Matt 236

Indeed. Toadstool at 33 is now one of the oldest rides at the park now with the Blade (37) being the only attraction which is older. It's probably a combination of high maintenance and 'smoke screen' budget cuts as to why it's closed given the closed Season isn't 4-5 months for nothing. A future revamp for Cloud Cuckoo is highly essential given it feels neglected, derelict and dated. Rebuilding the area from scratch in future would be nice (but somewhat unlikely). The park hours are certainly a dire embrassment not just for Merlin, but UK park's and are now clearly the worst of any major/secondary theme park in Europe. Even Blackpool & Pleasure Wood Hills have better openings now.

Yay working rides. Might as well rack up those rides on Truckers! This line up is about as exciting as modern day Chessington.

Great to have the UK's greatest experience back open again. I thought it was going to be sealed for two centuries with the way things are going. The rest of the mothballs just confirm how things will continue to go on, even if the minority enjoy Charlie and Ice Age. Not me. The toadstall closure is clearly more budget cuts as thinking a simple flat takes a whole season to get refurbished is quite laughable. But if it means Hex can open in current situations, so be it!

Maybe the twist is the ride isn't reopening and they are just trolling us? Wouldnt surprise me if they swapped Duel for Hex. That's the Towers. Way currently.

Really Odd temperamental dark ride? Might make sense.

Well that's another one biting the dust, or rotting away for the foreseeable future. The UK has definitely had it's large share of SBNO stuff recently. Apparently Tales Of The Coast (that strange water/dark ride) was demolished last season and replaced with a wave swinger, which is quite laughable TBH even if the old ride wasn't great to begin with. Track issues may apparently be Rattlesnake's issue preventing it from running so it must be pretty serious if that's the case.

The above plans are highly acceptable. Lightwater/Flamingo yes please, but Oakwood is good too. I was joking and being jibberish about Europa, but it's a park everyone should visit meet or non meet. Port Av is high on the priority list so Ryan has the pain or pleasure in having tagging along.

Let's just all go back to Europa Park! I need more absinthe to get me immersed to that place and re-rides on Wodan. I'm no meet organiser so I don't mind what happens, we could do Brighton Pier for all I know.

The building is blocky, grotty and there's too much shed. I like the lighting though and the ride isn't finished.

Not the most exciting attractions for the resort. Then again I'm not a 5 year old. The show is a curious addition though and I'm sure will do well the demographic market and those staying the hotel.

I'll form a fully armed battalion to get one of those tickets!

Comparing the promo art to the ride experience in the park is a bit like news stories. Where telling the news and the telling the truth are two completely different things. Take for example the original Derren Brown's Ghost Train advert and promo art. At least 80% of what actually appears in them, does not appear on the ride. Whether that be the twin dolls, duplicated and the duplicated/demented Derren never appears in the actual ride. Scorpion Express, Enchanted Village and other such investments remain other examples here. The promo art mostly there to get people excited and interested for the next new ride rather than offer a realistic expectation on the attraction. The ride could be good if everything is tackled correctly, although recent projects unfortunately don't show much optimism I'm afraid and we will just have to wait and see whether they pull off something nice or it's just another sub-standard investment.

Sad times, it looked an acceptable coaster amongst being the only one in a Merlin park currently. I'm curious as to why the ride has been SBNO so long and needs so much excessive work? Surely it must be structural if it's this bad. Guess thats Heide park off the list for now.

Surely the latter one in that Mark as I've not heard of anything happening and it's approaching peak season. Then again, seems very bizarre and the rumour of an extension/refurbishment seems to float around often. In regards to the pushed open times, very strange and not overly acceptable for the UK's flagship park, especially given weekdays only offer 6 hours of In park time. I wonder if this will ever u-turn, especially if vast numbers still arrive for 10?

With the exception all of Chessington, all of Merlin's parks have built several major coasters in recent years. Towers has Smiler (2013) and SW8 (2018), Thorpe has Swarm (2012), Garda has Raptor (2011) and Oblivion Black Hole (2015) and Heide has Krake (2011) and Flug Der Daemon (2014). The problem isn't so much the gap between each major coaster, but fills that gap. Phantasialand for example left a ten year gap before building their most recent major coaster and filling the between years with a major flume Ride, dark ride, major flat, splash battle amongst enhanced kids rides and reworking of the park's hub.

