Matt 236

Fingers crossed the Ultimate may actually again one day and the park has a future compared to Livingston Leisure running the place into the ground!

So despite being in no major rush to return after my first visit, five years later and I went back! Apocalypse was great aside from only 2/5 towers working. Will be criminal if this gets removed! Adventure Cove area looks great and should be even better when everything there has opened. Park very busy and did have some kind of atmosphere for certain. Not sure when I’ll be back but it was a very mixed one.

Very disappointed in Merlin doing this. Because they’ve just plagiarised Universal from when they opposed the Skyplex being built in Orlando.

I’m so glad they are finally getting their “long awaited” expansion. Efteling is one of my favourite European parks and hopefully they can broaden the lineup whilst retaining their charm and character that’s been largely prominent in their 69 years of existence.

I mean it does,but on average at around 10 mph, maybe 20 on a good day.

On a positive note, it’s different and great to be pushing more towards events outside of Halloween which should have always been a thing. Even “regional” American parks do non Halloween events. I remember seeing food stands and the like at Cedar Point on one of my visits.

I think the change to Tiny Truckers is an improvement, because it teaches the kids what the M25 is realistically like when to drive on.

Interesting development, especially after the construction of Monster. Grona are acing real life RCT scenarios.

Here’s a POV for the ride if anyone’s interested. Watch if you dare, or avoid if you don’t want spoilers. Ride looks ok, maybe better than expected. It’s better than Charlie, especially when you consider how small it is but obviously not blockbuster level. New area looks alright, but areas come across as looking flat or perhaps unimaginative. It’s better than the last few years, but still looked the best during its early Cloud Cuckoo years.

I think there’s a lot of family thrill coasters that would actually suit the park. Including (but not limited to the following): 1/ Gerst family launch similar to Pegasus/Fire Chaser Express 2/ GCI woodie, more akin to Heidi the ride (maybe Wickerman) 3/ Vekoma “next gen” so like Lech/Aqualantis but maybe less intense 4/ Mack launch like Slinky Dog Dash 5/ That “family focused” RMC concept We will just have to see I guess.

So if this area is going to Amazon themed, does that mean I’m going to have to subscribe to prime?

I’m honestly glad the park is developing a new area and coaster, but I’m not gonna lie it would be concerning and even disappointing if the selected model was just a junior boomerang. Chessington seriously need a people mover (not Disney) in terms of throughput. Once upon a time, several rides could reach or surpass 1000 PPH whereas nowadays they are lucky to reach 500. And that’s before half of that is given to fastrack and RAP pass.

This might still be in the testing phase, but the pacing so far seems a very mixed bag.

Wow! This topic has 69 pages! The video didn’t give away anything.

Still looks awesome. Intawin!

So last weekend, I got round to my first Towers trip this year. Here’s how it went: Park was pretty busy, so 8pm closures are definitely warranted, even if numbers trickle down from mid afternoon. With queues exceeding over an hour often. presentation was a mixed bag, with some areas such as Towers Street looking great but others needing work. A jetwash would help. Operations were a mixed bag (likely due to restrictions). Wickermans we’re amongst the best with Nemy perhaps being the worst. However they were batching outside the station building. Indoor attractions were closed as expected. The Retrosquad rides definitely give Towers much needed support attractions, even if they look a little out of place. They are certainly fun additions to the lineup. Mixtape was probably my favourite, although I really liked Funk N Fly too. I didn’t get chance to try Roller Disco. Social distancing around the park was ok, with staff wardens etc. But still some room for improvement I guess. Just a few pics. Don’t Stop Believing!

I like the look of that new coaster, and I really like the name. So glad they are theming their new additions more though!

Chessingtons intentions of adding another coaster is excellent and welcoming news. Here’s hoping it goes ahead. The addition is definitely critical at this park now as it’s ageing headliners are starting to struggle with reliability and also they are falling behind the awesome Paultons Park in many ways. So they must compete. Something like Pegasus Express at Parc Asterix, De Vlieglande Hollander at Efteling or even a small wooden coaster would be appropriate additions IMO. Also something with a throughput of 1000+ PPH would be much welcomed, given how of leading rides are lucky to reach half of that. Let alone surpass.

