Matt 236

Yep, because Wicker Man should’ve clearly been operating in cold snow temperatures. Some things do happen from time time to time resulting in things not going as smoothly as they could be. Mack are indeed reliable at the best of times.

Thanks for the feedback. I think the tram behind this development have mostly done a good job, especially considering 2018 is probably a lower investment year for the park. The ride definitely needed something doing to it as the overall state was appalling. It’s great to see areas such as the station, tunnel interior and main drop looking refreshed and full of life. Just wish they would’ve themed up the tunnel’s exterior and lift two, but guess we can’t have it all. Just need to see the rest of the park improved now.

Well, at least they are getting there, but I’m skeptic on this being ready for June time. August may be realistic. It’s actually a shame the park has struggled so much with landscaping for this coaster. The area’s water table (likely with being near a harbour) may well be responsible here. As difficult a dark ride may be to implement within a park fairly tight on space, it’s not all impossible. Areas around where the giant arcade and mirror maze could be some potential locations amongst others. As good Hotel Gaston is, it can’t really hold out as the park’s only real indoor attraction. Here’s a clip of that former dark ride. You can clearly see how much of a great loss it actually is. At least the facade was quite nice. Surely. Ok I’ll go.

The minimum age to work at Chessington/ Merlin parks is 16 years old. For operators this is 18 years old. If you like Theme parks, dealing with the gp and working mostly outdoors, this may be a job worth considering. You can search for jobs on Merlin’s career website which can be found Here.

Certainly something worthy of good news. This unexpected announcement suggests last Saturday’s late opening was a success which is great to see at the park. The Sunday also looks like it’s gained an extra hour too, which is nice.

Chessington. It is arguably one of the most iconic and notable tourist attractions in the United Kingdom and naturally enriched in facts and history. Opening it’s doors in 1931, Chessington Zoo was born and was once the largest private zoo in England as a result. Years passed by and Pearsons brought up the zoo. When the 1980’s arrived, the zoo was believed to be in decline and Tussauds (part of Pearsons) had the challenge of rejuvenating the attraction to a new generation. Special effects designer John Wardley was one of the key people working on this project, which would transform the failing attraction into one of first proper theme parks in the U.K. In 1987, the attraction reopened as Chessington and was believed to be successful. Built on a relatively low budget, some of the park’s attractions included the powered coaster Runaway Train, cult classic dark ride ‘The Fifth Dimension’ and tradition logflume, Dragon River. It is the latter we shall focus on here (with good reasons to follow). During it’s early years, the Dragon River was richly themed, from it’s giant Buddha, Dragon tunnel and rock work, which dominated the ride’s lifthills and surrounding area. It’s Asian architectural design and landscaping perhaps once regarded the ride as one of most richly themed attractions out there. Some say the water was even dyed once to further enhance it’s then mystic theme. Years later it would became renamed as Dragon Falls. (Above) The ride during days of past when theming was complete. N.B not my photo (Theme Uk) As the years passed, the theme park continued to grow and progress, however Dragon Falls through time became neglected and poorly looked after. In 2005, a large proportion of theming and rockwork was removed but not replaced, leaving the second lift and other surrounding areas to be exposed and naked from their former theming. By the time 2013 further theming was removed, including the rock faces on the main drop and remaining rock work on lift one. Once again, these were not replaced, likely down to being condemned and sufficient budgets not being provided. Around this time, the ride was threadbare of theming on the most part, with the once grand drop area looking like this: Compared to what it had once been, the general state of the ride was bleak, empty and something of an embarrassment. A once themed attraction striped threadbare of it’s once grand and striking appearance. The tunnel was also chopped in half, making a barely dark experience around a ‘back of house’ location. For five seasons, the ride continued to operate in this delapidated state. Apart from a safety upgrade, only the Buddha, Dragon and station received modest touchups. As nice they were, this didn’t do much to help a ride in a shadow of it’s past. Then in 2017, plans came afoot to refresh the ride and surrounding area including Dragon Falls, which would be given a retheme with new features. Joining alongside a brand new Amur tiger exhibit, the ride would form part of a refreshed area Land Of The Tigers. Though not without it’s fault, this would be the biggest overhaul on the attraction during it’s 31 years of existence. whilst zombies and flames invaded other Merlin attractions, Chessington was busy finishing off it’s Tiger area. Eight months after the closure of the original area, Land Of The Tigers opened to the public. Aside the new enclosures, Chessington’s flume was somewhat reborn with a new identity known as Tiger Rock. The new updates drop area for the ride looks tigerrific One of the biggest updates to the attraction is the brand new Tiger rockwork element, which the boats pass under during the final drop. This offers a great new element of excitement and interaction both on and off ride, looking much better than the previous eyesore in the previous years from the ride. One of the best updates (from a personal perspective) is the station. There is a lot more atmosphere in there now, from it’s new soundtrack to the new artwork and lighting displayed on the side walls. I really like how they’ve kept the oriental theming and enhanced it with things such as lanterns. There’s also a cool tiger effect that activates every couple of minutes too, which is an interesting feature. The exterior updates look nice enough too. Whilst not without it’s faults, Tiger Rock joins the theme park and zoo are one. As long as the enclosures meet sufficient requirements, this may be the best way forward for much of Chessington, by becoming immersed in rides complimented by animal experiences. The tunnel features are an original touch, but the fences aren’t the most attractive. The project has seen changes I like a lot, but others not so much. The tunnel after lift 1 epitomises this. The inside is finally back to it’s original length at long last, accompanied by some random effects/models which really complements the experience. However, the exterior looks hideous, ugly and out of place. Whilst a brightly coloured Dragon would never fit within the new theme, they could’ve done more from the hideous mess that awaits there now. Lift two still doesn’t look great especially without any theming. The added fencing on the side makes it look somewhat worse, but is to probably prevent injury from those less able to remain seated. A limited budget from Merlin likely prevented ‘non safety’ enhancement on this section in the first place, which is a shame really. The picsolve unit has been moved, and creating a new ride shop. A small one there too I should point out. Lift one looks a little nicer with the new decorations. Conclusion: Land Of The Tigers has breathed some new life into area and Flume ride, giving it a fresh identity on the whole as Tiger Rock. Whilst not without it’s flaws, the retheme can be seen as a much needed upgrade, from it’s stunning station to the impressive new theming on the main drop. It’s a shame some areas couldn’t have seen more work, such as theming on lift two and tunnel exterior, however I doubt they were offered enough budget to carry those out sadly. Whilst it’s no Chiapas (and was never supposed to be), I like most of what they’ve done which is probably now my favourite U.K. flume ride, which isn’t difficult to be fair. It may not look as good compared to it’s early years, but is much better than the ones between it. Seven Out Of Ten.

