rename it Spineblower by this point! Almost as bad as the Pizza Hut in Kissimmee. 11/ Typhoon Lagoon What this place may lack in slides, it makes up for in vibes. The wave pool is nothing short of incredible, alongside a soundtrack comparable to WWTP radio in some ways. The lazy river is highly enjoyable and decent in length and the slides generally good all round.  10/ Volcano Bay  Right, the first water park and major attraction. Volcano bay with it’s theming, setting and interactive features should be something of a stellar attraction. That’s before considering the vast selection of slides, the drop ones at the top of the volcano are great.    Now there’s one slight problem deterring this places rating, the mismatch of the Tapu tapu system. On paper, this should be a blissful development helping one to have an easier and enjoyable day at the place. Unfortunately in reality, it’s something of a mess, unreliable system with errors and loop holes making what should be a more chilled attraction more stressful.    Want to ride the water coaster? Get there first thing or you may miss on your lifetime trip!   Edit/ My second visit was generally better, but I still lay by the fact that Tapu needs improvement. The water coaster was actually underwhelming if I’m honest but still fun.    9/Aquatica  Ok, I see the visible confusion seeing this as my favourite Florida water park. But I can explain. Typhoon Lagoon has the quality and Volcano Bay has quantity, whereas there’s something of a compromise here.    Highly enjoyable slides, including the iconic dolphin ones, a decent wave pool and several fun lazy river courses and overall good vibes. The place is also much more relaxed than say Volcano Bay, so can rightfully say it’s eligible for a rest day.    And now we get onto the main parks.    8/ Magic Kingdom  Magic Kingdom, the busiest and (arguably) most iconic theme park in the world. Disney’s flagship attraction; Supposedly.  If you enjoy fast thrilling rides and experiences, this place isn’t really for you and the likes of Universal, Sea world and Busch Gardens would definitely be much more appealing. But anyways, the park certainly has a vast selection of attractions crammed into it’s ‘first floor’ park space.   The classic attractions are pleasant enough for what they are, but Paris ones are arguably better. Big Thunder Mountain lacks those extra ‘frilly’ sections, POTC is more condensed and It’s A Small World lacks the grand facade amongst being plonked opposite the ridiculously popular Peter Pan’s Flight. Haunted Mansion was great though.   Now for it’s flaws, this park still has its upsides. There’s much more to do than the Paris park and the staff are definitely friendlier. Splash Mountain was highly enjoyable even-though they are clearly running it into the ground. I didn’t get chance to do Jungle Cruise unfortunately.   The one concerning thing though here was the surprising amount of wear and tear, especially for a Disney park. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen far more rundown areas, but when there numerous broken effects, chipped/worn queue lines/buildings and places around it doesn’t go down well. Buzz Lightyear was an absolute mess with it’s broken animatronics and ceiling that looked like it needed decorating. Chapek needs to go! Spited by this one, May well need to go back after all.   
      Part 2 coming real soon. 
  12. Matt 236

    Farewell To The Fairground- Carters Steam Fair

    By Matt 236,


    Carters Steam Fair
    2022, we’ve seen many hellos and goodbyes this year especially the latter. 

    Carters Steam Fair, as we know it is another which will end in 2022. Although it won’t disappear completely, the current owners (The Carter family) intend to sell the collection to a permanent site. Making this year their final tour. 

    I was thankful to get a chance to visit them in Croxley Green (near Watford), where they have stopped for a number of years. 
     
    The last time I visited may be as far back as 2012. Where life and numerous commissions or setbacks likely prevented future visits, so a return was massively overdue. 

    In that time, there have been some changes. The ride selection has been refined somewhat, no dive bomber? They have also reverted to a token system over real cash, which has its ups and downs. 

    Thankfully, the warm friendly atmosphere and interaction from the staff remains very much the same. Something you probably won’t get at your usual fun fair. 

    A number of rides are available (albeit maybe not the biggest white knuckle ones). The Octopus offers quite the swirling sensation and is enjoyable both on and off-ride. 

    The Skid offers a thrilling sensation, especially if you time it correctly with the car pedals. It’s a mixture between a whip and a Walter mostly. 

    They have a charming carousel 

    A surprisingly thrilling Chair-O-plane, packs at a lunch. 

    The crazy Steam Yachts (which I didn’t ride I’m afraid) 
     
    There is also a classic set of dodgems, filled with the retro charm and character you will find throughout the fair. 

    Other attractions include swing boats, jets, a classic arcade and numerous children's rides. They have something for most. 
     
    Tokens are £3 a piece, which gives you access to one ride, which are all the same price. I recommend buying in advance online, as you can get free rides included depending on how many tokens you buy. 
     
    This concludes my tour of Carters. They are in Croxley for an extra weekend and will then tour numerous places until their final stop in Reading around mid October. You can find their dates here/. Insert. 
     
    Visit if you can, before they gallop away into the sunset! 
     

  13. Matt 236
    Hello and welcome to part two of my solo holiday trip report.
     
    After feeling somewhat underwhelmed following my 90 minute trip to Bakken, it would now be time to revisit Tivoli Gardens. 
     

    I visited here back in 2019, so it felt nice to be back. Even if on my own. 
     

    The thing I love about Tivoli Gardens is their dedication and preservation to their history and character. The Rutschebanen (sp) at over 108 years old and such a phenomenal attraction! The way it ploughs through those corners, through the lovely mountain facade. And most importantly, has a brake man. My favourite scenic railway! Bakken being my least. 

    Daemonen is not the best B&M, but it’s got its charms. Not to mention looks beautiful, especially within it’s pretty eastern setting. 
     
    Since last time, they have actually opened a new powered coaster, a replacement of the old one they used to have. This one has a space theme and is apparently built higher as well. 
     
    It honestly packed a punch in places amongst some interesting interaction. Probably my third favourite after Rhombus and Alpen. 

    Other attractions include two dark rides. The Flying Trunk (a Mack omnimover) was just as delightful as I remembered and The mine one, very random. In a rather charming way. 

    They have quite a lot of flat rides, including Fata Morgana. An iron condor type ride. Others include an alright S&S drop tower, a sky flier, a nauseating inverted carpet ride and Tic Tac. I didn’t ride Tic Tac. 

    Villa Vendetta is a scare attraction, nestled away in the corner. It’s included in the ride package too. Whilst not the most actor heavy, it packs in quite a few surprises and features a decent set piece design. Was getting Hotel Gasten vibes here. 

    Last but not least, they also host. Fountain show, Illuninations. This takes place on the main lake and is basically a smaller scale Aquanura (albeit with it’s own charms). 

    The one thing I adore about Tivoli is the fact it had so much charm. It’s a place where you can just sit down somewhere by yourself and still enjoy things. 
     
    Whilst I was happy to leave Bakken, departing from Tivoli felt a lot more difficult. It was just wonderful to be back here once more. 
     
    Until next time adios. 
     
    P.S I would strongly recommend Tivoli Gardens, regardless if you like rides or not. 
     

  14. Matt 236
    Life, the last number of years have been something of a disappointment to many for a number reasons. Mostly Covid. 
     
    Now having, an outstanding flight voucher following many cancelled trips, an idea came to me. A solo holiday/adventure. After much debate, I decided to return to Copenhagen. Whilst not the cheapest, it’s a city I had liked previously and also felt reasonably safe from what I remembered. 
     
    The flight from Gatwick was a little bumpy. From the hideously long security queues, boots having no meal deals and what might have  been the roughest landing I have experienced to date. Mr fish special. 
     
    After working my way around the clean efficient M2&M3 (not near Thorpe), the adventure had properly. Urban house was my base for the trip, a rather trendy yet conveniently located hotel literally in the city centre. Very close to Tivoli. 
     
    Attraction Parks:
    There are two amusement parks around Copenhagen. Bakken & Tivoli gardens. With both being danish amusement parks and somewhat close, you’d think there would be many similarities. Think again! 
     
    Bakken/
    The oldest amusement park out there. Bakken is a short train journey away via the central station. The park is literally located in the middle of a large park/woods and is surprisingly concealed. You wouldn’t know it was there if you were looking for it! 
     

    Despite the pretty woods setting, the park isn’t picturesque or interesting in any sort of way. If anything it’s a little characterless, dull and maybe underwhelming. 

    There are a number of rides and attractions in this place, including five roller coasters. One of those was the Rutshebanen (sp), the park’s wooden roller coaster. 
     
    As past reviews highlight, the ride had a modification to remove the brakeman with new trains. The ride was honestly ok, not great but just ok. The automated braking definitely had an impact on the pacing, being familiar to a go kart race maybe. The tunnel on the other hand was highly interesting with it’s position. 

    Tornado, perhaps one of the park’s bigger draws is an intamin spinning coaster. It literally launches you up the lift hill into what can be described as a crazy bumpy spinning sensation. It is not in anyway a smooth or comfortable experience, but a rough one indeed. 
     
    The park’s other coasters include Mine Train Ulven. A decent mine train coaster featuring a fun layout. There is also an acceptable wild mouse and ladybird coaster too. 
     

    So, what else is there besides coasters? 
     
    Well, they have two random dark rides, a dodgy ghost train and a random Safari shooter ride, was the least terrible of the two. 
     
    Several flat rides incorporate the place, including a fun polyp ride, those “crazy” spinning rides and one of those axis rides everywhere is getting now. Although it was quite fun. 
     
    They also have a small yet powerful S&S shot tower, which packs a punch. Also in the queue line it seems, given it tore my jacket! 
     

    Does this look familiar? 
     
    They also had a largely enjoyable fun house, featuring an array of effects and a broken piano. Shame it was broken. There was also a flume ride, although I didn’t go on this. 
     

    So, I managed to complete and wrap up my visit here in less than 90 minutes, including re-rides on 3/5 coasters. On what must be one of my shortest stays at any park. So why didn’t I stay to long? 

