Matt 236

Me & Tomb have also now booked up. Can't wait for this meet which will probably fly by faster than Ferrari Land.

I think it's time I update my top 10's again.

This is gonna be the hottest meet of 2017! Even though my wallet will blaze faster than Ferrari Land. Me and Tomb for the list please.

All UK Thrills and Attractions have posted an update on the Gruffalo attraction showing the ride boats scattered around the old Carousel site. The boats have been repainted a wooden brown on the outside and lighter brown on the inside. I would say the outer layer resembles the old Professor Burp style boats, but I'm probably wrong. Different ride anyway. Can't help but also notice the fence in the background. Probably a new inflatable game attraction.

Skyway was certainly a wonderful attraction in it's peak, as not only did it provide a short break from the more adventurous attractions but some loverly and interesting views of the park above. Its a shame the ride was removed last year even though it was literally falling apart and parts of the route didn't work as well they once did. The attraction could've certainly lived on had the effort been made to update the trains and hardware which would also fit in strongly within it's current adventure style too. The monorail bahn at Europa reminds me a lot of what skyway once was and is perhaps the nearest experience to Chessington's now extinct monorail.

I'm surprised and amazed a park like this can squeeze in another coaster given it's tiny size. Which at 15 acres makes even THORPE look massive in comparison. Still great to see the place gain another new coaster which means Sweden would receive two B&M coasters in three years as a result. Will be interesting to see what they remove to install this.

According to Roller Coaster Database, after 2011. It does make it confusing though given they've not changed or repainted the mini can tunnel at the beginning though. Least Iran Bru was given a facelift in 2012 when it reopened.

In all fairness though, it's not just Merlin and BPB that suffer from maintenance and reliability issues though as pretty much every park has or will go through something major from time to time. River Quest at Phantasialand has had numerous issues last year resulting in the ride having reliability issues and reduced capacity too (thus resulting over 2 hour queues). Not to mention Big Thunder at DLRP has been having reliability issues since it's refurb too. Thorpe may appear to have a tendacy for one train ops (especially Colossus), but given various maintenance situations this may not always be avoidable. I can't remember the last time I waited two hours for any of their coasters on two trains, let alone one. Not to mention on my previous trip to Blackpool, I saw several coasters running just one train, when demand could've easily warranted two. These included Grand National, Big One, Avalanche and Nickelodeon Streak. In short, all park's have their fair share of problems.

I thoroughly enjoy these little videos they make, as each one not only shows how much effort and dedication they put into everything but make me even more excited to when this opens later this year. The new soundtrack from the ride featured in the video sounds fantastic. Very cinematic with beautiful melody and thematic elements and most importantly, very Efteling like. Efteling features some of what are arguably the best ride themes at any European park. From Dutchman to Joris and Dreamflight to Baron.

According to Loopings, the new proposed wing rider will reach a height of 40 metres (131ft), making it not only the highest coaster at the park (Troy 35 metres), but the second tallest coaster in the Netherlands after Goliath. The ride will also be slightly taller than Swarm and Raptor and around equal height to Flug Der Daemon. 2018 is already looking like a highly exciting year for Europe, not just the UK. Especially with Valkyria at Liseberg and rumours of Phantasialand's next big thing too.

Silver Star is a very hit and miss coaster indeed. My first ride was great, my second was amazing and my final ride being rather inadequate in comparison, which is surprising because it was towards thr back in the rain. Silver Star ranks my tops purely as one of just two hyper coasters I have done (The Big One being the other). Whether it will remain in my Tops list after Shambhala is currently not yet known. Regardless, the attraction has many plus points, from its impressive height, racing hall queue exhibits (which change seasonally) and it's one of the highest throughout coasters in Europe (around 1700 PPH). It would never get a two hour queue if all line extensions were open.

One thing Chessington seem to be rathe prepared for though on this new attraction is the expected high queue levels. Source-Theme Uk. I'm not going to speculate on when this ride will open and if it's on time. All I will say is from one months time from now social media will either be flooded with Gruffalo reviews and pictures or major backlash as a result of delays.

It's okay guys, Paultons is doing perfectly fine at the moment! Nothing to worry about. Blackpool could be doing much worse for what is an independent park, but two hours for a glorified one train monorail? Think I'll pass. Give me Silverstar anyday!

