Matt 236

Wow! Macky goodness there.

The chances of there being a 'no cameras or recording equipment' rule on this attraction are equivalent to this ride having fastrack. AKA it's going to happen. On the positive side, it'll mean the ride's experience shall be in tact.

TBH I can't see the lasers disappearing from this ride, as long as it's known as Tomb Blaster. Chances are when that day comes, it'll probably mark the end of not just ride, but the whole system too (including the ride building too perhaps). This year will be an interesting year for dark rides (at least in the uk) with Thorpe's next investment which could really change the UK industrie's attitude to dark rides if the ride is both a success in marketing and experience. This could result in other parks investing in their own new dark rides to try and reflect similar success and this isn't completely fenced off to Merlin parks either.

Count me in! Yay, new paint, Tomb 2.0, BBQ food & the rest!

Also think it's safe to say, with the 800k budget, new laser, audio and ride system (amongst visual improvements) Tomb most likely has at least 5 years now. I'm interested to see what the next moves at the park will be after this, considering the zoo will be all updated then and what's happening on the ride front as well.

Looks fairly promising stuff that a lot of work seems to be happening on their (original) tired dark ride. Depending on the work level. It hopefully looks to be in the best state it's been in for at least 10 years. Good to see the park give some love to their old (main attractions) like this Vampire and to a lesser extent Bubbleworks & Fury. At the cost of skyway, there seems to be some hope left.

Literally buzzing for this! Definitely count me in. might do another day at the park (date pending) if anyone's interested.

I like it, looks very different from what we've seen so far (yay for no OTSR's). Anyone know when this one is expected to open yet?

In all fairness, it is quite close to the nearby town and in order to try and keep relations with local residents sound [which I'm sure is the case with the vast majority]. Whilst there may be a light noticeable increase to other rides, the good thing about Europa is, the place is regarded as the best park for throughputs in not just Europe, but the whole world. A queue equivalent to 90 minutes on Saw, would be around 30 minutes at Europa.

I was referring to most Intamin restraints in general, as they aren't as comftable as restraints on coasters by the likes of B&M, Mack or even Vekoma [on their newer designs at least]. Hopefully Taron will have a restraint system that makes for a comftable ride and won't detract the experience. The factor Indy & Colossus use the same restraint type is probably a coincidence. Rita's restraints aren't all that great either and I expect it's the same for the likes of Baco & Tornado as well. The restraints on the 10 looper at Cinecitta are an improvement to say the least, but I'm sure there is still room for improvement.

Dark ride systems potentially Dynamic Attractions = B&M Mack = Mack Sally Corp = Intamin Simworks= Gerstlsuer Vekoma = Vekoma I've probably missed at least one major dark ride builder here.

As long as they are not like the restraints on Colossus,Indy and most Intamins we should be okay. Mack style restraints would be nice though.

I think Alton just want to get the guests back, but if marketing is doing correctly it'll Towers down.

I'm your camera man!

Silver Star also can't operate beyond 8pm either as a result of its location. Rest of the park is unaffected as I'm aware.

Yeah, looking at the map it does seem those rides mentioned above do sound a little out of place in their current forms, so theming them up would be great to see. Assuming next year will be a smaller year (seeing the medium-large investments we've seen) theming the Cobra Edge area to something on the lines of recent themes (but different) would be nice. I'd like to see their next big thing after Lost Kingdom maybe be either a small, but decent dark ride or a family wooden coaster. The Go karts could make for an ideal location, or even the compact Flume ride which I expect is also starting to look out of place in contrast to the recent upgrades.

A surprising but wonderful announcement there. Very happy to see Celia joining the team and I look forward to seeing her exciting contributions to meets in the near future. Speaking on meets, all of them have been fantastic in their own unique ways developing from strength to strength and getting better each year seeing the memories, running and attendance numbers increase upon each year. Taking these in to account (especially the latter), the need to grow the meet org. team is definitely a crucial one, especially as receiving attendances up to 40 sometimes. If anyone needs an extra hand at meets, I'm willing to help out where necessary. Whether that be things like navigating split groups (if the group splits) or simply minor things too. 2015 was a great year for meets, let's make 2016 an even greater one!

Really liking how Paultons is starting to become of the leading theme parks in the Uzk, especially since they now have several definitive areas (Lost Kingdom, Peppa Pig & Critter Creek). They're on track to be the Uk's best family park.

They will have the fastest in Europe too. The ride is expected to reach speeds of over 110mph. The ride will be around 370ft so will definitely be Europe's tallest, which is currently held by Shamhala at 250ft (followed by Silver Star & The Big One.

PortAventura World? That'll take a bit of getting used to, but I guess it makes sense now with there being a 2nd gate opening next year. Ferrari World looks decent. Like the look of the Vibrant thrilling rides alongside the characteristic entrance way which I'm glad they used a style similar to the main park. With the massive launch coaster, it make me question how long Baco has left especially with the problems it's been having lately.

I like these, I like these a lot. One of the best bits of Merch the park have done for a while.

I love seeing B&M's being close together. I also love purple and light blue track. The next addition after Mako by the way will be some form of dark ride. Mako sure looks to be another great coaster in the east coast and I hope it helps Sea World considering visitor numbers are still falling.

I for one am quite excited for the addition. It'll hopefully be an exciting experience not to mention the largest dark ride we've received since Valhalla too. For the amount being spent, whilst I doubt it'll be a TOT or POTC, I am hoping it will be a fantastic unique and immersive experience and give us something fresh and new not just in Thorpe and Merlin, but the UK park industry. Whilst the name leaves something to be desired IMHO, I guess it seems similar to the names of other Derren Brown projects. For example, Apocalypse and Push To The Edge did exactly what they did on the tin, and it seems to be this is going for that ideal too. The simplistic name on another silver lining may help promote the ride easier as well, which if it is a success could hopefully lead to a new generation of dark rides in other uk parks. The rundown building reminds a bit of a cross between Baron 1898 and some of Universal's buildings in Diagon Alley and whilst it's not really a patch on either, it has to be one of the nicest buildings Merlin have produced yet.

Mind The Track

According to Chessington Buzz, news has been released in to what's to come for the 2016. The good: Alongside Vampire's repainted entrance, Tomb Blaster is apparently receiving a massive update/refurbishment. Abdab? Pandemonium will be going where the Reindeers are (which will be relocated). The Bad, Skyway Safari is set to be removed completely with the whole ride gone by main season. The area the ride was located will be occupied by lockers (shame the area will be rather disused).