    To be honest, Bakken is potentially one of the most bland and generic parks I have been to, nothing comes across as striking. It just doesn’t feel photogenic in any particular way. 
     
    The place just feels like a large permanent fun fair. And not in a good way. There was just no charm or atmosphere at all. 
     
    Despite its plus points, it is no doubt towards the bottom-end of parks I’ve visited so far. And you know it’s not a great place, when a part of you is even happy to leave too. 
     
    Visit for the creds, visit for Tornado. Maybe visit if you want to see new parks and like funfairs. Otherwise, you aren’t missing out on too much here. 
     
    Stay tuned for my Tivoli review soon. 
  15. Matt 236
    2020, it’s been one crazy roller coaster ride and sadly one that hasn’t been particularly enjoyable. It has been rougher than a ride on Saw or Gouderix.
      With a massive pandemic halting life as we know it, everything has been challenging in general, let alone theme parks. Skip ahead to now and with parks cautiously reopening I would finally get to visit a one again, this time a new one.  Fantasy Island in Ingoldmells near Skegness is an amusement located adjacent to a large open air market. Now in the hands of the Mellor’s group, this would be an ideal opportunity to nail the final key U.K. park on my bucket list. On the surface, it might just look like your typical sea side fun fair or something (which it somewhat is). And you might even mistake it for Winter Wonderland if you look at from certain angles.  But it’s a good one at that featuring a decent selection of attractions. Like this flat ride which was actually a lot of fun. The drop tower is alright except for the silly short seatbelts! They have an alright log flume, which is actually fun. Rhombus Rocket is one of five park coasters. It might look your standard powered coaster off ride, but this thing really packs a punch and gives off airtime that I didn’t think was possible on such a ride. Easily my favourite U.K. ride type, which isn’t actually a Mack but made by WGH transportation. One of the main attractions is the Millenium. At 20 years it’s still silky smooth and looking fresh after a funky paint job a few years ago. Probability my favourite there although the ride station’s placement on the street is both hilarious and unique. Until a few years ago the entrance was too. The other headliner is Odyssey, a large Vekoma SLC, erm. At 167ft it is the tallest SLC ever made and third tallest U.K. coaster.  SLCs have a reputation in the industry of mostly being rough and uncomfortable coasters. This ride is not exception as your head and ears are constantly bashed around as the ride completes it’s circuit. Despite the roughness there was something I liked about this coaster although it may be last of the three ride types I’ve done. If they modified or replaced the train to decrease roughness I think it would be a great attraction. Think I’m dreading Condor if I get to do that.   A pyramid building resides in the park’s centre. This houses several amenities from bars, restaurants, arcades and several attractions. The charming interior design reminds me of Coral island and the ‘original’ Dome albeit on a greater scale. There are two dark rides in here, one of them is the Magical Seaquarium. Opening in 1995,  it’s certainly a charming attraction with an upbeat soundtrack which synchronises better than some. Sadly a number of effects were broken which given current circumstances probably isn’t a high priority for the park. Although rumours suggest a refurbishment is planned. Toucan Tours is the other dark ride, where you enter an enclosed section with numerous scenes after meandering the pyramid area. It’s quite random but enjoyable nonetheless. Some of the pyramid’s other inhabitants include a few kids rides such a tracked pony ride, a water slide (which was sadly closed when visiting and a Jurassic themed mini golf. The second half was themed noticeably better than the first, however space limitations are likely the result of this. It’s still amazing how much has actually been squeezed into the building since the refurbishment 2/3 years ago.  Overall Fantasy Island is a fun and pleasantly enjoyable park, even in the amidst of a pandemic. Usually you’d be free to roam and enter the place from many angles, but for now it is a strict entry system. Operations at the park are alright and everything else including food is to an adequate level too. Although a fight apparently did break out whilst queuing for the Flume. We took a walk down the road where numerous bars, restaurants and amusements were and was pleasantly surprised to see how buzzing and upbeat the place was. Haven’t seen this in years and gave a rich holiday feel. However social distancing was rarely properly seen.   Would recommend, but just be careful.
  16. Matt 236
    Unless you’ve been living under on a distant island  or on a galaxy far away,  you will be fully aware of the current  pandemic that is happening, causing for much concern and cancellation of next to everything fun, social or entertainment related.
      Whilst there are definitely bigger concerns out there, we probably won’t get our park fixes again now for at least a little while. This is why I’ve pitched up the idea of 10 Theme Park related things you can do and enjoy in the comfort of your own home whilst waiting for all this to blow over. Feel free to post your own suggestions too.   1/ Theme Park Video/Computer Games
    The first (and possibly most obvious) thing to do when the parks aren’t open. There are plenty of theme park games, from the obvious Roller Coaster Tycoon Games and  Planet Coaster, to the slightly more obscure Theme Park World and Roller Coaster Factory, and even the whacky (yet wonderful) Legoland  games. Whilst we wait for this to blow over, enjoy your own fictional parks, simulations and creations!   2/ Watching YouTube Videos 
    Again, another straight forward option. YouTube is literally a library for theme park videos, let alone everything else. You can watch literally anything, from Theme Park Worldwide, Jack Silkstone, Pleasure Beach Experience and many many others. Not a fan of these  or vloggers altogether? Then why not watch a POV of your favourite/bucket list coaster or that charming dark ride from Efteling? I know it’s not the same as visiting in person, but in the right ambience it can do the trick!   3/ Listening to your favourite park soundtrack or Album  Theme Parks don’t just give us great attractions and experiences, but they also give us some great music and playlists. Whether Imascore  you adore or snore, there are  lots of soundtracks to listen to and cherish in the comfort of your living room or bedroom. Belt out that Europa Suite or Villa Volta music from your sound system. Or if you prefer listen to the popular music playlists that usually echo  through those  amusement park entrances. In your living room. Not Coronation street please!   4/ Theme Park (related) construction toys 
    Theme Park toys and gadgets are becoming more common these days. You have Lego Rollercoasters, nano- park building kits and other crazy contraptions that are based off, or at least resemble theme park related items. Definitely worth a shot.   5/ Watching Film/TV shows with theme parks in 
    You could say I am just repeating point 2 again, but I say no. The difference between those are that those films and tv series use the parks essentially as film sets fo centre around or the development of the plot line. Whether that be that underwhelming time the Lampoons visited Six Flags Magic Mountain, that time the Spykids saves the day in Knotts Berry Farm or that time Will embarrassed everyone in the Inbetweeners? It’s all there Indeed and lots to see and adds even more amusement (no pun intended) to compare the accuracies and inaccuracies to how these parks actually operated in real.    Silly me, how did I not even mention Final Destination? Ok there you go.     6/ Reminiscing Old Park Trips  This one won’t be for everyone, especially if it triggers  serious park withdrawal symptoms, but nonetheless may still be something worth doing. Whether you’ve been worldwide, around Europe or generally stuck to just the U.K. parks, there must be that trip, that place or that visit that literally stuck out for you and gave you ever lasting memories.  For me, it has to be that first trip to Disneyland Paris back in 2015. I had never been so excited upon visiting a park before and felt simply overjoyed with everything about that trip, from an entertaining park group to some simply hilarious and magical laugh out loud memories both within and outside the parks. Wow! Five years.   7/ Looking at your merch collection 
    Again this won’t be for everyone, but for most, there is surely some item that you have, or at least were  collecting at one point. Maps, pin badges, mugs, clothes or even shot glasses. I know this seems like a long shot, but it is these items that help with those connections to the parks and remind of us those wonderful visits we had there and hopefully will again one day too. I’m generally a resin person.   8/ Books from parks and attractions 
    The title alone is rather vague I admit, but there are lots of park books and even articles to read right now. From park guides, brochures, theme park biographies and picture books too. Many have informative content which really go down into the depths of how parks and attractions cane to be. John Wardley’s biography is a strong personal recommendation!   9/ Act It Out!   Ok, I’m probably scraping the barrel a bit here and I can see most of you already acting confused as you read this. But if you can’t get down to those memorable attractions, bring those memorable attractions to you. Act it out! Dress up or style as your favourite park characters. Why not re-enact the Hex pre-show or Symbolica’s storyline? Ok, I just got the idea from this video, but it’s still pretty fun eye?    10/ Interacting with park mates and communities  Last but not least, but the most important thing of all, stay connected with your theme park mates and communities. It may all seem awkward being separated from next fo everyone right now, but you can stay together through virtual context. Drop messages, video chats and other means. Talk about your favourite rides, debate whether Helix is better than Taron (no fighting please), but more importantly, stay happy and well entertained in this challenging time for everything theme park and non theme park related.   Thank you for reading if you survived to the end. We are all in this together!   
  17. Matt 236
    Welcome Back. In this section we take a look  at same of the many  places and jewels to explore in this city of Fairy Tale and wonderous city. 
    Copenhagen is Denmark’s capital city, a place famous for Lego, Hans Christian Anderson and  creativity. It is the largest and busiest city in Denmark (naturally) and Scandinavia. It also features rich history and  it’s own Royal family.    Attractions: Copenhagen features a large diversity of attractions and architecture, from modern wonders such as the Black Dismond to the historical treasures of Rosenborg. There are also lots of green areas and lakes.  Nyhavn is perhaps one of the most iconic and touristy areas of the City, it’s colourful harbour side buildings are believed to be centuries old and home to many stories. Hans Christian Anderson is  believed to have hung out there frequently.  So simple yet effective, there are lots of bars and restaurants on this stretch, however likely very pricey (when Copenhagen is already very expensive).  We took a river cruise from here. The tour lasts one hour and gives an  insight into the city, with the tour guide giving plenty of info of the place and some of it’s buildings.  The cruise is definitely worth it, especially if you want to learn and see more of the city.  The Little Mermaid statue is yet another wonder to this city. It was built in 1990 from requests of the owner of the Carlsberg brewery.  It certainly isn’t the biggest of landmarks, but still cute nonetheless.  Around the main shopping area of the city lies Rundetarn (Round tower), this tall and unique building offers plentiful beautiful panoramic views of the city. It also houses an art exhibition and an observatory.  Copenhagen features several castles and palaces in and around the City. Rosenberg is one of them.  The attraction is split it into two sections, the  first part covers the ground, first and second floor. Where you discover some of the many rooms and historical artefacts of the palace.   My favourite rooms were the treasure, mirror and throne room. I also liked the music box too, which played out tunes every so often. The second part of the attraction covers basement, in here you can witness some of the royal jewels and treasures, which is certainly impressive to say the least.    Rosenberg is definitely worth a visit if you want to learn some history of the city and Danish royal family. The attraction has similarities to the Tower Of London and the historical parts of Warwick Castle.  Away from the main areas of the city lies the Cisterns. This former underground reservoir- turned art space, hosts different installations each year.  The exhibition when we visited was called- It Is Not The End Of The World, where you would walk around in provided footwear exploring the sights and sounds around you.  The exhibition initially presents a scenario where the end of humans but necessarily the world has occurred. The main centre pieces include a flooded toilet, based off the ones in United Nations and sign with the title “It Is Not The End Of The World”. The eerie music and sound effects, water and limited lighting around, make for an interesting and overwhelming experience. It’s almost like the tunnels go on for miles!  Would recommend if you are after a different experience, but not if you don’t like the dark and unknown! Check Cisterns website as the exhibitions do change annually.  Some of the additional activities we experienced on our trip was Changing Of The Guard at Amalienborg, home of the Danish Royal Family, I believe these are more triumphant when the family are in!  Church Of Our Saviour is unique and stunning church to look at, I’ve never seen anything like this before! It dates around Baroque times I believe.  Climbing up the tight and fairly confined stairs, gets you to the top of this wonder. It’s not the easiest place to climb, but the views are rewarding!  Tomb and I somewhat agreed the views here were better than Rundetarn.  Another interesting place is The David Collection, this museum houses Egyptian and Middle Eastern works and artefacts, the largest in Europe . Whilst this may not appeal to everyone, the artefacts in here and fascinating. Free entry too. The Food It’s no secret Denmark is cheap, and the same can be said about the food. However I can honestly say the quality of cuisine is nothing short of excellent and seems to be of generally good quality. Even the hotdogs in Tivoli tasted freshly delicious. Smorrebrod is one of Denmark’s most famous cuisines, these open sandwiches feature a selection of toppings including pickled herring. We had these in Tivoli and Cafe Komplet, and they were undoubtedly delicious.  Torvehallerne is one of many food halls and features Grod, somewhere does Porridge so delicious I actually enjoyed it. N.B I never used to like porridge. This has to also be one of the nicest bakeries I have ever visited. They also have delicious pizza in Copenhagen too. Warpigs is certainly one of the more interesting places to eat, think Smokehouse Barbecue but more edgy and cool.   It’s Danish take on American style food definitely made it relatively popular. I think it has quite a cult following  I also had a Burger King as my first meal too. Very cultural. Tips/ Copenhagen is easily accessible by foot, but there are several  bus and train routes too, the metro system they have is remarkably efficient    Denmark isn’t cheap, except things to be 50-100% more than UK prices. A Burger King cost me £9-£10 and a sit down meal around £30 for 1/2 courses and a drink. Only tip with outstanding service.   Best restaurants are generally off the beaten track (normally the case now in most major cities). Nyhavn is expensive for drinks.   If you wish to focus your trip on the parks and only want to do one cultural thing, it should either be a Nyhavn River Cruise or Rundetarn.  And in the case of tradition and culture, I had to visit a Lego Shop too!     Thanks for reading. 

