Matt 236

It's great to see how much theming they've added to all their rides this off season, especially River Quest which has needed more theming too. Apparently they're also concealing the former RFA site is getting a new fence constructed to block the view from the monorail attraction.

Very happy and relieved they have made the rest of the building now match the original. Hopefully the ride ride will have a better season than last year when it reopens.

In all fairness, they've had noticeably more time to finalise Gruffalo compared to the Adventure Tree, especially given the fact one of them utilised a pre-existing ride system and the other was built from the ground up. Chessington as a whole needs a major renovation. Gruffalo & Tree are adequate investments, given the park's Wild Adventure image they are trying to go for, but the rest of the park needs lots more work. Vampire, Tomb, Ramesis and even Falls & Rattlesnake (to a lesser extent), could greatly see some much needed TLC and updates, as all these attractions currently feel tired and overlooked, which is a shame. The new master development plan should hopefully help the park out alongside minor developments, but what the place needs is a consistent balance of new attractions and restored ones.

I'd personally class that more as updating and altering the ride as opposed to a restoration. A restoration is when a ride or attraction is refurbished and brought back into a similar state or functionality to what the attraction may have once been, as a result of change or neglect. Hex, the 2011 refurbishment of Python and the Enchanted Tiki Room at Magic Kingdom are potential examples of restored rides. When Vampire was refurbished and reopened in 2002, the main major alteration was the trains, which were converted from Arrow suspended trains to Vekoma floorless ones. As a result of the different proportions, some alterations had to be implemented, including the station and areas around the ride, which included lowering the ground slightly.

Looks a decent enough woodie and addition to the park. That's assuming and hoping it doesn't age like Gwazi though.

I've had a good think and anylsis of that image the park have posted, and have come to the conclusion something is coming to Alton Towers this year. Could be anything for all we know.

'This thread'

For reasons that will become remarkably clear, unfortunately I will only be attending for the meal now.

What I would love to see is a major complete refurbishment of Vampire to bring the ride upto date and make it more exciting. If I owned and managed Chessington tommorow I would: Restore the chandeliers in the station Bring back the Graham Smart Score (along with the announcements) Put red lighting in the crypt and green inside the station Rebuild the organist animatronic and add window projections on some of the walls Add a new ambient soundtrack in the queue Add more theming for the queue, sculptured tomb stones and old pieces of furniture maybe Vampire may be 27 years old, but it still has a place in the Chessington today and I would love for it receive a 'Towers Loving Care style' refurbishment.

Managed a couple of goes on the New Gruffalo attraction today and here's the main things I took note of: Entrance and queue lines seem better organised and aligned than Imperial Leather Bubbleworks Exterior Music is minimalistic and makes for a calm relaxing wait Station boarding area looks fantastic (maybe one of the best things here), from it's appropriate lights and styling Ride mostly features variety of screens, light elements and selection of animatronics The ride features lots of interesting and loverly smells around the attraction Decent additions to the finale, from a mist screen to projected screens Fountain Finale room feels more full and different from ILB, yet pays homage with the survival of the smaller fountains Overall I'd say the attraction was better than expected and will likely be a hit with Chessington and it's younger families. I loved the station and smells around the ride and the station, amongst the second and final two scenes. I can't really compare to the Bubbleworks, given they are different rides and (regrettably) did not ride the original but it's better than Charlie at Towers ever was.

Episode Four of the Making Of Symbolica is now up, which gives the details into how the cars and ride system will operate amongst the finer details. Loopings have also released further pictures and details of attraction's vehicles too, which you can see below. Some of the details on this attraction look amazing and amongst being what is 'arguably' the most exciting 2017 attraction in Europe could well be one of the best non-Disney dark rides too. We shall see.

Legoland' music is actually pretty good if you listen closely enough. Andrew McKenna has done some great music for the park from the Dragon to Atlantis. Even the new Fairy Tale Brook Music is of decent quality too. Compared to a number of years ago, the audio at Legoland is noticeably better in most areas. As for the Gruffalo soundtrack, I'll hear it when I listen to it.

Some sad news today at Phantasialand via-Loopings as a 58 year old employee has been killed whilst trying to service the Winjas Coaster. Thoughts are with his family.

I like it. Seems to resemble the style of Klugheim a little, although perhaps a little more quirky however. It's great to see Plopsa but so much dedication and effort into their recent projects.

Shame the contract contract couldn't have been renewed as the Ben 10 theme worked particularly well with the coaster. Judging from the pictures it doesn't look great which is a shame, but we will have to see. Am I imagining this or were the park trying to add a Cartoon Network land in the surrounding area? If yes, it appears it didn't go as planned.

Stunning looking vehicles to say the least and am liking the colour scheme here too. The new ride will also apparently be going under a new theme area called Imaginstive, which will also incorporate aquanura, Polle's Kitchen and the entrance building (house of the five senses).

I know it's just another flying theatre like Soarin (and the many others were supposed to be getting), but I'm actually quite excited about this attraction, because it offers another immersive experience at Europa and something different from their other indoor attractions. Could safely argue this attraction is arguably more exciting than Ferrari Land, even though they are both different projects altogether.

Such a shame to see the park's premier thrill machine struggling so badly, especially the start of the season which is concerning to say the least. I would love love to see the ride extensively refurbished. Or failing that, replaced with a Talocan style Top Spin.

Whilst everyone's opininins will vary on the 2017 changes, there certainly seems to be positive ones. The new Carousel looks stunning and will certainly become a major eye catcher in the Adventure point area when it's running. Yay for for 'potential' water feature. Gruffalo shop looks interesting enough and the additional theming additions in Vampire are adequate. Loving Black Buccaneer's paint job and the new food outlets in Adventure Point are perfectly adequate, given the area has been shifted around slightly to accommodate the new Carousel.

So much detail! Towers have done a frightfully fantastic job on updating and repaintint the Nemesis. It's good to see the park receive so many updates and would be great if the TLC scheme became a regular thing.

I find this substitute of a highly adequate level. And given what happened in Guildford, it seems it's meant to be.

I predict a riot

I'm generally very happy with the TLC and update work the park have been doing doing recently, especially on things like Hex and Towers Street which is bringing done much needed freshness back into the park. See the Hex signs for example which looks much better. Source-Towers Loving Care

I think for the sake of all complaints and moaning they maybe should've named it 'fast coaster'. Least it says what it does on the tin then.

No major loss as drop towers go. Still a shame that the park may be spitting their drop ride as it was literally the only non-coaster thrill ride there apart from Vertigo (which is extra anyway). Oakwood as a park that still seems to be slipping, which is a great shame. The park had so much potential when I visited in 2013.