Matt 236
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Posts posted by Matt 236
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I think one of the issues with Towers is definitely its sufficient lack of support/additional attractions.
As main rides go, the park is fine and holds what is arguably one of the best coaster collections of any European park.
However, what does Towers really have once you deduct the big 6/7 coasters? A couple of mid-scale family coasters, 2 substantial dark rides and two water rides. Oh and Beeb land.
When you look at most notable European parks, they are either full of substantial attractions. Be it the numerous support/hidden wonders in Europa, the support rides at Phantasia or the fairy tale forest of Efteling. Yes.
Even Thorpe & Chessington are theoretically better in this position given one has a zoo and the other has numerous (ageing) flat rides.
Towers needs something to fill in these voids, but I’m not holding my breath.
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So, I went back to the Parisian Disney Resort.
Almost 6 years since my last visit, some things have changed whilst others have remained the same.
Both parks were very lively (but not necessarily super busy) during half term week and seemed to feature a lovely atmosphere throughout. On both days Studios closed at 21:00 and the main park at 22:00, making for some excellent opening hours.
Besides some refurbishments around the entrance/Disney hotel, (asbestos filled) Small World and other patches around, the park looked great. Maybe better kept than Magic Kingdom (if I’m honest). The 30th celebration show was a delight and I adore the logo, which is a masterpiece! The parade seemed the same as before as did the main nighttime show, which has grown on me from last time, but I still consider dreams better.
As much as WDW is the better resort, Paris generally has the best classics, whether it be the tragic mysterious Phantom Manor, the grander arrangement of POTC or the more magnificent Big Thunder ride variant. Space Mountain needs to lose the Star Wars overlay now IMO.
Studios is a strange one as some of the park feels the same, but others unrecognisable. The changes to TOT make the ride feel more unique, but still can’t decide whether I like them. Avengers Campus looks more refreshed from the former mish-mash before but feels hit and miss. I liked the Avengers coaster more than I was expecting but still miss RNRC. Webslingers is perhaps the blandest attraction done by Disney, even if the shooting element is fun. Cars Road trip was alright, but feels weird how out of the way it feels from the rest of the park.
The new nighttime show was largely enjoyable eventhough I’m not the biggest superhero fan and it meant basically closing half the park an hour beforehand.
In contrary to the parks feeling more alive, the Disney Village felt dead and lifeless with no atmosphere at all. The former buildings of Planet Hollywood, Ludwig’s, Cafe Mickey and more all closed and derelict. No atmosphere at all even with the remaining open units. Crowded House’s Don’t dream It’s Over playing whilst passing really summed up the sorry state of this area, which is literally being ripped away from what it once was.
As much as I prefer WDW, I can’t help but have a soft spot for this resort, even after all this time. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. I have a soft spot even now for DLRP because it started a whole revolution of park visiting and trips back on my first visit.
- pluk and Martin Doyle
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List is subject to everything. Mostly finance and time off work.
Uk wise, will probably visit most/all Merlin parks. Chessington is a must and Thorpe park is imminent no doubt. Might visit Paultons and maybe Blackpool as well.
In terms of abroad, got Disneyland Paris coming up later this month and a trip to Liseberg probably too. Hoping to get the Madrid parks done for that new Batman coaster and also visit Stockholm & Finland too, to mop out the parks there.
Energylandia will probably resurface some point in the year along with Phantasialand for winter perhaps. Belgium, Garda and Heide are longshots but we shall see. Might do some more non-park trips too. Nothing long haul this year I expect.
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Urgggh.
We know not much about this silly retheme. All we know is that it will be spooky themed and it will probably be better than Derren Beowns Ghost Train. Need I say more.right.
- Marley and Trooper Looper
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They certainly should.
