Matt 236

Well I guess they need to get the Smiler repair money from somewhere, The grass car park is a massive place (much bigger than I expected) it to be and I think it's becoming the main entrance slowly. £10 though for lodge is far too much and to not get it free on premium is a disappointment (plus it's a nicer entrance in to the park as well). Good job I have no plans to visit Chessington until Halloween, and when I do chances are I'll be training it!

A nice updated/brand new skyway would be nice, one that's more interactive with the altered zoo layout, higher capacity and more modern but still fits in to the park since the current ride turns 30 next year (it opened a year before the rest of the original themepark). Chessington really needs a good few seasons focusing on repairing/replacing all the rides from the park's early years, or essential,y anything that's not the zoo, market square, scorpion, wild Asia or Zufari (to a lesser extent).

Dreamland Margate has been a place that I have always been interested in for years and when I found out it would be reopening this year I knew I had to plan a visit, after all it's the nearest park to me with a woodie (with the others either being in the north, East Anglia or Wales). This is why I have decided to hold an unofficial trip/meet up there this summer to check what has been perhaps the most exciting 2015 development in the UK. This is not a meet by all means as there's no specific plans/arrangements apart from having a great time and exploring the park and possibly surrounding areas. The trip is currently scheduled for Saturday 11th July 2015, which loosely may also be my TPM birthday celebration trip too. The park's openings hours that day so far are 10am-8pm. For anyone who's interested and would like to join, feel free to comment below or any form of PM or communication you request. Further information on the park, prices and how to get there can be found on the Dreamland website. http://www.dreamland.co.uk

My next (foreseeable) visit to the park is for MOS in a month and I'm still expecting it to be closed. Saw may not reopen until August for all we know.

Ok, the results of my planning are in and just like the original haunted house application, the plan has been refused Unfortunately home authorities have stated my plans as impractical due to work Sunday and on top of the party on Saturday, there are further complications until now I wasn't aware of. Enjoy oblivion guys See you at MOS

Having chosen the worst weekend to visit Alton Towers this year, I made (yet another) Vlog from my day out there which shows there's still quite a few things you can do at the resort even when the park is closed.

I like this, this themepark queue time thing is very helpful to see what queues are like on Patk or just to see what's going on somewhere.

This surprises me greatly seeing as the ride is ten years old and was the last ride installed prior to Merlin buying the park's in 2005. However the issue does sound feesable considering in recent years the ride seems to always close during rain (I think it's another of those that can't run at night either).I think this would be the final nail in the coffin for the 'old' adventure land we knew even though that very much died in 2010 with just the surfer & Atlantis rides just left on top of the new haunted house ride (could we see another re-themed area I wonder?). If these plans are approved (which I hope they are), I can see Dino closing down at the end of this season, maybe even before the end as the hotel would involve quite a lot of ground work. Most redeveloped rides/attractions of previous years have closed in September/October time.

Unfortunately Colossus is the Nicklodeonstreak of Thorpe Patk I.E it's often on one train. Whilst Swarm is sometimes criticised for bring on one, it's much worse with Colossus and it's been on one far more this season as its been on two.

All sounds interesting stuff, however I'm still concerned of all this going ahead seeing how clogged the traffic around that can take up to hours to clear from park closing, but it's good the park trying to tackle its traffic issues despite limited resources and it's tricky area. The hotel expansion is no surprise to me at all, considering that the main hotel is always running on full capacity, the way otherMerlin parks have expanded accommodation recently (notably Chessington) plus how close proximity the expanded area is to the main hotel actually is. It's a shame we will likely be losing Dino Safari, which is a decent little ride with some great models even with its low throughput which is likely around 300 PPH and often receives long queues on busy days (being Legoland is often), but if this is the only option for the park to allow further expansions to the park, then so be it I guess. Chances are it'll be a new second hotel (castle theme), but likely joined to the other hotel like the ones in Towers & Chessington. I've heard from another source (Southparks) if true, windsor council is looking at increasing overnight accommodation in the windsor area and even though this like the other hotel will be three times more than other nearby hotels, this may well be the sweetener the park needs (if approved). The haunted house is a ride the park desperately need as it ticks all the boxes of being another immersive experience, indoor/dark ride attraction, high'ish throughput and another attraction older guests can probably enjoy. In addition to some slight amendments, I just hope this can go ahead even with the issues previously as for a park getting over 2.2 million guests a year, the council do need to realise the park is a business gold mine and is surely bringing a lot of good to the area (minus traffic). Despite being a major attraction, I don't think the attendance level will increase as much as they think as ironically the park's biggest years on growth have been in 2012 and 2014, when in one year we saw just the new Star Wars and hotel whilst last year we only saw a rethemed log flume and new play area. When the park's last big ride Atlantis opened in 2011, the attendance level was very much the same as 2010's. This purchased farm land is an interesting thing too, could we be seeing another form of accommodation in a few years time (Lego enchanted forest anyone) or maybe a second exit, to divert traffic from the main road. I just hope all this works out as its all exciting if it goes ahead.