Ouch, that looks horrifying! Waiting that long is more painful than the ride.

Thought I might chip in: 1/ Magma is better than Croc Drop, because I consider it to have better theming and a more thrilling cycle 2/ Veloceraptor is the best junior boomerang (having done Raik & Accelerator) 3/ Flight Of The Pterosaur is the best coaster at Paultons park.

Today, myself and others made our way to the park to check out the new area. Here’s just some of my thoughts. Tornado Springs is a lovely area and really adds another dimension to an already great park. It’s must be amongst the best areas I’ve seen in recent years. Storm Chaser is a lovely fun coaster with a very reasonable throughput, Cyclonator is surprisingly thrilling, the drop towers are fun and the tractor ride pleasant. Rest of the area further compliments this. Rest of the park still great and surprisingly busy. The comparison of newer areas to the likes of where Cobra and the Flume are located is remarkable. Hopefully they’ll sort those next. All in all great park to see if you can. And worth the longer drive compared to say Chessington. A few photos.

**David Attenborough has entered the thread**

So me and others went to the island today for a little early season park trip. Like a number of parks, there’s been a noticeable amount of TLC around numerous park areas, from the truck at the front, Dome and Tidal Wave changes. Most of which is a noticeable improvement. park operations were generally positive especially for early season, although the park were “Swarmed” (pun intended) with a certain clientele known to break the rules a little! The B&Ms and Stealth were great as always, Saw was rideable and Colossus was poor. Thorpe has a lot of creases to iron out, but it was just lovely to be back at another park. Especially with the lovely weather. To add, audio at the park was the best it’s been in years too!

That is indeed a great problem that must be managed and has only continued to spiral out of control. In many cases like yesterday, the RAP queue has been equal or greater than the main queue. I do think the U.K culture has (further) mutated into one where there is an expectation or entitlement. When seeing the guest services queue, almost all were queuing for a RAP Pass. And this precisely why it’s become such an “ albatross around their neck” situation where they are doomed if they do and doomed if they don’t! If they don’t do anything this will probably continue for the forseable future. However if they do, there will obviously be hefty backlash and “certain” newspapers really milking this cow with headlines like “Theme Park Eliminates disabled queuing”. All just to push the stir and of course, click bait! Someone once criticised the system on a social media post and was verbally pulled apart like a pack of wolves. That same part of society who “WANT TO SPEAK WITH THE MANAGER” when they’ve been overcharged by 10p are responsible for this. Now let’s get to this. Not every disability is visible. And some may look fine until such circumstances. The issue isn’t with this, but putting in a system where something like RAP must be seen as an option for people who are can’t use the main queue, as opposed to won’t! The latter seems increasingly common with people taking advantage and essentially using this as some sort of “free fastrack”. It is also these people that will likely scream the loudest if the system ever had a significant shake up.

Right. So Wisey & myself took a little trip to Chessington today, which would be our first trip and park visit of the year. To Sum Up: Park is the best it’s looked in years, from areas such as Mexicana and Land Of The Dragons receiving noticeable touch ups Park Audio was rather messy and untidy in several places, maybe there’s issue All key eating places were open, although the surprise lack of outdoor seating was a little disappointing Majority of staff were friendly enough, although there were some issues with one or two Blue Barnacle is alright, least they replaced Buccaneer Zufari has interesting amendments Park operations left room for improvement, with rides stacking and breaking down often. Maybe these are start of season glitches but they still need addressing. RAP needs sorting because it’s getting a bit out of hand now! The park definitely warrants 7pm close, was very busy today! Finally tried Croc Drop too. It’s a nice enough addition and looks visually pleasing (from the front). Nothing ground breaking but fun all round.