Matt 236

Not going to lie, but Legoland used to be such a charming and whimsical place to visit. It’s pretty hard to imagine that now but it definitely was once upon a time. I first visited around 1997 time and remember the park had more curious things to see and do, whether that be the Amazing Mazes (three different themed Mazes), the Magic Theatre and Explorers Institute (which were so imaginative for what they were) and the ‘original’ Pirate Falls. The park landscaping used to be so immaculate with hidden pathways, models and things to discover at every corner and more well kept than what is there now. I think the Dragon was one of those attractions that got me interested in theme parks and attractions, so much attention to detail and creativity. They definitely thought about most things there. It was somewhere around the mid noughties when the park started to lose it’s charm, either just before or after the Lego group sold it’s (full) ownership of the park. Attractions were plonked down more with less care of architecture, landscaping and cohesion. The charming gems gradually chiselled out with more noisy, ‘flash in the pan’, generic and commercialised features. The landscaping and pathways aren’t as pretty as they used to be with older pathways either cheaply re-routed or abruptly stopping. Un-themed ride buildings and exposed “out of house” areas are also more common. I understand Legoland is a little strapped for space, but they could at least do more by theming up warehouses and planting more trees and shrubbery around these areas. Not everything they are doing now is bad, but they could definitely be doing more.

Even in the mid noughties the sound quality in the station still seemed better than what it was. Yes, I’m not afraid to admit I missed Chessington’s golden days by at least six years. From what hat I heard last time I visited (March time), the audio quality was definitely an improvement but I know the park can do even better. Then again, it’s safe to say 90% of Vampire’s station just needs a complete overhaul and restoration.

More digging in this thread from when Alton Towers built Oblivion. Still not gonna lie, but two months into the season with Buccaneer still off is a fair amount of time. Must be running into the ground then! Adventure Island’s new flat ride looks acceptable by the way

Not gonna lie but will definitely miss Bob. Sure it’s not my favourite Efteling coaster, but definitely still a fun ride. We will have to wait wait and see with Max and Moritz, but as long as it retains the Efteling goodness (especially from recent years) then I’m perfectly sure it will still be a fun and worthwhile addition. Efteling probably thought long and hard about Bob’s future and given they rarely remove attractions, it must’ve been untenable to keep the ride operating in a healthy and reliable position. I still wonder how this expansion can still happen. Fingers crossed they have a way.

I get the impression we won’t see a major addition I.E major coaster added this side of 2022. Thorpe once received the lion’s share of investment through the late Tussauds and early Merlin days. However in the last few years this is definitely the case. Through a combination of wasted/short sighted investments and Merlin clutching more from their pursestrings, the next few years look bleak. We might see some small touch ups and events, but I’ll count my lucky stars if I see a new ride soon, let alone a coaster! The last decade was exciting, optimistic and prosperous, but for the next decade I only see doom and gloom for the park, unless they receive miraculous guest increases. When Merlin said they were reducing theme park capex for the coming years, they were basically saying Thorpe will receive minimal investment because it is the least successful park.

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.