Matt 236

If Benin doesn't win the sarcasm award, is it really the TPM forum rewards?

I can honestly say Liseberg is one of the easiest European parks to get out to. A 1.5-2 hour flight from Heathrow (BA), Gatwick (Norwegian) or Stanstead (Ryanair), followed by a shuttle that goes from the airport directly outside the park. Very handy. Liseberg boasts three top (hopefully soon) four quality coasters and what is arguably one of the best flat collections in any park. Think Towers is scheduled for April. A provisional meet lineup for 2018 has now been made.

Not necessarily a bad thing, although bizarre how it's been disabled. Think the system just adds unneeded jealousy to back row riders personality.

It needs to be remembered that Blackpool Pleasure Beach aren't a large organisation and don't have swathes of financial fat like Disney or Universal. Although hopefully the dark days of when the park was deeply into the red and closing things left right and centre are over, the park's financial growth was still down this year. There's still some way to go before the park is to shine a healthy financial green once again. It must be rememebered the park are building a major coaster next year and for a park like Blackpool it will be a lot of money and won't be cheap for sure. If there was the choice to install this major addition or restore most of Valhalla's effects, I'd certainly choose Icon. Who knows, if Icon is (hopefully) a success and brings the park lots of money, they will get sufficient budget to retain running Valhalla's effects. It can't be easy for them to upkeep such a massive dark water ride. The park can't be all neglected though if they've done things like reprinting Revolution (agsin) and other things. Every Park unfortunately will have some areas rundown/not look their best. Even parks like Efteling and Phantasialand dare I say!

I highly suspect a new entrance and queue line are highly likely amongst the ride receiving a Walking Dead type theme perhaps. X has struggled with personality for many years now, so would be great if they can finally make it stand out. Who knows what will come from the old entrance area?

Absolutely over joyed for these awards returning.

Those views of seeing Troy upon entering look excellent. This park is certainly growing to became a Magic Land.

I know the meet in the past has always been the last weekend before Christmas, but that's getting a bit obscene now surely.

I can't see Canada Creek Railway returning anytime soon unfortunately. As others have mentioned much of the track has now been removed and the locomotives will probably require a lot of work to restore them to working order again. Whats more, much of the space the trains once circuited cannot be used Platform 15 and the kids flats occupy a large swathe of this space now. Even the station is now used for Tug's queue line as a fact. Cannot see them demolishing the existing/remaining structures until they need to. I guess the fate of Loggers could conclude this.

In all fairness enthusiasts aren't all the same, which is probably a more of a good than a bad in all honesty. What's top class to one person may be mediocre and overrated for someone else. Take Nemesis for example, whilst many love that coaster (myself included), there are a noticeably number of enthusiasts who will say it's overrated. I personally hate Rita, but know a fair amount of people love it. The list could really go on. Helix & Taron are my top two that's certain.

Can someone let me know when the date is again? I know nothing.

'Awaits the Angry fan boys who slate Merlin as an incompetent organisation'

Glad you guys enjoyed Efteling, I can safely say I fell even more in love with the place when Tomb and I visited a week later. Agree with the show and entertainment bits, absolutely fantastic selection of both quality and quantity. I thought the Fata entertainers were amazing and I found the singer around the Bob ride remarkably hilarious for some reason, as he reminded me of Harry Hill slightly. Will await thr Symbolica segment, but I personally think it's one of the best dark rides in Europe and one of the best attractions in the Efteling. I love Aquanura and probably prefer it to DLP's night time show, even just for the fact there isn't as much battle for a good viewing position which then gets obstructed by phones and kids on shoulders. I still enjoyed Baron somewhat (even if for the fab pre-shows) but the coaster is certainly more forceful now. I love Joris and almost forgot how great this duo actually are and Dutchman was still fab. Strangely I found my liking of Bob on my visit has gone down since my previous trip, it just lacked a spark somewhere. Apparently it's reaching a point in it's life where it will soon either need a major refurbishment or replacement altogether. Will be interesting how the retracking will affect Python, which will hopefully make for a more smoother and enjoyable ride, however it does seem to lack the magic and character of most other attractions, so fingers crossed they can add some Efteling magic to rectify this. I love the Fairy Tale forest and feel it's a place you need a good couple of hours to take it all in and appreciate, if you go the whole way around. The Chinese Nightingale was my favourite. I think the thing with Dream Fkight is, it's supposed to be a selection of different Fairy Tale/dreamy landscapes and the ride takes a journey through these worlds and settings. Pandadroom amongst the effects, certainly delivers a powerful message concerning the environment, however the less mentioned the better on the actual 3D. Although Phantasialand rates slightly higher than Efteling, I adore both parks in their own way which feature some of the best theming in European parks IMO. How was Loonsche Land for accommodation? We stayed at the Efteling hotel and it was absolutely amazing and featured the typical touches you would likely find within the park itself.

Right, so with prospects of Slammer getting removed and X rethemed (again), surely the following will also happen: Top Spin replacement (Slammer) A New Show Return of the railway Loggers reopening with fixed tunnel Tidal Wave's fireball to be repaired Colossus repainted I'll leave now swarm gets 1000 PPH BTW and Saw it's just under 900.