Airhop has been booked up, so no need to worry hopefully. And no TGI cocktails ? But their Purple rain is amazing, even if it needs a loan to buy one of them

I only ever rode Wicked Witches Haunt once or twice, but my first ever ride on it amazed the six year old me. From it's beautiful gothic design, sets, humour and set pieces. It was the first large scale dark ride I'd ever ridden and blew anything else out of proportion, which were mostly fairground ghost trains. This was a lot more than a ghost train. I would still argue to this day the loss of this attraction is the greatest loss to the UK and it's tragic to think how all that detail was burn't to ash in it's final moments. Geisterschloss at Europa Park (though noticeably different) is probably the nearest replica to this ride which thankfully still operates to this day.

Plopsaland are not only building a new hotel, but a new holiday village too. Apparently there will be 150 lodges amongst pitches for caravans. This area will be located behind the park and is said to utilise the existing Wickie theme as well. The first phase may be ready for next year when the park will also open their Theatre themed hotel. Source-Loopings Certainly a very interesting investment and perhaps somewhat a cross between Bosrijk and Enchanted Village, It's great to see Plopsaland investing so much into the park lately and I'm sure will be a hit for them.

To be fair they've needed a major new addition for while that doesn't comprise an embarrassing truck journey with animals and this is probably the attraction that breaks that gap. I'm sure it'll be pretty successful for the park despite replacing a contrived form of a classic.

Well, at least it's a start. Kudos for them for actually maintaining something that isn't new or a safety hazard. Well done.

The problem here is not so much the case of the ride being mothballed for several seasons (including the one coming) but the overall state of the ride in recent years. Logger's tunnel was in a terrible state during the last 5+ years of the ride's life resulting in complete removal of a large chunk in 2013 and the first drop no longer being enclosed. Considering it remained unchanged for it's final three seasons amongst the increasingly stale station building, queue and landscaping says a lot about the ride's TLC (or lack of perhaps). Merlin have been under the steering wheel for ten years now and given the ride's increasing poor state and park success, you could surely think a company second to Disney could implement the acceptable renovation procedures to keep it in a workable state in the first place. A constant TLC scheme should be mandatory at all parks as presentation and operations should be a priority. Hopefully if what Adam says seems to be true, maybe we will finally see the return of the ride somepoint in the future with much needed updates and safety enhancements. However recent track records such as the abrupt closing of the Flume, Dragon Fall's rockwork and others don't give much optimism. It would be a shame to lose such a classic, iconic and staple ride, especially given it's famous reputation in the nineties with a former famous figure.

I can safely say the fundamental reasons why I return to our Merlin parks are as a result of the following: The social aspect-meeting and catching up with mates (not to mention meets) New rides- Examples include Swarm, Smiler and DBGT The rides I love- Swarm,Nemesis, Vampire, Thirteen and Inferno to name a few The Merlin Pass is still adequate value (arguably) Typically I only complain as I think they could be better than what they currently are, but as this is a positive topic I'll try and stay optimistic. The Towers Loving Care Scheme (the Nemy repaint) The Roller Coaster Restaurant The Ghost Train Shop Tidal Wave enhancements Thorpe Street food Slammer working (sorry ?) Burger King enhancements The pre-firework fountain show at Legoland The new finale in the Star Wars miniland Salvaging models of Dino Safari & Loki's Labyrinth The new opening system at Legoland Hope that was acceptable

Just some of the maps and things I own. Might take a new updated picture in a while as this was probably taken two years ago.

Adding onto the sound advice Adam and Matty have given, I'll say this. Only do DBGT if the queue isn't too excessive. If not it may be worth trying for the end of the day as the queues typically close and not the rides when the park shuts. Rumba and Angry Birds 4D are advisable 'after lunch' rides unless you have a strong stomach or join a queue over 30 minutes. The big five coasters, X, Detonator, DBGT (if it's your thing), Slammer, Rush and Tidal Wave (if the weather is good) are the must do's.

I tend to avoid that rust bucket company as they make DBGT look highly reliable. South West wipe the floor with them until they combust!