  18. Matt 236
    Many years ago a man visited a smallish yet popular Danish amusement park. That place was Tivoli Gardens. He was inspired by the charm and character of the place which lead him on to creating his own park. That man was Walt Disney.
    Tivoli Gardens has been somewhere I have always wanted to visit, whether that be it’s significant history, interesting pallet of attractions, or to say I have visited the fourth most visited European park? These were just some of the reasons, not to mention ‘’technically’’ following Walt’s footsteps.   Opening in 1843, Tivoli is the second oldest amusement park in the world (after Bakken). The park is literally in the City centre of Copenhagen (Denmark) putting it firmly into the category of city parks. Like Liseberg, Grona Lund and Blackpool Pleasure Beach.  The park features no fewer than three entrances, including the iconic main entrance. We decided to take this one.  Upon entering, you are greeted upon some pretty  picturesque gardens and open spaces, which make for an ideal first impression and one contrasting the busy street outside.  One of the first attractions we visited was the iconic Ruschterbahn (Roller Coaster). This attraction dates back to 1914, making it one of the oldest attractions in the park and maybe the world.  Despite being nestled into one of the park’s corners, it was definitely one of the most popular attractions. And for a great reason! The ride is so simple yet perfect, a brake-person rides on the train with you and controls the speed as you go through numerous drops and turns.  I can safely say the Ruscteebahn is my favourite attraction in the park. It’s effectiveness of completing simple tasks so perfectly is satisfying. It is easily my favourite of the three Scenic Railway attractions I have done too. Tivoli’s second headline coaster is The Demon (Daemonen),a B&M floorless which opened in 2004. This must be one of the smallest B&M’s in the world, with it’s compact layout. There seemed to be some rows dedicated to VR in the station, however we didn’t see anyone use it whilst we were there.  Another VR failure? It definitely isn’t my favourite B&M out there, however it’s impressive what the park have managed to fit into what is a very small footprint (for B&M standards). Better than Dragon Khan though.  The park did have a Mack powered coaster, however this was in the process of being replaced whilst we were out there. “Adds another to the list of spited creds”. Our final coaster was Kamelen (Camel), an adorable Zierer . This replaced their older junior coaster. The attraction features an Arabian style theme (like other rides in the area). Six laps too? Woo! There are two dark rides inside Tivoli, one of these is The Flying Trunk. This Mack  ominmover attraction depicts numerous scenes based on the books from renowned Danish author Hans Christian Anderson.  The attraction was sweet and relaxing. It is certainly impressive how much they have managed to fit into what is a relatively small building. The ride is built partially below ground level. The Mine is the park’s second dark ride and is just totally bizarre. You go around in small boats shooting targets, although the scoring system is not particularly clear. The guns are either similar to Wands, or things one will say is less appropriate! The ride is essentially a tiny flume dark ride with lasers. The scenes are charming despite the potential lack of context. Tomb surprisingly disliked most of the attraction.  Tivoli packs a large selection of flat rides, some of which have to be the craziest out there, Vertigo is no exception. This crazy contraption flings you 360 whilst turning at rapid speeds to the point of almost making the former Slammer look tame. I enjoyed it, but literally experienced my limit for thrill rides! Some of their other flat rides include a pretty Steampunk themed Air Race, an S&S drop tower (least this one launches down) and a Crazy inverted Magic Carpet. I found this one the most nauseating, it probably didn’t help that girl opposite me looked like she was going to vomit any moment tbh.  Amongst this, they also had a highly impressive Fun House, which was free flowing and located underneath the Ruschterbahn.  They also had  an adorable Vintage Cars attraction which is amazing, because fountains and a vintage Ferris Wheel. We ran out of time for the Dodgems, Carousels, Land-Train and Sea Storm (style) attractions.   Annoyingly some attractions were unavailable on our day of visit, including the Fata Morgana which was an iron condor style ride, a crazy mutated breakdance attraction (which replaced their old breakdance) and the sky flier. Tomb was particularly disappointed by the later, especially when it was actually operating the next day too.  Just like Efteling! The park also plays hosts to their Illuminations show every evening/night. Essentially a smaller scale Aquanura , the performance features fountains, lights, fire and other effects. Whilst Aquanura is more impressive and contextual, Illuminations still makes for a cherishing and worthwhile watching.  The rides shut at 21:45 on the day we were visiting, due to their Friday Rock event, where their centre stage hosts notable Music artists performing. We watched some of the music even though it wasn’t really our cup of tea. We left just before the end, grabbing a McDonald’s on the way.  Final Thoughts and Reflections: Tivoli Gardens is undoubtably a charming and lovely park to visit and something of a national treasure to Denmark.  Despite it’s relatively small size it hosts a very reasonable diversity  of attractions which suit the park. The grounds, landscaping and architecture are lavishing.  Whilst not themed as such, the park are definitely trying to allocate different stylings to each area of the park. whether that be Space/Steampunk, Asian or Middle Eastern sections, which are reasonably distinguishable. The park was generally charming and the majority of staff friendly and helpful. It is probably also one of the better parks for food quantity and quality. Smorrebrod, a cultural delight. My only major criticism I can really give was the lack of audio in most of the park. Whilst the dark rides and toilets featured audio, there were very few other areas of the park (especially main areas) where there was nothing. Whilst I don’t expect audio blaring out left right and centre, it would be pleasant if a few more areas featured audio to enhance further atmosphere to the place. Just something ambient and reflective here and there would do the job. I would recommend a visit here to anyone, whether your after a park with charm, class, thrilling attractions or all three! Tivoli Gardens is worth seeing at least once in everyone’s lifetime theme park lover for not!  Join me soon in part two as I cover some of the other things to see in Copenhagen outside of Tivoli Gardens, where I witness this City of modern fairytales by Land, air and sea to see what treasures and cultural gems are discovered.  Thanks For Reading!    
  19. Matt 236
    Phantasialand is one of my favourite theme parks, it may not be the biggest park out there, but they certainly know how to mix a combination of attractions within remarkable footprints.
     
    Just over a year following my first visit, I decided to make a return visit for Winter to see the park beautifully lit up and decorated for Christmas.

