Matt 236

Great to see the park seeing so much investment over the last few years especially given the hit and miss selection at present. This ride should be interesting and hopefully better than the former Ice Age dark ride which looked hilariously bad.

It has been five years since I last visited this quirky little place and quite a lot has changed for better and worse. With a horrible virus still at large and more countries on the quarantine list, I probably won’t be going abroad for a while so staycation it is. But is it all worth it? New for 2019 the park added Axis, a flat ride which is like an afterburner but goes over the top (360) giving an intense but unique experience. It’s easily the best flat ride and probably one of the best in the park. And for those wondering, yes they did move Dragons Claw into a new location (R.I.P Scorpion). Adventure Ville is one of two dark rides at the park which opened in 2016 on the former Goldmine site (R.I.P). It’s quite a fun yet charming and slightly cheesy attraction as you essentially get two laps around numerous settings , once in day time and once at night. The light settings change to reflect this. A catchy upbeat soundtrack accompanies the attraction. Areas remind me of the Bubbleworks a little but that’s probably just me. The other dark ride is Over The Hill 2: Spooksville (they like the word ville), the poor sequel to the ride’s Predecessors having opened in 2017. I managed to do the original Over Hill and thought It was generally great. Unfortunately I can’t quite say the same right now. Don’t get me wrong there are greater ride travesties out there, but honestly what were management thinking? Gone are the mysterious vibes and effects, including the nifty “fake station” effect towards the end of the ride. All of this replaced replaced with cheaper effects and “cardboard cutout” characters and a non existent story. Not the worst dark ride but still quite the downgrade from the original. Least the music was good and they’ve reused some of the original props too. Still a better ride than DBGT! Adventure Inside does what it says on the tin and is an indoor area featuring a few rides, play areas and other amenities. It may not be original but least it gives them a place to keep open all year round (non-covid). They also updated the Crooked House at somepoint wity new figures and effects. It’s ok I guess but least it ain’t Spooksville bad. Bar a few removals/replacements, most other rides remain very much as before. Rage looks great and still rides relatively well too, unlike it’s torturous cousin on the M25. Shame it went to one train at the end. Green-scream is still remarkably enjoyable So is Barnstorm (that last helix goes a little crazy) Kiddie Kosta is meh though and I don’t like the name! Mini Mighty Mega on the other hand is something. It’s got its moments but is generally bumpy, rattly and feels like it might fall apart at any given moment. A one lapper unlike its amigos. The other rides are ok too. A decently themed chair swing, some fun (yet wet) watersides and a classic whip are just some of them. Time Machine however is just absolutely crazy and abit like a cross between a NASA training machine and a washing cycle. Was unique though given it was made in house. And I felt like I’d time travelled given the way the park was generally operated and managed. Adventure Island is a decent enough park for the space and ride selection, however theres one complaint I must make and for once it’s not about the over hyperactive staff they usually have. The park’s covid measures (or therefore lack of). Whilst they had markers, sanitizer stations and (some) cleaning, more could be done. A lot more! No one at all followed social distancing and few (if any) wore masks in fully loaded vehicles. No temperature checks or entry enforcement either. You wouldn’t think there was a massive pandemic whilst visiting! Come here if you dare! But maybe wait until the pandemic is over!

Visited the park yesterday and despite Covid was perhaps the busiest I’ve ever seen the place! Although distancing and regular break downs didn’t help. Managed just six rides in eight hours so not the best. However they did extend close upto 7pm which rarely happens at the park. Covid measures were hit and miss. Some worked well, others didn’t as some people weren’t following this. Some pathways and areas were impossible to do so due to the giant queues. Managed to try Tomb Blaster 3.0 and it’s quite a mixed bag. The lighting in some places seems better but is largely ruined in places due to fan systems exposing natural light. The audio isn’t easy to hear in places and makes capturing the story trickier than it should be. The park clearly tried to make an ailing dark ride a shoe-string budget blockbuster but didn’t quite work out that way. Still a better ride than DBGT. Didn’t try the new/updated Rainforest attractions but they looked ok for what they are aiming for.

