Matt 236

2017 has been a rollercoaster year that's for sure, but here goes. Efteling 3 Port Aventura 4 Disneyland Paris 3 Liseberg 2 Alton Towers 2 Thorpe Park 317 (actually 5) Chessington 5 Legoland 1 Tulleys Phantasialand still have to come alongside Winter Wonderland sure.

From past experience I don't ever recall the recall the staff at Phantasialand to have that many issues, intact I found the people in Rutmoores pretty friendly from what I remember. The only time I ever recall getting told off by staff was on the Hollywood ride, and to be fair the reasons were quite understandable. Efteling & Liseberg from recent experience have shown to feature the best staff, but Disneyland Paris is very much up their now. The cast members on my previous visit were amazing. Port Aventura has some of the worst theme park staff I have experienced. Unfriendly, rude, unhelpful and responding to any query or concern as if you've just insulted their family. I don't think any Park I have been to have featured staff anywhere near as bad as Port Avs. closing queue lines before closing does seem a more common thing in European parks, as I've witnessed this in PA, Efteling and Phantasialand. At least Phantasialand actually advertise the initial closing time around the entrance of each ride.

I strongly believe many of faults of the park were as a result of the early years. When the park opened it was a financial flop and the crowds received were nowhere near high as expected to the point the park was at the verge of closing on several ocassions. Though things started picking up around the late 90's/early 00's, when the park changed from Euro Disney to Disneyland Paris, the parks were still struggling (having inherited millions in debt), and Eisner (Disney's CEO at the time) was making short-term and on the cheap instalments. Hence the messy Walt Disney Studios opening, which is perhaps the weakest Disney park by far. I have no doubt about it, that after years of decline, the park has a more optimistic future now, especially with the WDC now technically having full ownership now. The main park is looking considerably better after numerous recent renovation projects and featuring more entertainment and life in general. And I think once these are all completed (Phantom Manor upgrade, Small World interior?) there will be much more focus on fixing the Studios park. The place desperately needs sorting as it lacks much Disney flare, particularly the backlot area around Armageddon. Chances are they will probably invade invade that section of the park with Marvel and perhaps inherit more Pixar onto the other side. Whilst I think this will improve the overall product, I have strong concerns over Tower's future as current trends and rumours suggest as early 2018/2019 it will receive the Guardians treatment, which given where these sources are happening are very likely to be true. Hotel New York is also set to receive a Marvel retheme after it closes for refurbishment late 2018, which is a mixed development. When I last visited this year, the park seemed really full of life and entertainment and the resort (particularly the main park) looked in generally excellent condition and the cast members seemed noticeably more friendly and helpful than previous trips. Though there's some way to go, the place certainly seems to be on the up.

Going to Disneyland Paris within a large school or social group, always seems to doom a low and disappointing ride count, which isn't surprising. I remember when my sister went as part of a Brownie trip years ago and only managed 5/6 rides on a single day or something and barely remembers. Given the busyness and limited time you had, the majority of your list definitely features most of the main and best rides in the main park, although it's a shame you never managed to get on a Big Thunder and Phantom Manor. I usually find you get the best of most parks shorn visit as part of small group and would say 4-6 is usually the most ideal number. You certainly need a minimum of 2-3 days to get the core resort completed (subject to busyness). As much a Star Wars fan I am, Hyperspace just does not work with the Jules-Verne style architecture and just feels shoehorned for the sake of marketing and Star Wars stuff. Star Tours next door though is fab now and the surrounding area looks much better.