Glad you enjoyed Big Top, Platform and Living Nightmare, can safely say I found them all highly enjoyable mazes and have found this year's lineup one of the best in recent years. Sanctuam I feel will hopefully receive some noticeable improvements next year, although on my run through this year, I found the actors to be of very good quality. It's pretty clear that Shark isn't a long term solution to their accommodation situation and hopefully they will eventually receive a full permanent hotel in the forseable future. Shark what it currently is and trying to be, works fine currently though. Shame about the Amity chip place, when I visited there last May, I couldn't really fault the food or service, but perhaps that depends on the staff and day.

Yes, I think it's safe to say at 7000 miles apart, the amount of people who will actually be in position to ride both coasters will somewhat be a small minority. Lets also not forget Thorpe's Colossus features clones at parks in China, Italy and Russia plus an additional two on the way within parks in Turkey and Malaysia. If Thorpe got a Taron clone, it would certainly be more of a good thing as the coaster is amazing and one of my favourites, from a personal perspective. A different layout would be a strong vantage point though and strongly preferred. It's difficult to say what Thorpe would even get next as a major investment (however likely a coaster), but maybe a Taron style attraction is something on the short list.

Liking the list selection, which I think offers a great variety from what I can see. I like that most of the meets have fixed dates, which helps from the work perspective. Will try and make most/all of the meets if I can, but that depends on what happens with my life at the time. I think it's a good idea to have multiple choice for the abroad parks as it enables users to select where they want to go. Europa is an overall amazing place to visit, Liseberg is one of the easiest European parks to get to and will feature a major new coaster. Phantasialand is just stunning head to toe. If its the first two, count me in for sure.

Creds aside, rides should not always be judged purely on layout but other factors such as theming and landscaping. These things alone can also define the quality and differences of an attraction. For example, Piraten and Alaina Blitz feature identical/nearly identical layouts, yet both remain noticeably different in theme and appearance. It should also be mentioned both are highly popular in both the parks they belong to. I don't have a major concern of rides with clone/nearly identical layouts being implemented into other parks, especially if they feature exciting and remarkable layouts and turn up within smaller parks. Would never say no to a Tomahawk clone at Oakwood or Drayton Manor. Never going to happen though. I should also note Flight Of Pterosaur at Paultons was a clone, yet did wonders for that charming park, as a result of being the joint headlining attraction to the park's new themed area. the Lost Kingdom may well be Paulton's most successful and richly themed area to date.

Yes, Phantasialand don't like giving out specific opening dates for their attractions until close to opening. Not necessarily a bad thing. I remember with Klugheim whenever people answered about opening the park kept replying "there is no opening date" and then announced the opening a few weeks before. Given the amount of work remaining, it will likely receive an early 2019 opening and will surely feature another one or two supporting attractions too. Could this also mean Nighthawk and Hollywood have another year remaining? Given they usually close old attractions just before opening new ones and rumours suggest they are the next to go.

Someone Benin'd Benin! Wow.

Me when the press stop referencing 'The Smiler accident' when Alton Towers/Merlin appears in the news. I just hope they look after this new ride when it opens and it's not a rough uncomftsble run-down device two years later.

People also forget that companies like Disney and Universal also have different pass tier levels with blackout dates and events not included or requiring a small fee. The American parks may have as many as five pass tiers. The other thing about upcharges is it limits the amount of people visiting too as otherwise Thorpe would reach capacity every night, which is somewhere around 17K (based on a full lineup).

I would still say Thorpe has noticeably more hotels around it though compared to Chessington, Towers and Legoland though, given there are no major chains nearby to the latters and just a smallish Premier Inn round the corner for Chessie. The Shark Hotel isn't perfect but is more than sufficient for the park, at least until they build a large permanent hotel. My visit in May was enjoyable enough, with good customer service. The food at Fins for dinner and breakfast was reasonable and the atmosphere comparatively more relaxed than the day time. The entertainment was a little flat, but I'm sure they will fix that eventually. I think a TLC scheme would greatly benefit the park, as presentation is very important at parks and leads the consumer to have a noticeably more enjoyable day leading them to purchase more. Rides like Colossus, Tidal Wave and walkways in general could benefit greatly from this and especially bring back life to rides which looked fantastic in their opening years. Rumba needs some work doing too, as with the right effort they could turn it into Something special if they really wanted to and put the effort in the right places too. Loggers returning would be a good move for the park is it would return a popular ride, staple and something for smaller guests to do (Thorpe needs more 0.9-1.2 attractions), but I cannot see that happening 2018. Slammer just needs to be taken out as it's just a sad eyesore currently. I cannot see the entrance structures getting updated for some time now, at least the turnstile area at least. Who knows what the 2018 attraction will be, but it's very possible it will be Walking Dead based and perhaps utilise a retheme of sn existing ride. We will just have to see.

I'm a maybe for all the dates originally listed. It depends on my job hours at the time. If I'm working a late I'll be a no. If I'm working an early I probably won't surface until Tussauds. If I'm not in then I'll be there all day.

I think it is perfectly certain that given evidence, there will be one major thing happening with 2018 Fright Nights. It's happening next year.