I think I know who the culprit is. Hopefully they will get it up and running soon though.

One of the main issues which likely prevents TWD from currently reopening is it’s “two to a row“ rule, which makes loading solo or odd numbered guests on the ride impossible without breaching social distancing measures. The rule came in a few years ago and given how safety stringent Merlin are these days it is unlikely to change unless the vehicles are modified to enable this again.

Sounds an amazing ride and I hope one day to ride this (maybe next year).

Indeed and it’s great to see this happening besides the new stuff. One however though just has to compare something like Zadra/Aqualantis to that horrible looking wild mouse with OTSR (why though?) which is probably one of the worst attractions there. The park probably has one of the brightest futures around. And is high up on my bucket list once this horrible virus is done.

It’s great to see the park’s newer investments being given better theming and styling. Most attractions pre-Hyperion pretty much look like they’ve just been plonked down on any available land in a RCT type fashion. Aqualantis does look great.

The Union Jack trains has clearly been inspired by Blackpool. I'm sure it’ll have an applicable name, given this park has rides called Zoom and Hero. Wouldn’t be surprised if they just call it 10 looping coaster, which is something you’d normally see in RCT.

Well it looks like they missed the target!

Guess one could describe this as ground breaking! Ok! I’ll leave now. That building behind could do with some work though!

Unless there’s redesign, the use of vest restraints is unfortunately imminent. Strangely I find some better than others, like those on Valkyria and Fenix, whereas those on Banshee and Valravn are simply awful. It’s quite surprising really that whilst most manufacturers such as Mack and Intamin have progressed with better restraints over the years, B&M’s have potentially taken a bit of a step backwards, but that’s just my opinion. I'm still curious to see how such a ride will fit into such a densely compact and landlocked park. Think Grona has it more difficult than Phantasialand as far as expansion is concerned.

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.

Got stuck on Bubbleworks where we were literally the last boat before the station so couldn’t get off. No evac either. Got stuck on Swarm’s breakrun for a little while during a breakdown. No evac again although I’ve been up Swarm’s lifthill during a coaster climb experience. Shut down on De Vlieglande Hollander on the break run(recurring theme?). Again no evac. Stuck on Helix’s brake run. Mr Fish was on the train behind and got some kind of evac, so I’m very jealous there. Now some more interesting ones: Stuck on Ninjago ride at Legoland, evac’d off from final scene with the help of steps from vehicle. Evac’d from the Dragon brake run at Legoland As a result of working for Thorpe, I have assisted with breakdowns and evacs on rides including Rumba, Storm Surge and Tidal Wave.

Congrats on hitting 200 creds. I know I’m a couple of new coasters off that, which is a great milestone indeed. Park looks alright.

On the positive side, at least the park has been saved from closure especially amidst one of the most challenging times in the attraction industry to date. The Loopings group don’t appear to invest often in new attractions, but hopefully we might see some new attractions here given how many how shuttered over the years bar Thomas Land.

Zeus is an interesting one. I still liked it but came off feeling a little underwhelmed because it just seemed to lack something compared to the likes of Wodan, Troy, etc. Oziris is pure class though and maybe even underrated. I found Gouderix rough on both my rides, which were during the start of my day. Having read the review, I get the impression you like water rides! They do have some great ones there too. Shame the madhouse wasn’t running properly as it is usually a great attraction. However given things currently that’s understandable sadly. L’Aerolaf sounds unique and I always wondered what it was when I went. The ommitance of a major dark ride is definitely noticeable. They used to have a ghost train called Transdemonium, but they removed it last year and use it’s space for winter events. Hopefully they can open a new one after the coaster is built. Good to see the park doing a reasonably good job with handling things and definitely consider the place underrated in many ways.

Pirates in Batavia (2.0) opened today at the park. Press photos below Looks stunning. A POV of the attraction. The effort into updating and restoring a former much-loved attraction is simply remarkable, let alone rebuilding something on this scale in just two years. Amazing!