I guess it greatly depends whether you would want to visit a park purely for the rides or the whole experience? Efteling, Europa Park, Phantasialand, Liseberg and Disneyland Paris are some of the parks in Europe I would strongly suggest visiting. Liseberg is perhaps the easiest one to reach without car as you can reach the park simply by jumping on a shuttle bus to the city from Gothenburg Landvetter. British Airways, Norwegian and Ryanair all fly from London airports. The Gothia Towers hotel (opposite the park) is loverly and one of the most convenient locations I've seen for a hotel, although there are cheaper alternatives around if you prefer. Two days is enough to tackle the park at a relaxed pace, but you could probably do the park in one intense day if preferred. Phantasialand and Efteling are a little harder to get to, but no difficult either. You can fly to Amsterdam or Eindhoven for Efteling and Cologne or Düsseldorf for Phantasialand. It's two buses a train to Efteling via Eindhoven and two trains and bus for Phantasialand through Cologne. However both are doable through European road trips too, where you may want to throw in Plopsaland and Toverland too. I know quite a few on here have been to them. You have the Efteling hotel for Efteling, which is absolutely loverly to stay at or the NH Waalwijk a short'ish walk/taxi journey up the road if you prefer. I'm staying at Ling Bao at Phantasialand in a few weeks and can say the hotels at Phantasialand look strongly themed, but are also heavily convenient for a stay since there aren't that many hotels about. H+ hotel may be your best bet if you cannot stay on site for Phantasialand. Visit wise I would suggest 2 days for Phantasialand and 2-3 for Efteling depending when you visit. Europa Park is one of the more difficult ones to access. You can fly to Strousberg, Baden Baden or Bssel with numerous airlines such as Ryanair, EasyJet and Eurowings at London airports. Basel may be the best one to go, but I know public transport can be fiddly unless you get a hire car and drive to/from the park (75 minute drive) or get a shuttle (quite pricey). I haven't stayed onsite here (yet), but from what I've seen the hotels are beautiful and stunning, which there are five in total. Not sure how expensive they are but you have plenty of guest houses and Bnb's within Rust which many are a maximum of 15 minutes walk away from the park. I would advise nothing less than 3 days visiting here and if you are visiting for 5 or more, it may evrn be worth getting an annual pass, which offers at least one free entry to all the parks above (and Port Aventura). Disneyland Paris is one the busiest but easiest ones to get to in any shape or form fullstop. You can drive it by getting the euro tunnel from Folkestone to Calais which is then a 2.5-3 hour drive (depending on service stops). You can also ferry it to Calais or Dunkirk if you prefer. Or you can get the Eurostar from Kings Cross. Most involve a changeover at Lille but there limited direct routes there as well. There are also flights to Paris from Gatwick and Luton with EasyJet. You can then either get the TGV directly to the park or use the RER transport system to get to the resort too. The RER is cheaper but longer, but the TGV quicker and more expensive. I would choose the TGV personality as it takes you from the airport to the resort in 10 minutes or less. Hotel wise, I stayed at Newport Bay recently and was loverly and would recommend if you want the full-on Disney experience. However there are plenty of cheaper options. If you want to slum it, Sejours in Val'D Europe is a good choice as though it's very cheap, it's really pleasant to stay at too. I'd say three days is enough to visit here, four if you take it relaxingly.

I think Loggers returning is very 50-50. I feel like management want to reopen the ride, as it used to be very popular and would be something for all ages, however I guess it depends how much work would be required. Having been dormant for several years now, not only wouldn't be a case of restoring the ride system to running order such as repairing/replacing trough, pumps and other structures, but likely updating safety to meet current day requirements. I wonder if things such as the water system and boat restrictions could be amended.

Hopefully going to pop down to this one. I have no idea what I'm doing December so I just choose randomly what are probably the best two weekends. Hope to do all this trip to be honest, but will see. Food I don't mind.

I think the only time I have ever felt properly sick (or close to being sick) was on Samurai at Thorpe Park. never have I felt so nauseated and sickly in my life. I was close to vomiting on no fewer than two ocassions and it has strongly put me off riding it even to this day. Surprising coasters I barely ever feel nauseated on (maybe if I'm very dehydrated), but my advice would be to consume sweets and fizzy drinks with moderation at theme parks, especially if you take one any white knuckle rides.