Subsidence on the building of a four year old ride? That doesn’t sound particularly good, but hope this gets sorted. Philharmagic though sounds great, and I look forward to seeing what DLRP do with their iteration of this attraction. Can’t wait for Phantom Manor to reopen either.

Yesterday’s trip was great fun. Kudos to Matt Wise and Marc for organising this trip. Double the parks, double the fun. Too many highlights to count, but that group ride on Tidal Wave was tonnes of fun (though very wet).

The Walking Dead Ride is definitely an attraction, which the more times I go on, the more enjoyable it becomes. Definitely great to notice little tweaks/improvements being made in places throughout, such as the horn etc. Live actors also helps enhance it. Only criticisms again are the issue Stuntman mentioned above, which just needs some sorting out and the house lights seem to be switched on a lot just after the train leaves the station. Something to do with resetting after a shutdown?

Not to mention not everyone gets weekends off work and needs to confirm annual leave in advance. Otherwise sufficient cover may not be able to be provided resulting in people unable to go. Not a criticism but something that must be kept in mind for everything.

Disneyland Paris’s return to growth is pleasing to see with a 15% increase, especially after years of declining numbers. Efteling should be mentioned too which received a hefty increase too. Europa continues to increase steadily, which I reckon will pass the 6M rate once Rulantica opens up. Phantasialand and Tivoli are certainly hanging in there. PA received a slight boost, but I expect they were hoping for better with their second gate. Liseberg had a slight dip, however I know Loki had issues and they will hopefully be up agsin after Valkyria. Grona’s almost 12% increase is astounding. Ikaros May have helped that boost. Looks like Asterix did ok with Pegasus then, 8% is good. As expected, the Merlin bunch is a mixed bag. LLW had slight growth where it remains the best performing park (at least as the U.K. is concerned). Chessington and Towers had slight but noticeable growths, which shows the Gruffalo was somewhat successful and Towers is steadily recovering from 2015’s events. It’s curious to see Heide and Garda doing so badly currently. Heide I can see with one of it’s star rides down and competition, but not so sure with Garda though. Thorpe managed to maintain similar gate numbers again, which surprises me given how poor numbers appeared last season. I guess things must’ve improved Fright Nights time.