One of the issues with the Swarm is unlike most rides, it’s in an area of the park by itself (bar toilets and a (currently closed) shop. The location feels strangely out of the way especially as layouts go, however that would’ve probably been rectified if the park followed the MTDP. The Swarm (though not immediately) is definitely amongst the more popular and well received attractions at the park. I think it’s “supposed” failure (by Merlin standards) is perhaps down to not only some confusing marketing, but the overall disappointing 2012 season attraction-wide. The olympics That year were expected to bring in large crowds/tourism, but the opposite happened likely down to fears of this happening. Towers also much lower figures. Camelot shut down as a result.

Shame neither park seemed great, the redeeming features look interesting.

Yesterday was my first Thorpe visit of the year and park trip post lockdown. The park’s covid measures were a mixed bag with temperature checks, staff and announcements enforcing social distancing in queues and places along with sanitiser being available on most rides. However there is definitely room for improvement as the spots on the floor haven’t got the best placements and have already faded in just a couple of weeks. I also think the park need to try and enforce people to walk one way on the sides of main pathways and place more protector in queuelines. Guest social distancing wasn’t great. On a side note operations were generally ok on most attractions with Stealth and the two B&Ms performing excellently. Saw was still torturous and Quantum a bit of a disappointment only doing two top hits on it’s cycle. The shops used a-basket system to determine numbers where you were given a basket when you entered and would return it to be cleaned when you left. The Saw, Swarm, Derren and Flock shops were closed along with some eateries. It was great to be back at the park after longer than usual,but there was certainly a strange and maybe slightly underwhelming atmosphere. This could be as a result of the extra safety measures and yet some places feeling like a normal park day or that the park felt empty in some ways. The park looks and feels tired and rundown in many areas and for some reason feels even more noticeable than previous visits. Whilst some cosmetic changes have been done, these don’t really feel enough and almost seem like a token gesture just for the sake of upkeep. In spite of these things it was great to be back at my first (post-lockdown) park trip and hopefully not my last!

Well that escalated quickly. First drop looks great, hopefully the rest of the ride will follow-suite.

I wouldn’t say Smiler is the worst name, far from it when you have attraction names such as Raj’s Bouncy Bottom Burp or Derren Brown’s Ghost Train. The name Croc Drop isn’t particularly inspiring either band comes across as one of the blandest names created. Sounds more like a confectionary product then a ride IMO. I think the names of Merlin’s attractions have always been hit and miss over years with some better than others. Blue Barnacle is probably one of the better ones in recent years for sure. Smiler on another level definitely needs some TLC as it looks the most delapidated of the seven main coasters.

Don’t think I’ve heard of this place but it looks surprisingly decent with some of their attractions and theming there. Soquet are certainly a bizarre manufacturer it seems. Shame on the sea view, but the BBQ place sounds pleasant enough.

Thorpe experienced an ambitious and significant amount of investment and expansion during the 2000’s which carried on until around 2012 (or less-so 2016). Realistically it was unviable to continue this level of expansion as Thorpe were going to run out of space if kept at the level they were, so a slow down was going to be inevitable, even if the one we’ve received is more of a stop! This is also the issue you have the park’s two previous major investments have been deemed unsuccessful from a corporation that expects return from investment. The park’s marketing and direction is another problem, over the years the park has constantly changed branding and marketing. One year they’ll appeal to families and then thrill seekers the next, before trying to appeal to all ages the year after before repeating this all again. Thorpe lacks a definitive brand point where parks such as Towers and Chessington are seemingly better at let alone others. Off years haven’t been used particularly effectively at the park as rather than refurbishing and cleaning up delapidated areas they’ve blown it on cheap and tacky unpopular experiences such as I’m a Celeb/Jungle Escape. So many areas of the park look rundown and the ratio of horror attractions only worsens this. There have been some efforts to refresh small areas of the park, but these have resulted in a one step forwards three back scenario. Where features/theming have been removed and not replaced leaving an even weaker impression, e.g The Dome. The park have a way to go in terms of restoring and getting back on the road again. But given the current positions both financially and operationally, that will probably never happen.