I can relate to all those nightmar'ish airport and plane rants all to well. I hate how flights these days seem more likely to be delayed now than on time. I think at least every inbound flight I took last year was delayed by nothing less than an hour. One of them nothing short of four. What's even worse and more annoying is when your flight is cancelled altogether, as this means you now have to faff about trying to find another flight home as otherwise you are technically stranded. Even if the airline offers an alternative flight, it may not be practical, either due to being an inconvenient time of the day, landing at another airport or more likely both. Even if you can find another provider to fly home, you still have to go through the hassle of claiming a refund which is long and fiddly. Unfortunately unorganised people and screaming kids behind and/or in front of you in planes and airports is as common as butter on bread these days and is highly unlikely to change anytime soon. Job interviews are also difficult these days as you have so much competition. The good level stuff is very competitive and expects x amount of years usually in a lower end job, whilst the lower end (retail) stuff has hundreds of applicants. Even if you pull your socks off it's all to common to still be unsuccessful, with the 'lack of experience' label being flown up too often. I also hate jobs that use questionnaires during the beginning of the process with a passion. All it takes is one tiny screw up and your application is dead in the water. What's more I feel these questionnaire applications are not only inaccurate but also often limiting or fencing off similar roles within that company for a minimum of six months. If you just approach most people in shops looking for a job, they'll just tell you to apply online no matter how professional or keen you appear to them. finding a decent job these days seems a bit of a lottery to be fair and there are people out there who have without doubt been searching and searching for 2-3 years (maybe longer) and still not found anything. It just seems in the last few years, applications have become more computerised, cold, competitive and generally brutal. Unfortunately it'll probably only going to get worse for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately there's not much a theme park can do when bad weather compromises the safe operation of rides, and even if they did stay open until the original time, what more could the park offer if the poor weather persevered. The best things parks can do on these sort of days are return/revalidated tickets. I know it won't satisfy everyone, but will st least compensate for the majority. I guess the websites should also also be kept upto date with accurate information too.

I think we will have to wait and see on this one. With track history, it could be anything.

Right, so based on the 8-10 trips a year (over the previous 10-12), I would like to bring up the following. 2018: January- Guildford replacement- I am assuming the Spectrum is to be (temporarily?) closed next year as part of the refurbishment/rebuilding process. Should tgis be the case, potential replacement ideas could include (but not be limited to) Jarman Park Hemel, Crawley or Basingstoke (they have a water park). March- Thorpe open meet- It isn't TPM without an open meet. April- Chessington, usually popular and Empires makes for a fun banterous gathering. May- International Meet? Could make a poll in advance giving people the choice of where to go. Liseberg might be a good choice with it's new coaster and easy transport connections, but parks like Phantasialand and Efteling could also be considered amongst others. June Towers Meet, could be done in November for fireworks alternatively. July- Anything goes. An alternative UK park maybe or even another Thorpe trip. I am unsure if or wether Ministry Of Sound will return. September- Blackpool, Icon is calling! October- Thorpe Fright Nights. Could combine with Tulleys but that might be going too far. Another staple meet. December- Christmas Meet. Ho ho ho. I think trips rips should be announced in advance, especially abroad/further distance ones so things such as planning, holiday and traveling can be researched. At the the end of the day, the meets aren't about the parks, but the people attending them making laugh out loud memories to remember years into the future.

This news is certainly concerning on the forefront that we could see a very noticeable slowdown in Midway and non UK parks, but we shall have to see how this develops. Surely we will still need to see new stuff every now and then, as what's the point in building new accommodation if there is no development for years. After all, developments encourage people to visit the park which may also encourage them to book overnight stays alongside. My assumption with the budget cuts (which basically affects everything that isn't a Legoland or hotel), is projects may be downscaled, spread out and/or perhaps cancelled. I would like to think if any cancelled projects happen, it would only be for low-medium investment years should they still be a thing. And large investments continue during regular intervals. I.E Chessington's next coaster. Unfortunatrly the next few years for many things will not be easy and terror threats will not disappear anytime soon I'm afraid. Let's hope they can ride the storm.

It will be interesting to see what each area gets and where they put them. My guess could be around the Lego City area, and judging from the pictures, it looks like Splash Battle attraction and drop tower could be in the plans. Could be a successful addition to the parks.

I certainly enjoy visiting Liseberg, but it does definitely need a major dark ride, which I strongly hope they receive in the next few years. Did you manage to ride the Fairy Tale one during your visit? City centre looks nice too, need to take a look there next time.