    Berlin Street, a beautiful park entrance (at least once you get past the street). It borrows some elements from Main Street but also makes it’s own in many ways too, like the Chairswing at the end and Fun House (Hotel Tartúff).

    This time I finally got the chance to go through the Tartúff. I can safely say it’s one of the craziest (and longest) Funhouse attractions I have experienced. It must’ve taken at least 15minutes to walk through it. Worth the wait too.
     

    Last time around I was criticised for not mentioning enough love for Chiapas. Here goes, Yes that’s an enhanced entrance too which looks amazing.




    Words can it describe just how impressive and magical this attraction is, it’s such a happy upbeat attraction that aren’t common enough in main park’s. There is nothing I can fault about this attraction, from it’s dark segments, backwards drops and pacing throughout. The disco room is by far one of the best inventions in modern attractions. They even play a Christmas variant of the main theme too. Sheer perfection.
     
    Subtle yet Christmassy.

    Talocan was running just as impressively and intensely as last time. Certainly a stunning beast and just as much a show as a ride. Not one for after lunch.

    Speaking on lunch, we went back to Rutmoore’s (which does these amazing hearty meals). The eatery is certainly holding it’s own with decorations too amongst delicious food.

    Savoury Crepes Yum.

    Taron is still absolutely amazing (and narrowly misses the top spot to Helix). I just adore the ride’s empowering launches, floaty airtime and interaction with nearby buildings and pathways. It’s just as much a piece of art as much as a coaster and much more than a series of twists and turns for sure.
     

    Taron in the sunset looks even more beautiful for sure.
     
    Whilst Klugheim is still park’s latest addition (Taron’s 120 minute queues are proof), it won’t be too long before the park’s next investment (albeit delayed until 2019) arrives, Rookburgh. Replacing the old Atlantis Simulator (removed before my first visit), the new area looks to boast a steampunk style theme, a surprising move away from the park’s signature rock Styles. Rockwork to Phantasialand is perhaps what shipping containers are to Merlin.
     

    Whilst I am (naturally) highly excited this new area, I am going to be quite controversial now and say I’m slightly disappointed the area’s headline attraction looks to be another coaster (opposed to a dark ride). The park lost a major dark ride (Silvermine) so Taron could be built and I would like to see them gain a modern (animatronic heavy) dark ride. I’m sure Fly though will still be fantastic though and rumours suggest it will have dark ride elements which is a start.
     



    Far on the other side of the park (away from the glamorous Chiapas and Klugheim) lies the sad sorry ageing duo that are Temple and Hollywood. It’s almost difficult to believe they are in the same park. The left side does generally feel noticeably inferior to the right, but then again it’s literally towards the back of resident’s gardens. I wouldn’t complain living there tbh. 
     
    Some say these will be the next attractions to be ripped out from the park (to makeway for the next park redevelopment). Whilst I won’t shed a tear when Nighthawk goes (a 10 minute confused journey in pitch black darkness), I will miss the Hollywood ride just a bit. The cave, jaws and Frankenstein scenes are my favourites in this sorry forgotten dark ride.
     


    I’m probably in the minority but I actually really like Geister Riksha. Although it is one of the park’s oldest attractions (it’s 36 years old) the ride still feels like it holds a place even in modern Phantasialand. It certainly fits in more then Temple and Hollywood and feels better looked after too. I would rather the attraction extensively updated than ripped out entirely should China ever become redeveloped.

    Spot the mistake.
     
    Black Mamba was still amazing, Colorado crazy in the best way and Mystery Castle somewhat on the shorter setting. I enjoyed Maus Au Chocolate more this time which is great to see so much theming between the screens. Winjas Fear is definitely the better track. Bizarrely we had to enter through a back route to the entrances due to the main area playing home to a private function. 
     
    Due to a national holiday, there was no music on the second day in many park areas until 6pm.
     





    Phantasialand at night just looks absolutely spectacular, here’s the China Area. Whilst this area doesn’t House the park’s best rides it’s still one of my favourite areas in the park. That said I like 
    pretty much all the areas of the park, the Fantasy not so much though.












    Absolutely stunning. I don’t think these photos give the park justice.

    The park at Winter also plays home to not one, but two night-time shows. The first one of these uses the park’s ice rink where numerous costumes performers actout. The loose plot basically comes down to something ruining Christmas and someone coming along saving it and ending on a firework finale.
     
    The second show features a projection/fire show around the Chiapas ride plaza. Unfortunately no photography was permitted (Phantasialand are quite notoriously for being one of the stricter parks for this), so I wasn’t able to get any pics as I didn’t fancy getting shouted at in German.
     
    I definitely enjoyed both shows for what they were but wouldn’t necessarily say they were out standing. They certainly weren’t terrible either. Perhaps my insufficient German didn’t help.

    During my visit  I was very fortunate to stay at Hotel Lingbao, which was just stunning. I absolutely fell l in love with the place from it’s oriental styling to it’s quaint surroundings. Many of the items in this hotel are said to have actually come from China itself.


    Would strongly recommend staying here if you can as it’s definitely worth it. Otherwise H+ is a suitable place if you are on a budget.
     

    On the second day, we ventured (or should I say attempted) some cultural stuff in Cologne. Unfortunately this wasn’t as successful as hoped due to the Chocolate Museum being closed, but we did what we could out of it.

    Cologne Lock bridge.

    I also had my first Hard Rock Cafe experience here. I strongly enjoyed this (however Tomb thought it was average). Not sure how others compare.

    Old Cologne. Sadly most of Cologne is modern brutal buildings. I’ll let Basil Fawlty do the explaining.

    Tradional German Market, we actually visited two but I definitely preferred this one.

    Random animatronic goodness. You can pay a euro for the duo to play a tune of your choice whilst drinking beer. 

    I will end this update with Cologne Cathedral at night. 
     
    If the closed season becomes too much, just book a winter trip to Phantasialand (opening hours vary). Merry Christmas!