Time to hit the bars & clubs!

Whilst the ride isnt pushing the boundary on Dive Machines, it has given a nice shove in the standard for theming rides (especially B&M's). From the highly articulated station to the lift structure which is the first kind of that theming I've ever seen in that form. Baron will likely be another great coaster at the park which will differ from the park's other coasters (even Pyphon). On a lighter note, Wikipedia suggest there will be another major ride on its way in a few years in the form of a dark ride (but that's Wikipedia though).

One things for certain, I think Paultons to an extent will be over taking Chessington next year (at least with the park's current state), it's already ahead of Legoland. I think this is the biggest investment at the park as far as I'm aware and should hopefully be a big success (I don't know whether I'm more excited about this or thorpe's dark ride ATM). Hopefully they've learned their lesson from a few years ago when it looked like Edge was going to be pulled down, however this shouldn't be a problem here since it's built on land previously occupied by former attractions.

That is looking a mighty fine area by the park there, great to see Paultons continuing to progress in leaps and bounds. This could be a UK game changer when it comes to non merlin parks pulling out major investments. A visit here will definitely be on the cards in 2016.

Basically Bubbleworks just needs an extensive overhaul. It's a great ride, but needs some 21st century treatment as the bulk of the ride is 25 years old now [could be said for the majority of the park to an extent]. updated water effects, refreshed/rebuilt scenes, new visual effects such as wall projections and even a reorchestrated version of the soundtrack [iMA anyone].

Following my [last minute] trip to Blackpool last weekend, I blogged my day out [as I usually do] which features some of the changes including the new Skyforce ride.

Grandpa time travels resulting in Maggie not being born, A fourth Simpson child?

Tbh by the way press are going, I'm expecting stories like for a good while unfortunately. On another note, according to ride times, Octonauts is currently closed.

Yes, all the coasters were running two trains except Streak. Operations seemed ok, dipper was operating well as was Infusion and Steeplechase (although that broke down during the middle of the day). Grand national was ok but they did take a while to dispatch the first train when the second returned, but I think it was like that last time anyway.

I've just stopped reading the articles as they're all just desperate for attention and to escalate things further. The only time I brought a newspaper recently was so I could claim the free Lego sets. Hopefully in 2016 the Smiler will reopen, resulting in lots of people being geoffted

Oh dear, not this again (fountain-less finale). However I think with Fury And Rattle down for the moment, they need every ride possible to remain open especially with the busy school day trips just around the corner now (hopefully a full ride line up will soon become availible as they do need it there). I just hope the long rumoured refurbishment takes place next closed season as the ride looks rather poor at the moment (before the fountains broke) and I think it's time Chessington started shifting focus again to the themepark as all the zoo now is in a great state now.

I never did Vodoo, but did Nutty Jakes before it became, Brer Rabbit (now also closed) and was a decent little train/dark ride that I remember being a bit eiry and creepy (in a good way). Speaking on which, has anyone heard any more updates on the (supposed) new Sleepy Hollow area that was supposed to be opening up and replacing the Wild West area as its gone very quiet lately, far too quiet. I think it's a shame the park has stagnated again (to an extent that it makes even Chessington look like it's been heavily developed). I was hoping by seeing how things in 2013 were looking this was going to be the big turn around for the park, but it looks like it would appear not.

I think this could be the best themed B&M, all these neat little touches make this ride look fantastic.

Sounds a fantastic list of park updates, hopefully the park will retain its appearance from its golden early days and look good as new again. I wonder when we will see Midway Mania arrive at WDS?