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Bumper Update on the Europa front. The reimagined Scandinavia area is expected to reopen on the 24th May. However, one of surprises of this area is not only will it House a new attraction but a new dark ride. The new attraction will be called Snorri Touren and will be located in the basement of the Scandinavian street. It is currently unknown what kind of vehicles the ride will use yet. It is expected to open around Autumn. Speaking on dark rides, the park have designated part of Deutsche Alley to showcase some previews of Pirates In Batavia 2.0. This preview showcases depicts models, concept art and even a model/animatronic that will feature inside the reworked attraction. The attraction is expected to open in 2020 (likely Autumn onwards). Spectacular stuff from Europa, who are proving to be a world class attraction that continues to improve their product offering and never stand still.

I actually looked this up to see if Paultons was actually 30KM from Thorpe. Was disappointing to say the least it was much further, but no surprises I guess. Still a quirky piece of advertising. I can feel the burn more than an over cooked Pizza.

Zadra is looking great so far. Glad to see Europe is starting to open up some more RMCs now. Just hope this one is now structurally sound, given what has happened. Maybe I will visit next year? Energylandia seems to be one of the fastest growing parks of Europe (if the fastest) and I look forward to seeing what they produce. Their new stuff seems to be tenfold over what has been plonked down in their early years.

Can’t say I’m the biggest fan of the tower roof, but there have definitely been worser cosmetic atrocities in the theme park world recently. Least the Wuze, Klugheim and Mamba updates look much better. The “strongly rumoured” demolition project looks like it has been delayed by a year, which makes sense with Rookburgh’s delays. Maybe Temple will be the next to go after all? But I get the impression Geister is next, as the park may build a major dark ride/indoor attraction when they flatten that whole complex eventually.

Don’t know why but just found the attraction underwhelming for some reason. But yes the presentation wasn’t great. Quite possibly, and of course everyone makes mistakes, especially when they are new to a job. @terrortomb can back me up on things there though. I get that with the suicide thing, but it was more an observation that most of them did not look very happy there. Naturally my patience was going to be worse-so as a result of being stuck on the M25 for several hours and resultingly arriving halfway through the day to a half-occupied ticket centre with a long queue.

Those trains look sublime!

That advert was so corny it made Love Island look authentic! Right, so I actually visited the park yesterday because it’s now back and open for another year. The dome looks both better and worse with the theming gone. Sure it was looking a little dated, but gave more character to the place. Whilst they are ‘’supposedly’’ doing it in phases, I will believe it when I see it as Merlin have a tendency to abandon stuff after Phase 1 because of funds and the managing team not being there. Nemesis Inferno didn’t look as clean as one would like and it’s a shame p, especially with their videos ‘’supposedly’’ saying it was. Shame they ran out of paint on the bridge. Least the operations seemed noticeably better and the ride experience excellent. Colossus does not look much better with it’s ever rusty paint scheme and the hideous looking concrete where there used to be water. Least it should maybe help with upkeep and reliability I suppose. The old theme being back is nice! Swarm somewhat looks the worse now which is shocking for the park’s newest coaster (7 years? Blimey). Even more theming has been removed (and not replaced) and whatever is left of the station building looks poorly maintained. By next season who’s to say all the station theming is removed leaving just an empty metal structure? Rumba Rapids just seemed tedious and less enjoyable compared to previous visits. Nothing really interesting seems to happen with the attraction now and the capacity seemed much worse than normal, probably because they are refitting the boats. The paint work they did just a couple years back looks dreadful and lots of the old colours are noticeable. Staff were hit and miss. Some were lovely and friendly, whilst others less-so and msybe didn’t know what they were doing, can’t say I blame them with how well they are treated. The ticket girl was useless (as it took 15 minutes to sort a pass ticket) and she had to ask two TLs/managers before actually sorting our ticket. Most of them looked unhappy tbh. I did not eat at the park and brought lunch (meal out after), but heard many say the food this year wasn’t as good. Fins had a limited menu, Pizza and Pasta noticeably less tasty and Wilderness not being anygood at all. The car park was just as awful too! The Old Town area just looks a right dump with it’s abandoned rides, rundown buildings and garish clashing kids rides plonked into the corner. I honestly just wish the park would redevelop the area whilst somewhat keeping Rocky, which is the only draw to the area now. Right onto more positive things. The Walking Dead Ride was great and loved the addition of animatronics at the end of the ride and live actors. Saw looked more refreshed and aesthetically is probably the best looking coaster, ironic for a horror theme. The Tidal Wave Area looks nicer, but the ommitted shortcut bridge is disappointing. The Coke Freestyle is great and makes me happy to see at the park. At £10 (£8 for pass holders) it’s acceptable value especially when you can fill it up several times from anything from cherry coke to Fanta fruit punch! So not a brilliant day, but not terrible either. Some of the smaller things seemed better, but the bigger things not so much. There was still a feel of the ‘’Classic Thorpe problems” despite 90% of the staff/management changing in the last few years, but I guess Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Please keep me on it Just wanted to try promote the thread

Meh, you can’t polish a turd! Maybe it’s a short-term fix due to Rookburgh’s delays, especially knowing that one of their weakest attractions is on the chopping block! I still find it contradictory given that Phantasialand had previously mentioned they didn’t intend to use any VR on their attractions.

I’m sure I can make this. Room on the list? Please.

Thanks guys for another fun meet, even if I didn’t get there until half way through the day (stupid congested motorways)! Was a fun filled day, seeing new faces, old faces and people I haven’t seen for ages. Massive thanks to @Mattgwise for organising this. Will probably see you all next at Chessington!