  20. Matt 236
    Thank you for reading part 1 of my trip report. Here's part 2 of my annual review if you have not died of boredom where we will look into the wonders of the international parks.   Europa Park Visiting what is arguably the best European park (or even the world) is one thing, but doing it in a medium sized group that is TPM made things that extra bit more exciting.    Situated within a small and charming German town makes for one beautiful location making it one of the most picturesque parks in Europe.   Europa Park is not somewhere to visit just for the rides, but because it is Europa Park. A place despite its massive size is full to the brim of hidden attractions and details. It isn't uncommon to walk around the park and find something new all the time, whether that be an archway leading to a hidden dark ride or finding a random show or walk through. The park features countless themed areas to different European countries including Spain, England and Scandanavia. Not only do these areas feel strongly coherent, but also complement  one another. Even the aspect of crossing the English area to the (then still not open) Ireland feels like something the park have though about. With Thirteen coasters (12 when I visited), it ranks as having the highest number of coasters in Europe (at least for now) featuring a great variety from the sleek and smooth Blue Fire to the classic Bobsled.  Wodan was my favourite coaster for sure, not only down to its crazy amazing layout but it's themed queue. An added bonus making a fast moving queue even more pleasant to wait in. Though some coasters were better than others, none of them come across as weak with each one helping to complement the package.  Europa though is more than coaster. As it boasts many shows, dark rides and smaller attractions. The shows come by the pair ranging from an Ice Show, jousting and even a Europa take on a Disney style parade. Whilst some are better than others, there are so many to see  you could easily  spend  one park day watching all of them.    Controversially, none of the dark rides are top 10 material (with the possible  exception of Arthur), but before you get the pitchforks, there's a perfect explanation. None of them are trying to be. Each dark ride not only complements specific areas but shows off what different attractions Mack has to offer making Europa just as much a working a ride museum amongst a theme park resort.    Despite the majority coming across as Disney style knock-offs, many of these attractions are highly enjoyable not only because of their charm but retaining a classic feel. The animatronic, setting and scenery styles are all highly reminiscent of the days when attractions like Bubbleworks, Phantom Phantasia and Terror Tomb existed.    What's even more appeasing to see is how well looked after these attractions and seeing them looking refreshed and not stale and falling apart. Piccolo Mondo is an example of this. Although the attractions has existed since the early eighties, it received a major remodelling in 2011 that not only modernised the ride from looking dated but has retained fundamental features of the original.  There's more than just the park though, with the resort's five hotels which are look amazing and retain superb quality about everywhere you look there. There's even a beautiful courtyard with fountains!    Accommodation at Europa isn't difficult as you have a wide variety of places to stay. If you can't afford Europa hotels, stay in Rust. There is plenty of places to stay, the majority very friendly and reasonable priced and usually no more than 15 minutes walk too. There's even log cabins and camping facilities if you prefer and plenty of restaurants and a super market if you don't want to eat in the park.   Europa as theme parks go is practically perfect except for one thing, getting there. Although far from impossible transportation from the airport to the park is more challenging compared to places like Disney and Liseberg. My group were rather lucky that we had enough drivers to warrant hire cars which is probably the easiest option.   If you are driverless, you are limited to either expensive but convenience park shuttles or a long fiddly train commute.    Liseberg   Two weeks after Europa, I was blessed to be visiting another major European park with another amazing Mack. Yet it was a park that couldn't be anymore different. Unlike Europa Park, Liseberg is more of a traditional amusement park, although many of it's new additions have been themed rather well.  A more sophisticated, hilly and picturesque Blackpool may be the best comparison here,although both parks are good in their own ways.  The park boasts three stunning coasters (more on the fourth later). Helix is an absolutely phenomenal ride, from it's impressive launches, sudden corkscrew out of the station and combination of inversions, airtime and ground hugging elements. Helix is my new number 1 coaster and worth visiting for the park alone. Balder though is also a top quality Wooden coaster for the park. The drops and airtime are amazing although the styling feels comparatively dry to the rest of the park. Hopefully the area re-theme will resolve this. Lisebergbanen minus the brakes is another wonderful ride and it's Terran based layout and interaction almost make it a family thrill Helix without loops.  Whilst I adored the others, Kanonen left me feeling disappointed as I found it rather rattly and the restraints uncomfortable. That said given it's tiny footprint, the layout is quite impressive to say the least. Whilst I won't miss the ride given it's now being removed, this coaster would do wonders for a smaller park. I'd certainly visit Drayton more if they brought this.  Liseberg also boasts what may be the best selection of flats I've seen at a park. From the craziness of Steampunk themed star shape Mechanica to Uppswing, a swing ride that goes over a cliff. Rush eat your heart out! Atmosphere was even an acceptable drop tower (even just on height) and the Jukebox ride was great fun!   Not only is there a decent Rapids and interesting 'working' log flume but Hotel Gasten, a scare maze with some richly themed rooms, scares and over 10 minutes in length. Worth the extra charge too.  Amongst it's great attractions, stunning location and classic feel, the only thing this place lacks is a decent dark ride. Fairy Tale Castle is the only dark ride at the park, in the form of a dated schwartzkopf suspended track ride passing  random fairy tale scenes to the Dream Flight theme. The ride is practically hilarious because it's so poor and dated.    For those who struggle getting to and affording European parks Liseberg is a good starting point as it's very easy to get to. Norwegian British Airways and Ryanair all fly to Gothenburg from Gatwick, Heathrow and Stanstead with prices being under £30 each way if you choose the right time to visit.    There's also a bus shuttle that runs from Gothenburg Landvetter to literally just outside the park entrance. Just remember pre-book your tickets or register your cards as they don't do cash payments!    Phantasialand  Phantasialand is a park I've been wanting to visit for many years and for 2016 I finally got to visit.  The place is amazing and despite its smaller size (though definitely not tiny) it is packed with richly themed details everywhere, from the sophisticated Berlin street entrance to the creative details in Mexico. Imagine a fully decorated Chessington? Nope me neither. The rides themselves are immaculately themed (the newer ones at least). Chiapas is a stunning ride with rich theming, dark ride sections and a large drop which proof flumes still  have a place at parks today (Towers take note). Black Mamba bar it's stunning theming  is a beautiful coaster that surpasses Inferno but not Nemesis. Maus Au Chocolate, River Quest, Winjas and Colorado Adventure are also great rides that are worth a mention too. Klugheim is an exceptional area, from its vast rock work, medieval/Norsk theming and landscaping. Taron is sublime coaster that really works with the area and is just amazing all round and certainly a favourite for me amongst arguably being the park's main coaster now.   Raik is also a loverly little ride that inkeeps with Klugheim  and gives Phantasialand a much needed kids coaster. Everything in Klugheim is fab, even the eateries. Rutmoore's Tavern is a loverly place to visit for a hearty lunch and up there as one of my favourite theme park eateries.   With some fantastic new attractions and areas having opened in recent years, the park is not holding back on progressing further even at the expense of older attractions. Race For Atlantis, the  former simulator was ripped out earlier this year and construction for the next big thing has already begun. After that, Nighthawk, Hollywood and the Chinese Ghost Train will likely be cleared for expansions afterwards. The first two won't be too drastic given how dated and out of place they seem, but I will miss the ghost train as I think there's some charm in there and something I  like about it too. I'm hoping more for a major update than replacement in all honesty.   It may be without its flaws but Phantasialand may be my second favourite park now. That place has done wonders to me and certainly changed me for sure.   Phantasialand is easy to get to if you know what you're doing. Fly to Cologne Bonn, then get the train from the airport to Koln HBF and then change the train to Brühl there. The hotel situation is slightly more complicated. If you can't stay onsite Ramada Koln is a good choice although you will need to drive or taxi to/from the park.      Disneyland Paris  2016 wasn't the year for DLRP As a result of years of neglect (for Disney standards), the resort has undergoing a rigorous rehabilitation resulting in rides, theming, facades, walkways and buildings being extensively refurbished. In it's peak, Big Thunder, Thunder Mesa, Star Tours, Peter Pan's Flight, Adventure Isle and more were all closed alongside the main fountain being closed off. Despite this, I still returned to witness the magical Christmas season with my loverly girlfriend. though having no BIg Thunder, Star Tours and others, this did not dampen the magic in any way.   This was also the first park Christmas visit for both of us and the resort-wide festive was amazing. From the decorated main Street with Christmas tree to the Christmas parades. Christmas Dreams was good but lacks the warmth and heartstring pull the normal Dreams delivers.    Disney is still so magical, even in the middle of a major rehabilitation. It's also easy to get to regardless of your preferred choice. Walking might take a while though.   Happy Christmas and happy new year everyone. Who knows whether I'll do this in 2017 but I hope you enjoyed.
  21. Matt 236
    The Closed season is here, Christmas  music and decorations are around everywhere and the sight of new year  isn't far away. 
      This means one thing, time to review 2016. This year will be a two part edition, with part one focusing on the UK and part two on the wonders abroad.    The Merlin Machine/  Given the circumstances of 2015, it was fairly imminent this wasn't going to be the best year for them. With Park-wide budget cuts, ride closures and controversial decisions, there has been a fair share of negativity. However, not everything they've done has been unacceptable.    Alton Towers As expected, 2016 was not going to be Towers's year as a result of ruthless management operations to lessen the bleeding of 2015's unfortunate events. This resulted in budget cuts, leading to staff redundancies, closures of shops and food outlets , knee jerk safety precautions and the closure of seven attractions.    Whilst Hex is the only major casualty here, closing down a family park staple, sufficient flat ride and more has certainly left a big gap in the family market.   Galactica for me feels like an attempt at shoe horning a gimmick onto what was already a popular ride just so it can be marketed as a new major attraction.    The VR element leaves something to be desired, although I did find the audio descriptive version highly amusing. That being said, I do really like the new space styling, soundtrack and station enhancements.  However on the upside, the new Roller Coaster Restaurant is a fantastic addition to the park, featuring much character and a flagship park restaurant. The Steak I had last time was remarkable.  The TLC scheme has certainly enhanced run down areas of the park such as Forbidden Valley and Towers Street which look noticeably better. Though some areas are still fairly run down it's a start and if this is the only way for Merlin to do upkeep, so be it. Fingers crossed they can keep a similar scheme in place Post 2018.   The Galactica fireworks were highly enjoyable too and made for a great end of a season. The park still has magic but it may be a little drier for the time being.    2017 seems to be another year CBeebies land add ons, with a round ride and indoor attraction being installed amongst it's own hotel.    None of the above is appealing to anyone over 6, however if it's successful let's see what happens. SW8 construction is where it all lies though.    Thorpe Park 2016 has been very divided for the park with lots of positives and negatives happening at the park this year.   The park has continued an acceptable level of  small improvements in places from updating the Amity toilet  block to refurbishing the main Burger King which is good to see. The Tidal Wave improvements also look nice.    That being said a major TLC scheme could really benefit the park as lots of park areas have been neglected for a while now, including Colossus, Rumba, Canada Creek and even Inferno (to a lesser extent).   Breakdowns have been inconsistent this year with some rides such as Stealth and Samurai suffering major lengths of downtime but other rides like Swarm, Slammer and Rush remaining generally reliable all season. Some rides of course are out of the park's control when it comes to issues, but it would be nice to see a better consistency on reliability though. Derren Brown's ghost train is where things become more complicated. The ride now offers the park with a much needed indoor/dark ride. The pre-show and live action elements (though without their faults) are the best elements of the attraction for me. Providing amusement and excitement that may controversially be the best we've seen at a UK park in the post Hex days.   The virtual reality (VR) element however I am not a massive fan of, the first section is okay but the second one feels disjointed and almost anticlimactic but that may just be the ride's reliability.  Speaking on reliability, the attraction hasn't been great, with the attraction constantly breaking down, headsets failing   and other issues. The state of the attraction last October was shocking to say the least and that's before I mention the two month plus delay. Let's hope 2017 does wonders to this ride and it can finally prove to be a solid addition instead of the embarrassing handful it seemed to be this year.    Losing Loggers this year feels like a massive blow for the park, which despite it's age was still a popular and firm favourite for people of all ages. 2017's confirmation has only dampened the doubtful reopening of this attraction further which is a shame.    Ending this on a positive, the street food and temporary outlets in Old Town were decent additions to the park's catering lineup. The chip place place proved to be great and a very quirky idea at the very least. The I'm A Celebrity improvements were also acceptable.    The kiddie rides in Old Town is a bizzare one but if they enhance the younger guest offering which the park lacks, it can't be all bad.    Chessington Right, remaining optimistic here may be a little more difficult but let's see what happens. Tomb Blaster (the park's veteran dark ride), was set for what was supposed to be a major refurbishment, giving the ride much needed TLC and restoring it into the best state in years. How wrong could we be?   The new lasers are blocky, tacky and ruin the look of the attraction and the scoring system makes no sense. And not only this but the new UV lighting (which was supposed to enhance the ride) has actually ruined this. As a result of exposing out of house areas and the metal warehouse the ride resides in.    The removal of ambient sound effects has only added insult to injury and goes to show what a shoddy refurbishment this was to begin with. The reduction in car stopping has only added to the rot as a result of the ride being less in sync.  In the contrary, the Bubbleworks was shut down forever to make way for the next revolving door IP attraction.    Whilst many will disagree here, I still had a liking for the attraction even to the end as it provided a fun ride for all ages and was an amusing experience. From the whirling fairground rides to the fountain finale.    The ride may be gone but it will always have a place in my heart. Especially my last ever ride. Where my girlfriend and I shared our first kiss in the fountain finale.  The rest of the park is still a mess. Bits of theming looking worn and neglected, Vampires station is still a mess, Falls is still naked and breakdowns seem to be happening more frequently.    Skyway was also  spited after barely surviving the last few seasons. Shame they didn't maintain or rebuild it as that would've been much better than an animatronic panda show. Glamping won't save the park either sadly.  Only good things I can say about Chessington this year are the small TLC bits were acceptable, the Smokehouse place is good and I met my girlfriend here.    2017 will be interesting to say the least with Gruffalo re-theme and new Market Square carousel. Let's see.    Legoland Windsor Despite turning 20 years old, 2016 has been a quiet one for the park, as a result of adding anything major or notable.    The Lego Movie 4D was the main new attraction this season and is a fantastic addition to the park and one of the most amusing 4D shows I've  seen. Featuring the return of many of the lovable original characters and more from the original film.  2016 also saw the Star Wars miniland extended,in the form of the Death Star occupying space previously part of the Star Wars store. The new addition is fantastic and the combination of  interactive features and vast models, makes for an excellent finale.    The Star Wars store has also been renovated as a result of the updates. The  model makers workshop has also been refurbished marking the return of the brick busts on the top floor which is really great to see again.  Whilst much of what the park has done this year, even with the opening show (it's location also resolving the terrible entrance bottleneck), one word. Farmer Joes Chicken Shack!    Theming aside this is one of the worst theme park eateries I've been too as the food tastes dull and barely edible; Was rather expensive too.   Change however is on the way for the park, with Dino safari and Loki's Labyrinth being demolished in the same year. A major Ninjago dark ride and area will replace the latter with the former becoming home to the park's second hotel featuring a castle theme.    Blackpool Pleasure Beach  The historic seaside amusement park turned 120 this year making it the oldest operating U.K. Park and one of the oldest in the world.    Apart from that, not much else really happened this year, although the new  bridge and ghost train scene are both highly acceptable additions.    The park still retains it's charm and character well amongst remaining one of the better kept UK parks.    That said, the operations over my two day visit did leave something to be desired as National and Avalanche were on one train operation over the weekend joined by the Big One on day two. However given circumstances and they're an independent park they are solely forgiven.    2018 will hopefully be the year to bring wonders here, but there's still a while yet.    Paultons Park  A place I've always wanted to visit  for a while and somewhere  I can safely say is the underdog of UK parks currently. It's not so much the big things that make paultons, but all the small touches from park tidiness, staff friendliness down to the organic feel of the place. No HB leisure or in your face upselling here.  The Lost Kingdom area has done wonders to this park and set the bar high for future investments on this upcoming park. The theming is of a high standard whilst the two coasters provide the perfect family thrill consistency amongst the other great attractions.  Paultons is definitely the park the watch in the coming years and once they bring in a decent water ride, woodie and dark ride, they will for sure be one of the best parks in the U.K. If they are not already.    Drayton Manor  Yet another place I've been longing to  tick off my check list, but past opportunities encountering misfortune resulting in me not able to visit. Maybe that's an omen? Drayton is the perhaps the blandest park I've ever visited. It lacks style, atmosphere and boasts the worst main coaster double act I've seen at a park.  With all that negativity said and done on to the positives. Thomas Land is a loverly charming park area and one of the parts with atmosphere. Their flats rides such as Apocalypse, Maelstrom and Air race are all enjoyable and the Haunting was actually an acceptable attraction too. So is Ben10. Still won't be rushing back there yet, until they add a major attraction or receive enough persuasion. Still it's been ticked off the checklist right?   Other not-so theme parky bits  Went heights of Abraham in Matlock Bath which consists of a cable car, numerous caves and ruins.The views are fantastic and the caves were intriguing to say the least, especially given one actually featured an animatronic figure (sort of).    Matlock bath is also pleasant enough with countless  fish and chip shops, independent stores and  a mediocre aquarium. It's almost like a Sea Side Town, away from the sea. With Bikers.   Thanks for reading part 1 if you managed to not get bored. Part 2 will follow shortly. Adios 
  22. Matt 236
    Several weeks into the UK theme park closed season and the urge to visit somewhere has kicked in. Rather than pay over the odds for a zoo with a Poundland grotto or illuminated bricks, I decided to return somewhere special to my heart.