Unfortunately I can relate that Port Av is certainly nothing more than somewhat of a disappointment. At least from my experience. Poor operations, unfriendky and unhelpful staff and some of the worst theme park food I have ever tasted. Never before have I struggled so much consuming food which is somewhat inedible. Shambhala is great, along with it's show line up and water rides. There is also something I somewhat like about Baco despite it's roughness. Theming is generally nice, but not quite to the standard of Phantasialand and Efteling in several areas. Ferrari Land feels modern, airy and decently landscaped, but doesn't have much going for it other than Red Force. It generally feels like a walk-in advert for Ferrari. El Paso Hotel was somewhat disappointing, as service was slow and staff not overly helpful either. They took ages to sort and repair the broken door in our room (which was at ground floor level). I now have a strong grudge against staying at ground floor level in hotels, as a result. Whilst there were things I actually liked about the place, I have no intention to return to PA for sometime in the future, which is a pity due to being home of my third favourite coaster (whilst in present writing).

As someone who never rode the two iconic Dragons, seeing what were perhaps once an icon to Orlando rotting away in a scrap yard rusting away like that makes me feel somewhat sad. Hulk aside, Duelling Dragons (Dragon Challenge) at 18 have become the first B&M coasters to be fully and properly scrapped. Universal are certainly one of the most brutal parks when it comes to ride removal.

Certainly an interesting development and see how things progress. Basically sounds like with the exception of large scale attractions (such as Swarm and Derren), that smaller scale attractions and additions can be added in quicker and less hassle free. Its difficult to say what the park plan. Would certainly like to see them add more for the family market with rides for all ages, especially around the 0.9-1.2 metre height restriction.

Not surprised in all fairness, as theres still a sufficient amount of work to complete, and I would rather they take their time to complete a stunning investment as opposed to fudging it for opening. I wonder if this will mean Rookburgh receives an early 2019 opening as opposed to Summer, and whether any attractions are getting torndown at all now? Given they usually do this just before new attractions open and that Temple and Hollywood are rumoured to be next.

Loving the so far intricate looking layout, and the interaction towards the surroundings so far seen is definitely highly exciting. Phantasialand are really pulling the boat out with their current investments, which is great to see.

Interesting plans ahead of this park, and it's great to see them going ahead with developments. Shame the dark ride is only using screens, however if there's any ways to implement physical theming, that would be nice. Hyper coaster design looks decent, and will be interesting who is actually the manufacturer. I would say all the above manufacturers are actually equally good and different in each way. It's amazing how B&M are no longer the core manufacturer for hypers anymore now.

Always exciting watching any new coaster begin vertical construction, especially in the UK. Regardless of whether this is a Blue Fire beater or not (let alone Helix), I think it's great to see a Mack mega coaster of this and scale coming to the UK, and one which will hopefully compliment an already interesting variety of rides at the park. The interaction segments are likely to enhance this ride. I honestly hope this is a massive success for the park. 2018 is easily the most exciting year for new things in the UK for sometime.

I think it's time to break Baron's chain of consecutive posts. Avalon looks fantastic! Honestly this could well and truly put the park on the map, especially considering the scale and level of investment being put out here and being fairly to two other major parks will probably help them too. The boat ride is believed to be the park's first dark ride which is very exciting news. Mack rides will be the manufacturer. The IMA score music like always is impressive and has some similarities with Mystery Of Hocus Pocus Hall and Klugheim.

I'm not sure why, I just found Khan to be overly rough and uncomfortable on this trip for some reason. Despite it's roughness there was just something I liked about Baco which is bizarre because I expected to not enjoy it. The number of rides starting with B is surely councidental and I've just noticed that myself. Shambhala is honestly great, but something just makes Helix and Taron overpower it very slightly, although it is my favourite B&M. The difference between where my top 3 coasters rank is literally just millimetres.

I can't believe no-one has featured the best possible photo of the whole trip Honestly, was a mostly enjoyable trip here. Loved Shambhala, Red Force and Baco (surprisingly), plus the shows, water rides and theming were certainly top notch. Big thanks to Marc and Ryan for arranging this trip and sorting the flight situation which could've been disasterous. Wont be making Fright Nights unfortunately, so may not resurface now until Christmas.