It’s not a case of “if I visit”, it’s “when”. Of all the parks in the UK right now, Paultons are one who deserve your money the most!

With the exception of Paultons, Blackpool and the smaller/further parks from home, I generally visit the UK parks just to see and catch-up with mates. I’m slowly visiting more parks (especially outside Europe) and try to rotate Phantasialand, Efteling, Liseberg and Europa so I am visiting at least one of them a year!

Well, I got to experience Room On The Broom last week. I particularly liked the scenery, effects, animatronics and retaining of (most of) the old mirror maze. The dog scene is my favourite (because it features a dog) and the opening scene has it’s charms. What I don’t like about the attraction though is that it seems to take noticeably longer than Hocus Pocus to batch people through with smaller groups and some scenes seem a little corny. The queue line also seems too long and bland for what is essentially a cattle pen on a mish-mash Of Old tiles. The repurposed tunnel is probably the worst thing the park have done since Tomb Blaster. Overall- Not a bad little attraction with some nice scenes and areas, but not without it’s faults. It can’t help but also be noted it’s a noticeably more kiddified too. Gave Dirty Fries a go, which is their new eatery. Whilst it’s not the best place I have eaten for food, it was still a unique and interesting place to try. Rest of the park was alright, staff were good and with the park being ‘literally dead’, there was little to no queues all day. Apart from the new Go Karts thing, queue TVs and Just Chicken, I didn’t really notice many other changes. I guess most of the money went into the Walkthrough given it is a small year. Four rides were shut on the day of vidit, Ramesis, Tiger, Sea Storm and Black Bucaneer. Whilst safety and checks and upgrades are essentially, it’s rather poor to witness this. Merlin don’t seem to have a good track record for opening things on time clearly. Yay for better Vampire audio quality.

The marketing from park so far has been some of the best we have seen in the U.K. for a while. Very interesting to see the park adding some more thrill attractions, however I’m sure they will still remain a family based park as places like Plopsaland, Efteling and Europa are all family parks, yet still have thrill attractions.

What a lovely shade of brown they used. I’m so glad they decided to paint it up instead of replace the theming they used to have. Who needs that anyway. Who needs updated theming when you can just tear it out!

It makes me sad how they could’ve just spent the money on making the concrete tunnel actually looking pretty. Now we probably have a bland tunnel and “many more” years of complaints about it for the rest of time!

Best thing to happen at the park since I can remember!

Wouldn’t be surprised if we see Rumba on limited boats during the first few weeks/months of season. I suppose if it’s actually open that should be an achievement.

Very exciting updates here, especially considering this attraction and area could even surpass Taron for size. The thing I’m intrigued to see is whether Geister or the Temple complex have survived demolition. Perhaps both given Rookburgh’s likely delays. Guess we will have to wait wait and see until the 1st April arrives.

Visited Legoland yesterday, which was actually my first park of 2019, here’s what I have to report. The Good: Opening show bought an uplifting vibe to the park and countdown until opening (more parks should do this) Majority Of staff seemed helpful and friendly Park was surprisingly quiet (maybe the quietest I have seen), 6 rides on Dragon and two rides on Bosting School (which I has never happened before) Park was clean and tidy (in most areas) This year, the park has invested a noticeable amount of time and resources, refreshing park areas, most look much better. Refreshing to see. Also got an evac off Ninjago, fun times! The Bad £10.50 for Burger Kitchen (£8.40 approx for a mediocre burger at Burger Kitchen is very pricey if you ask me. I’ve had worse but better too. Ninjago is already seeing lots of wear and tear which is Pretty bad for a nearly new ride! Some of the animatronics in Fairy Tale Brook we’re not working The Ugly The front of the Haunted house looks decent. It’s a shame about the warehouse at the back though. Whilst I understand it is in a fairly central location, more definitely could have been done to help blend in the eyesore at the back. Shrubbery, theming landscaping etc. One just needs to look at Phantom Msnor or even Duel to see av’properly’ concealed ride building. I think the entrance could have been better too. The Dragon is one of the rides that helped me got into theme parks. Whilst the front of the ride is looking noticeably better, The sane can’t be said for the rest. This year has seen the back path area rebuilt, however not featuring the former viewing area. This is a massive shame as it used to give great views of the second half of the ride, not to mention people could spectate whilst their family and friends were on the ride. This is adds up to the growing list of features of items that have been “removed but not replaced” including the castle chandeliers, turret theming and old tree. Pirate Falls, Viking Rapids, Raft Racers and Sky Rider were closed all day. Whilst I don’t know the reasons as to why, I really hope it is not as a result of budget cuts. Poor show if it is. beside these thorns, I still had an acceptable day.

Definitely better than last year’s map, but I think those logos for GameFX and Bouncezilla aren’t big or clear enough really!

So with VR gone, I guess we can finally say it is Lost In Space!

Good to see some ‘potentially’ more optimistic outlooks on this park. Diskos On May be simple attractions, but it should prove a worthwhile staple to them amongst another flat ride as well. If Bounce comes back, that will be a nice move too, especially considering it was going to be ripped out!

This shall definitely be an interesting update. Phantasialand- We have many challenges when it comes to expansions Grona Lund- Hold my beer! Judging from the map, I’m guessing the buildings demolished housed former eateries and storage spaces, which I presume have been relocated whilst this mammoth construction is underway. Perhaps they will only be able to build outside operating hours?