    Lurking in the distance lies, a magicical place.
     

     Disneyland Paris, is that magical place.
    A place of dreams and wonders  It's certainly clear that 2016 isn't the most ideal time to be visiting with the yearly closures of Big Thunder and Star Tours amongst the hefty other attraction and area refurbishments.    As excessive the pictured refurbishments may look, they didn't have a massive impact on our enjoyment of the trip. If anything it's actually very exciting to see the park being given the TLC it deserves. The grand entrance to Disneyland Park is one of these and the staggered refurbishment has certainly polished it to an even greater level of amazement. The coloured fountains are wonder to the eyes especially at night.  It's A Small World is looking very refreshed out front with  the inside  noticeably fresher featuring improved audio. The bland warehouse ceiling remains sadly. And Space Mountain continues to be amazing, on the inside and outside.   Add Phantom Manor, Pirates, Tower, Ratatouille and Crush and you have an impressive list of attractions (amongst others).  As great as these attractions may be, even with the absence of Star Tours and Big Thunder, none of them are the fundamental reason why I visit Disney (even Tower).    I visit Disney, because it is Disney. A magical wonderland in it's own bubble, hidden away from the real world. Very few theme parks seem to offer this level of escapism like Disney do. Main Street USA is easily one of the best and grandeur entrance into a park. But at Christmas it's even better, with its facades and entraceways decorated in festive decoration with a massive tree at the bottom.   Studios's entrance is also acceptably festive. Disney is Top when it comes to parades and Christmas is no exception with the park's special festive parade. Mickey and Minnie Toy Story Seasons Greetings  The parade would not be complete without the man himself, my Grandpa. Amongst an extra special parade, festive Disney also exchanges normal Dreams for Christmas Dreams for this magic time of year. As good the show may be, I still prefer normal Dreams by a pretty big margin.   The flow didn't feel as consistent and didn't pull on the heartstrings either. I did like the finale and Let It Go segments though, they were exceptional. Main Street is even pretty at night too.   If you want a magical trip away from the real world, Disneyland Paris is the place for you. It may be undergoing a long refurbishment and be without its flaws but remains a highly magical place to visit. Little is grotty or depressing about the place.    It it is very easy to get to as well, with regular flights from Luton and Gatwick to Paris Charles De Gualle 45 minutes each way and TGV or RER from there. I'd choose the former personally as it takes less than 10 minutes each way and at €17.50 each way isn't too much.    Euro Star and Euro Tunnel (+ 2.5 hour drive) are alternatives so getting there isn't a massive challenge.    STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND BOOK YOUR TRIP!  Because you are missing out  on this very acceptable tea cup ride that makes one  the best ride sounds ever.   BOOM!  
  23. Matt 236
    2015 in summary has been one of the best years visiting theme parks myself, reaching some major milestones including visiting to major parks outside the uk [Disneyland Paris & Efteling] and my first ever coaster climb on the Swarm.