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7 hours ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:
@Exodus Matt technically the Dungeons are not part Of The World Of David Williams. There’s an entrance portal and fences separating the areas. As for Cookoo Cars Driving School I think it could be gone by the start of the 2023. Due to the heavily speculated rumours last year I think Cookoo Cars Driving School could relocate to CBeebies land. At the very least Cookoo Cars Driving School could be rethemed to a David Williams book. A retheme wouldn’t cost much compared to the refurbishment of Duel,reopening of Nemesis Sub Terra and the retrack of Nemesis. Arguably it would be easier to retheme Cookoo Cars Driving School than building attractions from the ground up as Andy’s Dinosaur Dig and Hey Dugees Adventure Bage were. Even removing Cookoo Cars Driving School completely would be better than having a tiny bit of Cloud Cookoo Land incorporated into The World Of David Williams.
Finally I think the Burger Kitchen adjacent to the Alton Towers Dungeons should be halved as half restaurant and half shop. Imagine the profits that could be generated from selling Dungeons merchandise in a designated shop.
Yeah, well the thing with the Dungeon is where exactly is it actually part of? Dark Forest? David Williams? The outer edge of the universe? It’s any ones guess really given it’s just there in part of its own misshapen area. CATCF was part of Cloud Cuckoo, until its fated post-Smiler mothballing.
I don’t see anything happening to the driving school, not with three substantial investment plans underway in the next few years, but I could be wrong. And if anything happens before 2025 maybe they’ll just close and mothball it, like they did in 2016.
The David Williams area just wasn’t really thought up well and feels very half-baked.
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I think it’ll be a good few years before we see anything substantial happen to this area and even then, I’m not holding my breath.
Problem is that each rehash of the area just seems to have been done on the cheap without adding anything original and if anything eradicating further charm from the place. Cloud Cuckoo wasn’t perfect, but at least it felt more consistent than what we have now. A stringy Williams area next door to an upcharge dark Dungeon with a bit of Cloud Cuckoo residue stuck on the side.
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Not gonna lie, training it to the park is not as straight forward as some places such as Efteling and Phantasialand. But it is doable if you know what you’re doing and don’t go on the express.
You can get a bus to Basel railway station and then get connecting trains to Offenbach, then Ringsheim. Then get the park shuttle bus from there. But that may have changed from when I did it a few years ago.
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40 minutes ago, TPGG said:
Hi guyyys,
I'm planning a 3 or 4 day trip to Europa in April and wanted to see what the best options were from people's experience in terms of accom and ticketing options. The on site hotels look very expensive from what I've seen so far - are they worth it?
I’ve only ever stayed off-site, but there are plenty of options throughout the village of Rust. Ranging from hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses. Most of which are 15 minutes or less walking distance from the park. Sites like booking.com and Expedia are worth looking at.
M with tickets they usually sell them as one or two day tickets.
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I guess the difference between the first two is that at least worthy replacements are on the way for those. Now back to The Ultimate.
I experienced the attraction twice in 2019 in my first (and probably last) visit to the place. It was a unique ride, in both pacing and location but certainly not with its faults. It was rough, bumpy and what must’ve been the world’s slowest lift hills. The park was almost deserted then (bar a few school trips).
Its demise and planned demolition is no surprise at all, because it was seemingly reaching the end of its serviceable life without a substantial hardware upgrade, which could’ve happened I guess. Had funds been there. Covid like many things maybe fastracked this by a few years.
A new woodlands development is certainly an inferior replacement.
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It’s definitely a creek massacre.
I look forward to watching things progress.
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I’m pretty sure one of those names didn’t derive from a coaster in another park.
Interesting names for sure.
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Why does that funny promo image remind me of something? 🤔
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Things I might like to see:
More dramatic dispatch sequence- lights change, theme music, nemesis voice
return of the red waterfall, through revised system to stop the leaking problem
train lights
homage to the original track
That is all. No silly pre-show because that would just ruin the throughput and not really add to the experience.
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Well, who knows what the park is going to replace it with? Could be a small round ride, could be another coaster. Could be a B&M for all we know.
But ones thing for sure, it won’t be an ageing flat ride from a Merlin park or Drayton.
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Yeah, I don’t think it’s coming back.
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The logo is fine if I’m honest. Maybe fine pick it in some places but nothing extremely drastic.