Just noticed this meet is looking likely to be thr Sunday when I'm working. This not only means I probably won't be going (and letting down Gruffalo), but I won't be making my anniversary TPM meet sadly.

Europa is definitely a park every enthusiast needs to visit at least once. Never have a been so blown away and impressed with a park, where the theming, atmosphere and entertainment are so good the rides are almost secondary. Unfortunately getting there is one of the few (but major) flaws of the places as the nearest airport is at least an hour away. And if don't have a driver in your party you are literally stuck between either fiddly public transport or park shuttle (which will spike trip budgets considerably). However it's all worth the effort in the end, not to mention there's rumours of a train line connecting the park in the future. Anyways, back on topic. Project V latest. Source-Michael Mack Twitter Apparently there will be two flying theatres and the film will be called Flying Over Europe. It's also going to be using a fastpass style system too, mostly due to it's location near the entrance of the park. There are no plans to implement a similar system onto other rides and it won't be operational during the beginning and end of park days.

Can't wait to hopefully finally enter the realms of Port Aventura this year, considering I've been wanting to go for the best part of five years. Whilst I'm more excited for Khan and Shambhala, I'm curious to see what Back is like, given it's a rough reputation. And with Ferrari, it's sure to be the hottest trip of the year as well!

SHAPES OFFEND ME! In all fairness it's no surprise people are thrashing chains and whips on Merlin after doing this special one off. It's just the modern life we bond with sadly.

Either that or you and Matty Moo sneaked an early ride onto it recently after a kebab and a few beers

I personally hope Cabin goes and is replaced with something new and different. It was good whilst it lasted, but I've found the maze comparatively stale in the last two seasons and not as enjoyable as it once was. The broken/never repaired tunnel hasn't helped things but I think the maze has past it's time now at the resort. I strongly hope a rebrand/shake up is in the works as the park needs it, not to mention the last couple of years haven't been as good as events in previous. Big Top version two was one of the few major positives I can take from last year's event I'm afraid, as much of the rest wasn't great, whether that be crowd control or the quality of mazes like Cabin and Platform. Which were weaker than previous mazes at the event.

What an outrage! How could this sort of thing happen at the start of the season from such a major. You'd never see anything like this anywhere else. I'm not visiting the park anymore! Of course not. These things do happen sometimes and if this means Stealth can run acceptably for the rest of the year that's fine.

Indeed. The Penguin Show lasted lasted little more than two seasons, theritcally less given the show wasn't running at the start of last season due to trying to promote Pandamonium. It will be interesting to see how long that one lasts too. Its safe to say this is a sign of the park's current lack of direction and short term plans which isn't remarkably surprising, especially with the moderate theming effort done too. The UK could easily do with a large stage as it would provide much entertainment and amusement to guests if done right. Shows like Ravelijin, Europa's Greek Ice Show and the numerous ones at Port Aventura, show evidence park's can pull off great shows that aren't Univerdal or Disney. At at the moment, Pirates Of Skeleton Bay is the nearest thing we have to a proper stage show. Which is a very good and entertaining show but not quite on the same levels of shows other major parks pull off. The UK used to have so many different show and entertainment offerings in parks, shame this isn't really the case anymore. It's likely the stage will be mothballed this year (unless it's ever used for Halloween).

I can't give you a definite answer, but can confirm there are variable open hours based on park's busyness. If the park shuts at 6pm, the park is likely to be reasonably quiet, however if it's closing at 8pm, then the likelihood is it will be pretty busy. I should also mention, these closing times are often minimum and if the park receives higher crowds than expected, then closing will usually be pushed back. Park close is confirmed around 3/4pm everyday and you can see the provisional 2017 opening hours here. ridewise, all I can suggest is go around area by area, arrive for opening and don't rush around. Europa is full of impressive gems and details everywhere you look. Europa has some of the best operations of any park in the world! Must do rides I would recommend are: Blue Fire, Wodan, Silverstar, Arthur, Poseidon, Eurosat, Euromir, Geisterschloss, Pirates Of Batavia and Fjord River Rafting. However there are plenty of other amazing attractions out there to explore.

Funny you should mention that, as I've heard the show is not coming back this year, for reasons I'm not sure of. Source-Uk Theme Park Review

According to a 'who am I' game, I must attend this meet. Ok Gruffalo.

I hope you all had an adventurous day, aploligies I could not join you. Ill be at Thorpe March. Tidal Wave? Depends how crazy I feel on the day.