    Previously, my end of year reports have involved fully analysing the highs and lows of all the parks I've been visited that year [amongst those I almost did or had some importance]. However due to the higher amount of park's I've been lucky to visit this year [12 different parks this year compared to 6 in 2014] I have decided to compact it down in to more of a award system than complete in-depth
    analysis. This will enable me to focus mainly on the high's and lows of the year rather than review everything which might take significantly longer to do so [and perhaps be less interesting to read in the meantime].
    So here goes, a new end of year review style. Please let me know what you think and whether this method works better than the previous ones I've used [your constructive comments are always helpful]. Here goes.
    Broken Coat Hangers: The 2015 Matt Creek Awards
    Thorpe Throttle [
    Winner- Marketing Of WC16 [bypass if you don't to know anything about next year's ride [you know who you are]]
    Honourable Mentions- Neptune Touch ups, Fin's Bar,
    It hasn't been the best or easiest years for the park in 2015 [in all honesty], however the park have managed to nail down some fantastic additions, whether that be an improved bar restaurant or touch up's on one of the older park areas. What has stuck out for me however is how the park have built up promotional material for their next big bang, WC16.
    The marketing for this such ride has been done in a discrete but creative way where more is differently less. The thing I actually like about the marketing is not just the creative clues and slogans such as the 'Mind The Gap' and 'Minds Wanted' that the park have done but also the deliberate diversions and teasers they have done for this such attraction to create further speculation. Thus relating further to how all suggestions of this ride being related to Dr Who, The Big Top or even the walking dead, all that were wrong. The promo videos have also brought such intrigue from the worn steam punk look and underground twin dolls which is certainly some of the best marketing the park have done so far.
    Lets just hope the ride turns out to be just as good as this marketing and we could be on to a winner.
    Thorpe Flopper [The epitome of 2016]
    Winner- Fright Nights
    Dishonourable mentions- ride reliability, I'm A Celebrity, £60 tickets,
    Sadly Thorpe have dropped a fair share of eggs this year [not that all of it is their fault] but nonetheless as a recurring visitor throughout the years it is never great to witness. £60 for a day ticket is just too much [unless you are Disney or Universal], a new attraction with such a low throughput feels rushed, shoe horned and somewhat an afterthought and having half a dozen rides as ornaments on visits is good for nobody.
    It is Fright Nights however that gets the collar of shame though. Whilst Saw Alive & Blair Witch were somewhat better, Cabin retained it's greatness and Containment brought a unique addition to the line up [even if there is room for improvement] this years event felt somewhat underwhelming. For some reason, this year's Fright Nights seemed to lack the scare and atmosphere it had done in the past few years, whether that be due to the lower presence of Lionsgate, Tidal Wave being derelict or the fact the event just felt stale and too similar past events in the wrong ways.
    My Bloody Valentine was awful and feels too short without the hospital scene, Cabin felt stale especially since things like the revolving tunnel were still broken and the Big Top was somewhat of a big roulette. Some run throughs of the maze was fantastic and shone from the others but on others it was a mess which after queueing 2.5 hours does not leave a good impression either. Add together the concerning amount of ride closures and break downs at a time where it feels the park is somewhat struggling with guests adds only insult to injury. I counted 12 shut down rides at the end of my 2nd trip [the first Saturday] which had to be one of the worst trips to Thorpe I'd been to since 2011 when I regrettably chose to visit on a school trip day, god knows how worse it would've been without the wonderful people I went with that day too.
    So in all fairness unlike the previous two, 2015 Fright Nights in my eyes wasn't a successful event, which is a shame seeing they added two new attractions which with some altering and consistency could be fantastic, but this years event just felt weak and watery.. Even face it alone could not save it which in stark contrast, was absolutely brilliant and is the best it's ever been [though extreme it may be in some forms]. Lets hope 2016 can deliver a top level Fright Nights that the park deserves and that can complement next year's big plans.
    Merlin's Big Bang [Merlin highlight of 2015]
    Winner-Scarefest 2015
    HM's- Heartlake City,Shrek's Adventure
    Another difficult one to pick up here [mostly due to most things Merlin wise being unfortunately somewhat negative], however one that does shine out for me though is how the Uk's 'supposed' No.1 park sort of brought themselves back to knees after such a bad fall last Halloween.
    I am talking here about Alton Tower's 2015 Scarefest event, which looked absolutely fantastic this year. Given a much needed refresh with two brand new mazes, scare zones and plenty more entertainment and theming bits, Alton Towers delivered a winner on to one of their leading events showing how a UK Halloween event should be done and kicking it's siblings events to the curb at Thorpe and Chessie.
    Strongly regrettably due to a number of reasons including finding the time, work commitments and a large amount of family do's [the majority of my family have October birthdays], I never had the chance to visit Scarefest, but from the pictures and videos I have seen around, the event as a whole looked spectacular.
    Shrek almost won this award, being a highly impressive fun and interactive attraction, but keeping in mind the bus no longer works, the ticketing system is a hassle to say the least and that Shrek's peak in popularity was at least 5 years ago does suggest a slight missed opportunity here which is why Scarefest wins it [just].
    Merlin Maul [low light of Merlin in 2015]
    Winner-The Smiler Crash
    DM's, Chessington, parkwide reliability, short sighted budget cuts,
    an inevitable one here, but it's safe to say for many enthusiasts, the Smiler crash is by far the worst thing to happen for 2015, making even Chessington's dire park-wide state seem in the shadows.
    Love it or hate it, The Smiler has always been rather unreliable, from it's stop and start opening, hissy fit downtime or flying coaster wheels that one time. However what happened last summer was not just a disaster but a major catastrophe. The ride has murdered the park of all goodness and excitement it once had, seeing exciting exciting projects like the SW8 Cross Valley woodie buried underground because the operator is so OCD about success they apparently have null confidence of bringing on such an exciting challenge which would work to the park's favour. I feel sorry for those on-board who received injuries and it's a miracle no-one departed.
    It'll take sometime before the park can recover from this dreadful event and is extremely likely visitor numbers will still be noticeably lower next year to what they were in pre-2015. The park's method on getting back on to the road is also a debatable one, seeing as the park will be closed selected weekdays next year amongst no february half term or friday fireworks, which in a way seems to be the opposite of what they should be doing. This is also alongside the 'rumoured six rides being closed'.
    Lets only hope that the Air re-theme and food loop turn out to be worthwhile additions and that the Towers TLC plan brings us lots of upkeep improvements. Hopefully we could see some ageing rides given some love in the end.
    Best park of 2015
    Winner- Efteling
    HM's Disneyland Paris, Adventure Island, Blackpool
    One I am still undecided on as it was between Efteling and Disneyland Paris [two park's I adore and love]. one of the reasons Efteling won was because they have created a number of memorable immersive experience that are at or near Disney quality yet are on a smaller budget. Rides such as Baron 1898, Dutchman and Fate Morgana are just a few of a good chunk of rides that have fulfilled this request.
    However, like most good theme parks, it isn't the rides that help this place shine through, but the park's setting. The location is beautiful and with it's countless stunning water features, architecture and heavily forested setting it easily comes across as one of the most picturesque park's out there even beating Towers. The fact despite it's size you can't help but walk around fairly relaxed also helps with the park's lovely atmosphere amongst the fact you can spend 2 hours in the Fairy Tale Forest and not regret it.
    The highly impressive Aquanura show, which is the best fountain show I have witnessed amongst Polle's Kitchen, a fantastic pancake house in the centre of the park only help this park further here and without doubt, it's a park not to be missed.
    For those of you wandering why Disneyland Paris didn't win, I can safely say it was only lost by a fingernail. Whilst I adore DLP, the thing to remember here is though the park is currently going through a major refurbishment phase plus also I have found some of the food offering leaving a lot to be desired too. Whilst neither of these ruin my day, they are things to note and since I have love both these places so much, it results in me having to be extremely picky for the winner to come out strong.
    Sometimes my opinions on which is better changes frequently on which I prefer. Whilst Efteling officially won this reward, both parks should be praised and achieved for the amazing places they are and are at standards that we can at the moment only dream our home park's become almost as good as let alone as good.
    Best new ride of 2015
    Winner- Baron 1898
    HM's Sky Force
    For me there was only going to be one winner for this category and it had to be Baron 1898. Whilst the ride is a little on the short side, it makes up for it's length by implementing some of the most impressive theming outside of a Disney park ever seen, ranging from the impressive heavily articulated station building with chimney to the custom supports and cog wheel feature attached to the lift hill.
    Alongside this, the ride spectacular pre-shows, special effects, Baron animatronic and even the ride's soundtrack [which IMA score have written another masterpiece with here] have crated a champion ride which appears to have been a massive success for the park amongst giving Efteling a signature ride. Baron is further proof that by adding superior quality thematic elements, structures and theatre, you can turn an alright ride in to a great one!
    Best new cred [that isn't new]
    Winner- Tower Of Terror
    HM's Big Thunder Mountain, Flying Dutchman, Joris, Ratatouille, Pirates Of The Caribbean
    No surprises here, but when I had my first ever ride on Tower Of Terror at Disneyland Paris, I instantly fell in love with it! Tower does pretty much everything I want in a dark ride, tell a story, explain why you're there, take us on a believable adventure and concludes in a spectacular fashion.
    ​Aside from it's spectacular themed façade [which can be seen for miles away], it's all the subtle details in the queue that make me love this ride more like the card game or the cob-webbed crow statue or even the eery service corridoor which reminds me a little of Saw's queue but feels much superior in feel. A rarity of this ride is, despite it's heavily based dialogue, I find Tower highly re-ridable,something I definitely haven't found on the likes of Hex or even Villa Volta which makes it win for me. Even the shop is spectacularly themed.
    Best Coaster
    Winner-Baron 1898
    HM's Swarm, Joris, Megafobia,
    Considering I didn't get to ride Nemesis this year, it's safe to say Baron wins the award for the best coaster I have done this year. I just loved everything about the ride from it's theming and build up. I would say more, but I'll likely just be repeating myself considering Baron has also won best 2015 ride too.
    Best Dark ride
    Winner- Tower Of Terror
    HM's Fate Morgana, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Droomvlucht, Ratatouille
    I seem to treading on myself yet again here, but again for reasons explained up above it is clear Tower Of Terror is a definite winner for me here as a ride this seems to fulfill perfection. How the Americans will compare [whenver I get that opportunity to experience] will be a different matter.
    Pirates, Fate Morgana & Ratatouille to mention a few are all fantastic dark rides too which I also love and enjoy in their own way, but they cannot take down the terrificness of the Tower, at least not at the moment.
    Most underrated park
    Winner-Adventure Island
    HM's Pleasurewood Hills
    The 'so called' under dog award. This goes to park's which have done a great job during the season yet don't seem to be in the main ground. Adventure Island may not have much space and room to play with [making even Thorpe look large], but they certainly use much of this space to their advantage. This includes a handful of coasters, half decent dark ride, large selection of flats amongst other such rides.
    But it isn't just the good/creative use of space and attractions that have filled it, but the love the park receives. The ride staff here are some of the most friendly and enthusiastic ones I have ever seen, amongst the overall the love that goes in to up keeping their rides which each winter not just see's the rides stripped down but often repainted and refurbished to a level we only wish many other parks did.