Can’t say I’m a massive fan of the advert as it doesn’t come across as flowing that well and isn’t terribly iconic. That world first picture sounds legit. Then again I swear they were advertising Big One as the world’s tallest coaster even after they lost that record.

Judging from the crane witness, I can assume Black Bucaneer is getting major work done to it and will hopefully reopen before super-peak season (July onwards). It could be a case that more work was needed than first expected, but still isn’t great that a notable support ride is out of action three months into the main season. I get the impression the engineering department at all parks is down this year compared to previous ones. Understaffing and budgets are possible. As for those “staff say it’s not coming back because of 123 reasons”, that’s just general nonsense and wouldn’t believe anything until the park or a reliable source officially announce anything. There’s been lots of silly rumours all over the years, from Swarm VR to that Flying Coaster in Canada Creek.

To be fair, Thorpe’s ride selection and clientele makes it more justifiable to enforce stricter rules where on-ride photography is concerned. A teenager dropping their phone whilst trying to make a POV on Saw for example could be fatal. From previous witnesses, strictness of on-ride photography has typically varied on the Rapids. Some may be more relaxed whilst others will be stricter and tell off the offending riders.

That concept looks fab. Almost looks like something from Efteling or Phantasialand.

Seems remarkably accurate. I’m almost certain Nick Varney is actually Thanos, at least in the theme park world. Once intending to add balance to all the parks, but now with the click of his fingers, around half the attractions are disappearing from the parks. Either that or budget cuts.

I know safety’s first and everything but that is a very blunt, crude and generally unprofessional way of the park’s social media team to deal with that situation. Based on previous recent posts highlighting similar issues, Towers and Merlin need to either train them better or give them disciplinary/dismissal action. If they continue responding like this, then there’s no wonder why they are receiving so many complaints. They are truly feeding the flames. Cue those comments

The last time I checked the Beach today, there was still some work taking place there and it was still drained and empty. Depending on how much work and preparation needs doing, I reckon the Beach will open late May to early June.

Tidal Wave is now (finally) on a two boat operation. The green and purple boats are now running. Not sure if/when we will see the third though? Vortex and Quantum are still closed and the beach is probably still a while from opening.

It must be good at Jazz since it’s got the blues.

Well it looks like they are actually second to Disney on something now, although not necessarily one to be proud with. $22 currently equates to around £16.50 based on the current atrocious exchange rate. Can someone confirm how much the car park used to be? I don’t think it’s particularly big tbh. I expect the majority don’t park in the park anyway.

Rumba could be something special with the right vision and effort put into it, especially considering it’s one of the most popular when being in groups. Some scenery (not burnt trees), effects and interactive features would not go amiss amongst queue upgrades too. I don’t think they’d be able to add/return any water features unless they were external from the current system though. Would be nice to see a proper refurbishment, but they probably don’t have the budget sadly.

Interesting report. Big Sheep sounds a lovely little park and the others don’t sound half bad either. I believe Flambards are the new owners of Lightwater, so hopefully they can turn around that place somewhat. Rampage used to operate at the now defunct Metroland until 2008, where it was known as the New Roller Coaster. It’s interesting to see how they’ve worked out the landscaping for what was once a completely indoors coaster.

Well, that Fish resin looks both random and impressive, never thought I’d say both together. They also have a new Stealth resin too, which is smaller but better than the previous one. Saw needs a new one as it’s had the same one for years. To whoever pointed the resemblance of the Colossus resin, thanks. Love the ride pins and been trying to get more of late, very addictive indeed. Bought the top trumps recently, they are not too bad either. Couldn't find the ride chocolate though. Does anyone know if they’ve (already) discontinued these?

Loving the Blue Spaghetti look.