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Matt 236

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Posts posted by Matt 236

  1. 19 hours ago, JoshC. said:

    This was difficult and probably would change order.

    Legendia I visited 6 years ago, and I hear the park isn't as good as it was then. So that may change.

    I'd be interested to go back to Liseberg and see how I feel about it; I just didn't vibe with it when I visited 7 years ago.

     

    I’ve been to Legendia twice, in 2021 and 2023.

     

    It was  definitely a park with charms and a stunning flagship coaster, however the park seemed rundown with a number of attractions either looking on their last legs or SBNO. We were actually evac’d from the twin looping coaster on our front trip as the chain snapped. 
     

    I mean Liseberg is nice, I like their flume ride, Balder is incredible and the rest of the ride lineup is generally staple. I stayed in the Grand Curiosa hotel during its opening with the ECC and consider it one of the nicest park hotels I’ve done so far. The Oceana water park looks promising too.

  2. Coaster Studios listed their top 25 European parks. Here’s mine:

     

    1/ Europa Park

    2/ Phantasialand 

    3/ Energylandia 

    4/ Disneyland Paris 

    5/ Parc Asterix 

    6/ Alton Towers 

    7/ Liseberg 

    8/ Tivoli Gardens 

    9/ Efteling 

    10/ Thorpe Park 

    11/ Tover Land

    12/ Blackpool Pleasure Beach 

    13/ Legoland Billund 

    14/ Paultons Park 

    15/ Plopsa  Land 

    16/ Chessington 

    17/ Hellendoorn

    18/ Drayton Manor 

    19/ Legoland Windsor 

    20/ Great Yarmouth PB

    21/ De Wasrbeck 

    22/ Flamingo Land 

    23/ Tivoli World Spain (now infamously abandoned) 

    24/ Bakken

    25/ Oakwood 

     

    Should probably try and visit a few more there. But long haul is more of a priority right now. 
     

    I won’t be updating my dark ride list yet, but can safely say Pirates In Batavia 2 is arguably the best dark ride I’ve experienced outside of a Disney or universal park. It’s incredible!

  3. Very excited to hear about lots of these updates. Very much needed for the park and something which should have been done years ago. 
     

    A lot of the U.K. parks have been way behind many in Europe and America, when it comes to upkeep and presentation. But this is a strong start indeed. Would be nice if this was a regular thing rather than just an odd number of seasons. 

  4. Another one for the Port Aventura club. 
     

    It has been six years since my first (and only) visit. With other trip priorities and the park’s countless operational faults, I’m still not overly convinced to return yet. Even with Uncharted. 
     

    Oakwood is another one, 8 years so far. More likely to return there. 
     

    It’s been almost 5 years since I did Mingo & LWV. The latter I doubt I’ll ever visit again. 

  5. It might aesthetically look the best it has in over a decade, but Chessington is fundamentally broken.

     

    Most of the new rides built and supplied by cheap manufacturers, with low throughputs and regular break downs. Mandrill might be the best investment in years, but it’s still a weird choice given other options. Not helped either by Merlin’s extreme & unnecessary safety reactions, making what’s already a questionable throughput dire.

     

    The rest of the park is still the same story. Old/ageing rides struggling to operate on lower throughputs and increasing breakdowns. Tiger Rock & Dragons Fury were down frequently during the day. Tomb is an absolute mess. 
     

    Howl’oween was generally fun (albeit no Creepy Caves) with some excellent shows and entertainment, but seriously needs to go back to 8pm as you basically get half an hour of atmospheric park lighting and everything. 
     

    Management, car parks, queue distribution, infastructure, F&B and so much more is keeping this park from being something great. Like I’m sure it was a long long time ago. However most of the above is unlikely to be improved soon, if ever.

  6. Can see more rides having compulsory lockers and metal detectors before boarding the ride. Universal and Cedar Fair parks do this, as does Hyperion at Energylandia. 
     

    Closing the baggage room wasn’t a great choice, as besides saving money on 1 minimum wage 19 year old, it reduces confidence of guests leaving personal items incase of theft.

  7. I await with mixed emotions on this new proposed logo.

     

    Am actually a fan of the existing logo, the infinity loops really encapsulated what the park was and didn’t seem too dated. 
     

    However change is imminent and I guess the old logo has run its course.

  8. Whatever happens to Scorpion, there is no way they would source parts from Europa’s Alpen Express. Because that ride is even older than Scorpion and we don’t even know what Europa are doing with it yet. No to mention different companies. 
     

    The park could benefit from another major coaster and some supporting attractions in-between. In a few years, some rides including Scorpion will be 40 years old.

  9. Rumba is a 1987 Intamin rapids (modified 2002) and Vikings was a 2007 ABC one. 
     

    Doubtful that much (if anything) could be recycled on this attraction or anything similar. Ironic though an attraction half its age has been decommissioned though. 

  10. Given half the park is seemingly on its last legs, that’s a substantial amount of attractions that could be on the chopping block. However as others have mentioned the park urgently need as much capacity as possible because the throughput of most of their new rides is embarrassing TBH. 
     

    hard to know what’s next for the park, but can see Mexicana being a potential redevelopment area. Just made to think more than a decade ago, they had three attractions that could manage around 1000 PPH. Nowadays 500 PPH seems high for them which is embarrassing.

  11. I love Alton Towers, but must admit that yesterday was one of the most underwhelming visits I’ve had in recent memory.

     

    Aside from light crowds and no Nemesis, there was no real atmosphere or lively vibe like previous ones, even with the apparent ongoing Octoberfest event. The park looks rundown in a number of places (especially X-Sector) and the staff were probably the most miserable I’ve ever seen them. Which probably explains the current managing Operations there. 
     

    No Hex & Skyride was definitely noticeable, especially as the group would’ve appreciated less walking. Not to mention we basically completed the park around 2pm (without rushing). Having Sub-Terra back, somewhat helped a little. Though not spectacular, it WW a fun experience and hilarious seeing the reactions of those around not knowing what to expect. 
     

    Also stayed in the Enchanted Forest, which was nice for what it was. But I certainly wouldn’t pay the high season I’ve seen from time to time. Convenient location. 
     

    Whilst I doubt all the creases will ever be ironed, hopefully having Nemy back in 24 will help boost the lineup, maybe with those other mothballed rides. Maybe. Retro squad has outstayed its welcome. Think I’ll bail on Scarefest and fireworks this year.

     

    Nemy 2 is looking visually stunning I must say though.

  12. Having just visited on my first low peak visit in years, I can safely say the following.

     

    Vampire (like mentioned) was running two trains, but only loading most of 1. Several rows were left empty at the back, probably either due to train momentum or RAP queue. It broke down permanently for the rest of the day.

     

    Dragons Fury opened late, but was spinning like mad. Zufari and Croc drop were closed all day, Rattlesnake seemed to only run one train on the track at a time. The water was working on Monkey Swinger. The state of the snake theming in Jumanji was just appalling. 

     

    Though an enjoyable day was had, the pitfalls of the park and its current operating model were highly visible and certainly detracted in some ways. My non-enthusiast mates I went with, also noticed these. Unsurprisingly there is still no update on Scorpion, but I assume the news of its closure is imminent now.

     

     

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