    Adventure Island has never been a leading contender in the park industry, nor will it or ever try to be, but should be commended for the lovely shiny but minuscule little gem of a park it is and deserves a visit every once in while as a place that seems to have more love for their park in their fingers that others don't seem to have in their whole body.
    Most improved park
    Winner-Disneyland Paris
    HM's Blackpool, Adventure Island
    Disneyland Paris takes the reward for the most improved theme park of 2015. Whilst it's always been a magical place to visit, somepoint in the last decade the park went on a slippery slope where the park went in to some decline. This included cuts and cancellations to shows, reduced quality in food and service and rides and theming getting in to a very poor state [for Disney standards].
    Whilst the park still shone from the UK ones in it's declining years, it seems the park has finally realised how run down [for Disney] the park had become and as a result is unleashing a massive upgrade plan. This will see many attractions and areas receive the much needed updates they deserve which shall hopefully bring the resort back to the amazing standard it was in it's early years, which at the time was said to be the most beautiful.
    In 2015, there has been a sudden shift of improvement in the park, with a massive range of new shows and additions, not to mention the amazing updates throughout the park too [even It's A Small World looks lush after it's revamp].Whilst we are in for a rough ride next year, with at least six attractions [three major] closed for major refurbs, by this time in 2017, the park shall hopefully look fantastic for it's next big park anniversary. Lets hope some of our parks can follow this suite [though on a smaller scale of course].
    Best theme park show
    Winner-Disneydreams
    HM's Ravelijin, Aquanura
    Until this year, the best theme park show I had probably seen was the stunt show at Legoland. It is that statement alone which shows how much more I have been able to achieve witnessing no fewer than four shows on a grand scale.
    On another one I find remarkably hard to decided upon [with all being fantastic]. The prize here goes to the spectacular firework, fountain festival that is the wonderful Disney Dreams. This is a show that not delivers some fantastic effects and projection mapping on the park's centrepiece but is able to bring back all those childhood memories with a fantastic choice of repetoire from some of Disney's most iconic films. Numbers include Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and even Hunchback which all works perfectly to the loose Peter Pan plot line too. It is also one of the few places to belt out Disney songs and not look stupid [outside of Peaj's car].
    Aquanura is also a fantastic show don't get me wrong, and perhaps a more subtle and sophisticated dreams without screens [or as massive crowds], but it is Dreams that wins it on nostalgia alone that makes it the best show in my books.
    Worst ride
    Winner- Armageddon
    DM's Studio Tram Tour, IAC, Storm Sturge, Smiler
    From the best to the worst, and one that has a fair share of it's contenders. It is Armageddon that wins it in the end however. Whilst the actual main section is actually quite good, the ride has one of the most dull,pointless and boring pre-shows that it makes even Charlie look interesting [somehow] which is the only time for me that Disneyland Paris felt unmagical.
    Best looking 2016 attraction
    Winner- Taron-Phantasialand
    HM's WC16, Lost Kingdom, Mako, Kong, Frozen ride
    2016 looks to be one of the most exciting years we've seen for new rides for a while now, especially in the UK where we have not one, but two large projects in the works for two parks [one of which is looking to slowly appear on the main stage].
    It is however Phantasialand's next big thing that I am most excited about in 2016 however. Whilst I may be booed by some for overlooking the uk, the new massive ride they are building looks to be one of the best coasters ever built in Europe alongside thematic landscaping that hasn't been seen since the likes of Everest. Taron looks to be one crazy but amazing coaster with so much track and elements crammed in to such a modest location and should make for one beast of a ride. Lets just hope Intamin don't ruin the trains [cough cough Baco]. It's crazy to think they will be building another smaller coaster on that site too alongside upgrading River Quest.
    Whilst Taron may have won best [looking] new ride next year, it doesn't necessarily mean it will win the best 2016 attraction next year but anything can happen. Who knows, WC16 could well be a ride that is a worldwide game changer with theming that makes sense and Lost Kingdom could hold an overwhelming amount of charm. It could even be Wild Fire or Walibi's next big thing which seem to be underdogs at the moment [however it's unlikely I will be getting either of those creds next year].
    Florida also holds another exciting year [which will also be the case for 2017 & 2018] as being rides that interest lots. However I can't see me reaching the states at all next year unlike I am extremely lucky.
    Personal Acreekments
    The more personal awards, this about memories not additions of statistics.
    Most magical Creek moment [park highlight of 2015]
    Winner- Disneyland Paris [1]
    HM's, Riding megafobia in the dark on the back, Efteling in the dark, arriving at Disneyland site listening to the Mickey Mouse March
    This time last year, I was resenting the fact I still hadn't been to Disneyland Paris [especially that there at least six failed attempts and a working trip to France]. After nearly losing all hope [as seen in my random video], my wish was finally fulfilled as I was lucky to visit for the first time thanks to TPM's Peaj.
    Having my first ever visit last April with Peaj, Fish, Alex & Jaymiee, I had an amazing trip to Disneyland Paris which has to be one of the most magical trips away I've ever had and I don't think I've been so happy for some time. Whilst the winning title may seem on the vague side, I just can't decide upon a single solo moment that sticks out, due to enjoying pretty much everyone during the whole trip.
    This includes my first ever park ride [and first goes on everything], eating at Cafe Mickey, watching Dreams,the arrival at the gates alongside being joined by one of my best mates from sixth form [who lived in Paris at the time] and whom I hadn't seen for years [who thankfully got on very well with everyone]. Even the gift shops and the pre-drinking on the friday were enjoyable experiences [though arriving to Disney first thing with a slight hangover and 3 hours sleep is never a good thing].
    Whilst I have enjoyed all my Disney trips this year [I've only done two], I will always remember the first one and how 'amazing' it was.
    Creakened Creak [biggest achievement of 2015]
    Winner- Getting to Disneyland Paris
    HM's visiting Efteling, walking on Swarm
    Safe to say this is a surprising winner of course . Disneyland Paris did me a great deal of favours, not just introducing me to my first Disney and world class theme park [if you don't count Towers], but also opened the doors to a brand new era. An era that I will hopefully get to experience many more fantastic parks and new rides outside of the Uk, Efteling is an example of this. It's just amazing how many theme park gems we seem to have in Europe.
    Biggest amusment of 2015
    Winner- Peaj getting Disney cast member out of character
    HM's MOS shenanigan's, everything that happened at the Disney meet
    In what appears in the third reward running, Disneyland Paris has done it once again is the winner of the most amusing shenanigan of 2015.
    In many Disney rides, cast members don't just operate and run rides, but they portray a specific character to help build the setting and experience for guests, whether that be restaurant staff on Ratatouille or bell hoppers in Tower Of Terror. The event here, takes place on the latter where one these cast members was behaving as such portraying the mysterious and creepy bell hoppers, where it would take quite an ordeal to get that member out of character.
    That ordeal was when Peaj said how many there were in the group resulting in that cast member to go out of character and whiff due to Peaj's breath apparently . It shall not be explained why this happened, but it was very hilarious to watch and witness.
    The Bewilder reward [Matt Creek's low light of 2015]
    Winner- Choosing the worst weekend to visit Alton Towers
    DM's not getting Drayton Manor,
    The only one that could've won it for me. When I learned I could not make the official TPM Towers meet [due to work and party], I decided to plan my own trip up to Towers with a friend and myself. This trip took place on June the 6-8th.
    In what was supposed to be a very exciting and relaxed weekend, I also booked myself and friend a VIP lift walk on one of the park's main coasters. This coaster was the Smiler. Everything was all booked and ready to go, where excitement was growing by the day for my trip to the park; then the accident happened.
    ​The park closed Wednesday, then Thursday, then Friday and unsurprisingly Saturday and Sunday as well where my trip to Towers was no more. Luckily though thanks to some kind friends in the Towers area, our plans were not beaten, only badly blooded as were able to go to Blackpool instead on the Saturday whilst spending a relaxed day at the Towers hotels on the Sunday. Even then, the Big One was shut and we had to cancel our Treetop slot due to running severely behind and catching a train home. In regards to the lift hill walk, I was lucky enough to get a refund after changing it Nemesis after the accident but sending an understanding email once I knew they would be closed.
    Hopefully next year I will finally manage a proper Towers visit, even if the park is underwhelming aside from the new food restaurant [which is the only thing that I'm really excited about there currently].
    Spilt Dignity award [most embarrassing act but amusing to those watching]]
    Winner- Re-enacting the dance of thriller drunk
    HM's choosing the wrong rows in tower of terror,Fuzzy Duck, the strange six symbol, Life style of Aladdin [in the what disney character would I be game].
    The reward where I look the most idiotic but perhaps most amusing to those watching and witnessing these shenanigans.
    This reward goes to that time in Wales where after drinking several TGI cocktails and a lot of wine, Professor Drunk appeared, however whenever certain songs came on, I randomly danced around 'trying' to re-enact them. One of those was Thriller and once other of the group had arrived on the Friday another Thriller re-enactment went ahead.
    This resulted in me running round the room, slamming doors, pulling up hoods, jumping at people and then the coat hangers. The coat hangers were spontaneously picked from the side and banged together at the songs climax, however just before I dropped on to the bed at the end of the song, as a result of banging them together so hard and repeatedly one of those coat hangers broke and become dislocated.
    After awkwardly placing it back, it was safe to say our excuse from this outcome would've been re-enacting the dance to Thriller, though someone did say they didn't remember the original Thriller containing coat hangers.
    Safe to say there's been almost as many this year as last year where my Creaky dignity has gone out the window. Whether this be always going out on the wrong row on Tower Of Terror, signing a random six on the same ride [confusing the operator] or losing a simple game whilst sober, they're all pretty embarrassing but funny to look back on.
    And so ends 2015 bringing us in to a hopefully exciting 2016, a year where it will be time for Thorpe, Phantasia, Paultons and most of the Florida parks to shine. However it may not be the best of years to visit Towers, Disneyland Paris and Hollywood studios for numerous different reasons which will be the mix of building sites and derelict based on current rumours.
    What does 2016 have planned so far?
    I have several park's lined up for the list in what could be the biggest year yet. This includes a weekend trip to Liseberg which is already booked plus plans for Phantasialand and Europa Park [the latter I hope to do with TPM].
    Uk park's will likely involve Blackpool, Towers, Paultons and Dreamland whilst Thorpe Legoland and Chessington are most likely givens.
    There is more to be confirmed, which will could be anything. Drayton could finally be done, alongside a fly by to Billund Legoland and even a last trip to DLP before my pass expires [which may not be renewed until early 2017]. We shall have to see.
    Finally, I would like thank the whole of TPM for being amazing this year [and tolerating my Creakiness]. Extra thanks goes to:
    Peaj- for being a fantastic meet organiser and those Disney trips, which without I probably still wouldn't have been [and be moaning continuously of having not been].
    Myk & Shinequa, Fish and Scary Coaster Boy for giving me lifts to parks throughout the year [whom without I wouldn't have visited as many parks]
    Stretchy- for everything done that Tower[less] weekend
    Mer- for making my renewal cheaper [at this expensive time]
    Marc & Ian for running TPM
    Alex for tolerating Saw
    Plus all the mods for keeping the site safe, fun and amusing
    Happy Christmas, Here's to 2016, see you next year!
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