Matt 236

Everyone has different opinions on different parks and attractions. I guess that is what makes enthusiasts interesting as long as it doesn’t result in anyone fighting to the death or receiving a permanent ban! I personally love Helix, due to it’s combination of elements, lush surroundings and that exit out of the station. Sure it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but it’s my european number one for a reason! Anyways back on subject, my turn! 1/ Some park’s benefit from theming more than others depending on the style of the park. 2/ Some parks should stick to themed music and others to commercial music. Some benefit from combining both. 3/ Maverick is better than Taron (only slightly but it’s still better) 4/ Millennium Force is better than Shambhala 5/ Icon is better than Blue Fire 6/ Stealth is better than Red Force 7/ U.K. Mcdonalds do better breakfasts than American ones

Those poor guests, not being rescued by staff in their Safari car park! Poster looks alright though.

Thirteen is definitely one of the better rides at Towers. Sure it’s marketing campaign was misleading but it’s a fun ride for both ‘adventurous families’ and thrill seekers and generally has the most enjoyment and surprise from overall riders. I like about everything from thie. Coaster, from it’s gothic queue and station, doen to the surprise drop and backwards section. Heck, even it’s pre-station mini launch is more than acceptable. It’s still the park’s most successful attraction too. Unlucky? I think not!

Well you can’t say it’s not flying up. Thats a lot of track there! Phantasialand seem to be on track for the park with the best coaster quality in Europe.

There has to be some pretty good reason if Big Top isn’t to return this year. *snaps fingers*

West Coast Racers looks the most exciting addition by far, but those comfort collars are a very strange addition. Max Force does not look to bad either. Looks like SFMM are well and truly the world’s Coaster capital now. At least until Energylandia probably beat that in a few years.

Top Thrill Dragster is definitely the best launch for acceleration, it’s just amazing. Stealth’s launch is still good though. Maverick is definitely my favourite launch for pace and momentum, it’s so surprising but great at the same time. Taron’s second launch is an honourable mention too! Thirteen’s pre-station return launch is strangely satisfying too.

QTop 10 B&M’s 1/ Shambhala 2/ Nemesis 3/ Raptor 4/ Rougarou 5/ Inferno 6/ Gate Keeper 7/ Black Mamba 8/ Swarm 9/ Valravn 10/ Silver Star Intamin/ 1/ Maverick 2/ Taron 3/ Millennium Force 4/ TopThrill Dragster 5/ Furious Baco 6/ Stealth 7/ Red Force 8/ Thirteen 9/ Wicked Twister 10/ Kanonen (if it still counts) Wooden Coasters 1/ Wodan 2/ Joris 3/ Wickerman 4/ Balder 5/ Megafobia 6/ Stampida 7/ Grand National 8/ Blue Streak 9/ Big Dipper 10/ Tomahawk

I’ll go (with the flow)

At the moment I can do the latter two as I’m not working those days. The first one is less likely at the moment.

I second much of the above. Steel Vengeance is a world class coaster which packs airtime (both ejector and floater), hangtime, Force and duration as an experience. Some may argue it lacks theming and experience but it’s actually there if you look close enough! Each train even has it’s own dispatch announcements. Cedar Point really is a park worth visiting if you are into thrilling rides (especially coasters) which packs what is arguably the best coaster collection in the world. There are many lovely areas too to wander around too. Full review soon. P.S Dinosaurs Alive and Witches Wheel close 3rd September.

It has been a long one coming,but after a park like no other it is finally time to update some top 10’s. Roller Coasters: 1/ Steel Vengeance 2/ Helix 3/ Maverick 4/ Taron 5/ Millennium Force 6/ Shambhala 7/ Wodan 8/ Nemesis 9/ Raptor 10/ Icon Parks visited: 1/ Europa Park 2/ Cedar Point 3/ Efteling 4/ Phantasialand 5/ Disneyland Paris 6/ Liseberg 7/ Port Aventura 8/ Blackpool Pleasure Beach 9/ Alton Towers 10/ Thorpe Park Some of you may be shocked and surprised by my choices here, but I can reassure you there is methods In these conclusions. Everything in a park from location, styling, selection and character is analysed amongst what kind of park it may be. Not every park needs tonnes of thrilling rides or magical theming and details everywhere, they are all different and would be a dull world if they weren’t. The differences between my top two perhaps elaborate this. And finally, Cedar Point Coasters ranked from top to bottom (most were ridden at least twice): 1/ Steel Vengeance 2/ Maverick 3/ Millennium Force 4/ Raptor 5/ Rougarou 6/ Top Thrill Dragster 7/ Gate Keeper 8/ Valravn 9/ Magnum XL 10/ Gemini 11/ Wicked Twister 12/ Blue Streak 13/ Corkscrew 14/ Iron Dragon 15/ Cedar Creek Mine (the irony), Wilderrness Run and Woodstock Express were not ridden.