The track record of recent logo redesigns in U.K. parks in recent years has been mostly disappointing. Drayton and Light-water’s for example are bland and characterless, unlike their previous designs.
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I CALL BINGO!
Chessington is anyones guess at this moment in time, but what we know for sure is that we are getting Jumanji (which according to the press is a whole theme park) and the ‘proposed’ water park.
I don’t see Tomb Blaster (2.1) getting a retheme or replacement for at least several years, but I could be spectacularly wrong. There’s a better chance of Alton Towers buying Apocalypse to replace Enterprise, than there is of Thorpe reopening Rocky!
Lets be honest, Scorpion is probably at the end of its life, but that’s not to say they will get rid of it immediately. After all, there are still some older powered coasters still running.
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I miss Orlando already.
Top 10 Theme Park Restaurants:
1/ Mythos-Islands Of Adventure
2/ Via Napoli-Epcot
3/ Yak & Yeti-AnimalKingdom
4/ Rutmoores Tavern- Phantasialand
5/ Polle’s Kitchen- Efteling
6/ Lombards- Universal Studios
7/ Toothsome’s Emporium, Universal Orlando
8/ Silver Lake Saloon, Europa
9/ Lisebergbanen Restaurant, Liseberg
10/ Mel’s Diner, Paultons
Orlando blog coming up.
- Martin Doyle and Matt N
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Massive shake up time for my top 10’s
Coasters:
1/ Steel Vengeance
2/ Veloci-coaster (IOA)
3/ Zadra
4/ Mako
5/ Iron Gwazi
6/ Taron
7/ Oziris
8/ Hyperion
9/ Nemesis
10/ Wodan
Dark Rides:
1/ Tower Of Terror (WDW HS)
2/ Rise Of The Resistance (WDW HS)
3/ Forbidden Journey
4/ Symbolica
5/ Amazing Adventures Of Spiderman
6/ Pirates Of The Caribbean (DLRP)
7/ Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
8/ Avatar Flight Of Passage
9/ Fata Morgana (Efteling)
10/ Dinosaur
Water Rides:
1/ Chiapas
2/ Popeye IOA
3/ Splash Mountain
4/ JP River Adventure
5/ River Quest
6/ De Vlieglande Hollander
7/ Fjord Rafting
8/ Tidal Wave
9/ Kali River Rapids
10/ Journey To Atlantis
Parks:
1/ Europa Park
2/ Universal Orlando
3/ Cedar Point
4/ Animal Kingdom
5/ Phantasialand
6/ Energylandia
7/ Hollywood Studios
8/ Epcot
9/ Efteling
10/ Alton Towers
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Right, so went to Fright Nights 22 last weekend. Here’s my thoughts.
Survival Games/
Something of an original idea, especially with the “game show” type element. One of the better mazes this year, especially with the cage thing at the start and multiple routes inside.
Creek Freek/
Still my favourite, the actors were on form when we went and the props and setting help too. Going to miss this maze.
Trailers/
I enjoyed it, but it just seems to be missing something now, especially since the newness has worn off. Wasn’t awful but just not my favourite now.
Deaths Door/
An interesting and unique concept, given the actors go in/out of doors, but could maybe be implemented better in the future. If it returns.
Meakin Meadow/
Enjoyable, but the second route just feels like it’s been bolted on for the sake of it. It feels like you miss more of the action that way.
Amity high/
Fun, lively, musical. Makes a nice break from the mazes indeed.
I didn’t get chance to do the terminal or legacy. If they return next year maybe I’ll give them a go.
I do enjoy Fright Nights, but as always the usual criticisms arise, better lighting, music balance (why isn’t it as good now) and other bits and bobs. I really think they should revert back to 10pm closings, at least for some days because 9 doesn’t feel like there’s enough time to take in the action or do night rides.
Thorpe Park 2023
in General Discussion
Posted
Thing is though are there any UK parks that be solidly called a two day park if you excuse breakdowns and poor operations?
Thorpe to an extent may be on the better leg of this currently because nothing seems to warrant more than a long days visit currently.