I guess one thing to remember is last year the park did start their Fright Night events one week earlier. If this remains the case they have a little longer to get things ready. It’s difficult to say what this year’s event will hold but I’ll almost guarantee Living Nightmare and Saw will return, given their pre-FN operations. I would be surprised if Big Top didn’t return, given it’s popularity but we shall see.

Creepy Caves was by far the best attraction in the lineup last year so it’s great to have it back. I expect Trick Or Treat will perhaps still be very similar albeit with some slight but noticeable differences.

I’m calling fake news there!

Thorpe gaining Ramesis Revenge would be a poor idea. should the unlikely day ever arrive they actually install one, it should be one of those floorless models like Talocan. Throw in some fire too and you not only have an even better ride but a U.K. first too! Other flat suggestions could include, a Loke gyro swing and Poly P spinner. Just ideas though.

More accommodation then? Thats exactly what the park needs over better hours, F&B, Entertainments and support rides. Three accommodation expansions in five years is certainly not enough! They are not the biggest rooms in the world, but I’m sure they are better than nothing!

I would like to welcome Matt as the new meet organiser. I am sure he will do a Wise job there. I will do everything in my power to attend both those meets above.

Definitely an improvement on the original version. The first advert barely promoted this as a coaster. The re-editing and inclusion of ride shots is definitely an advantage here.

Canada’s Wonderland is perhaps the biggest and most famous theme park in Canada, who are part of the Cedar Fair Group. In 2019 the park will be opening Yukon Striker, their brand new dive coaster which will become the longest in the world. Valravn at Cedar Point currently holds that title. Promotional video and animated POV Not sure on the name or the second half, but there are some interesting elements in the ride’s layout. The drop going under the water which interacts with their swinging coaster Vortex, is probably my favourite looking part of the ride.

The recent confirmation of Merlin turning 43 million in the first half of 2018 is deeply concerning, especially when you consider the size of the corporation. Whilst park numbers being up nearly 10% seems a positive/good news at first glance, I am not so sure. The attractions have been pushing/promoting cheap season passes, potentially meaning the parks still aren’t making much/enough money to be deemed successful. I hate to see the comsequences but can expect further budgets on operations, investments and more, just so they try and recover quick turnovers. The parks already have enough areas closed/mothballed and that’s on a peak day, let alone an off peak.

Having ridden Vampire yesterday, I certainly didn’t find it too rough or comfortable, although I think rows, weight and time of day may be contributing factors. I just wish they were able to return/restore the chandelier lights. They used to help so much with the atmosphere of the station. However now it just looks like a terribly lit school disco and will probably continue to do so for the forseable future. Restoration of the original soundtrack would be nice too whilst they are at it.

Finally got round to visiting a Love Island late and apart from the very unfortunate power cut it was generally an enjoyable night. Managed several night rides on Swarm, Stealth and Saw There were a few breakdowns However they usually can’t be helped Operations were particularly good on Stealth and Swarm Tidal Wave was on three boats which was great to see The Love Island activaties seemed more popular than expected The Park was neither busy or quiet, but had a good balance between the two I personally think Thorpe has a better atmosphere during the evening/night but that might be me. I hope they continue more of these events in the future as evening/nights openings are definitely a good thing in U.K. parks, even if the majority of joe public arrive and leave between 10-6pm. Also got round to trying Sticky Sisters, nothing amazing really and quite expensive for what you get. The chips on the other hand are delicious!

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Whatever replaces it is better than nothing.