Matt 236

Such a shame they are removing this. Sure it wasn’t the top coaster in the park (Cedar Point at least), but it was such a fun thrilling attraction with so much kick!
 
Cant really see what they could replace it with, unless they do up the whole area.

Loving the spelling mistake disaster on the grafiti! Colussus! Still Thorpe saw the funny side and changed the wording on the app! 😂
 

I think the change to Tiny Truckers is an improvement, because it teaches the kids what the M25 is realistically like when to drive on.

Efteling's long-term outline plan (up to 2030) has finally been approved, roughly six years after it was first conceived, and 3 years after the first plans went in:
 
 
 
The plan in particular includes an extension to the park itself, as crudely outlined here:
  
 
Some may remember talks of a circus themed area, including a launch coaster, being the plan for part of this area, with that originally hoped to open in 2020 or 2021. I believe this is still on the table (some rumours even suggest the project has been tendered and track manufactured). However, because of the financial impacts of the pandemic, don't expect that, or nay big new things, any time soon, as everything is currently on hold, as outlined in this new video from the park:
 
 
Efteling is a huge park and has a huge draw. In 2017-2019, they were getting over 5.2 million visitors each year. Covid will have slashed those numbers significantly. Without investment, and with all restrictions lifted, I'd imagine they would still easily get back to at least 4.5 million visitors a year.
 
But with competition in the Netherlands and Belgium ever improving, and it being a dense market, I do feel that if they want to get back to pre-pandemic numbers quicker, a big investment should happen sooner rather than later.

Can only echo what was said regarding Sunday there. It really was poor. I ended up leaving at 3pm, as I was fed up.
 
Thinking positively, The Big One itself was on top top form and easily the best rides I have ever had on it. The Saturday post 10pm ride was truly amazing, with no wind, pure speed and even some unusual pops of airtime. One of my all time favourite coaster rides of all time.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach was atrocious on Sunday.
 
Saturday was an excellent day helped by the 10pm close; we arrived in the morning to find Alice, Ice Blast, Nickelodeon Streak, Avalanche and Revolution on delayed opening, which wrecked our chances of riding the low capacity rides first, but fortunately things picked up later on and the rides ran excellently throughout the day.  Icon was unfortunately still running very slowly once up to 3 trains, I waited earlier on 2 and the queue moved faster but some of my group ended up waiting over 90 minutes later on.
 
Sunday however, was the worst day I have ever had at BPB.  The park was busier than the Saturday, which I presume was due to the bank holiday, and yet there was no extension to the 6pm closing time.  We arrived early again to find Ice Blast, Alice, Derby Racer and the entirety of Nickelodeon Land opening at 11am!  Nick Land was completely fenced off until 11, which was utterly useless when you consider that getting on the Streak early is the only way to avoid waiting an eternity for it.
 
The coasters due to open at 10:30am were closer to 11 by the time they actually opened, meaning that for the first hour, the only ride in the entire park open was Flying Machines!
 
The Big One and Icon's operations were woefully slow on the Sunday, I have never seen such slow dispatch times in all my visits to the Pleasure Beach.  Icon was stacking for 5 minutes each time, meaning it took us 10 minutes to get off the thing, since we had to wait in two places as the ride was on 3 trains.  450pph was calculated I believe which is just abysmal, also bearing in mind that the Speedy Pass queue was enormous.
 
Icon had major capacity problems with it starting the day on 2 trains both times, at which point it was moving the queue reasonably, but they would then hold it up to add on the third train at around midday (which took them 20 minutes to do on the Sunday), after which operations slowed down to an absolute snail's pace.  This caused the queue to overspill the extended queueline; past the entrance gate, all the way down the path next to it and back up, and overflowing out next to the Icon shop.  It would then hardly move for the rest of the day making for some utterly horrible wait times.
 
Despite the park being absolutely heaving, Grand National, Ghost Train and River Caves closed an hour early at 5pm due to a private event?!  This was absolute madness given how busy the park was, and again, I have never seen anything like it.
 
I've tried to see the good in the Pleasure Beach, but Sunday was an utter shambles and the worst day I've ever spend at BPB.

Where have I heard these things before? Let me ask my buddy, Derren:

"I don't know Josh, I just don't know..."

Today, myself and others made our way to the park to check out the new area. Here’s just some of my thoughts. 
 
Tornado Springs is a lovely area and really adds another dimension to an already great park. It’s must be amongst the best areas I’ve seen in recent years. 
 
Storm Chaser is a lovely fun coaster with a very reasonable throughput, Cyclonator is surprisingly thrilling, the drop towers are fun and the tractor ride pleasant. Rest of the area further compliments this. 
 
Rest of the park still great and surprisingly busy. The comparison of newer areas to the likes of where Cobra and the Flume are located is remarkable. Hopefully they’ll sort those next. 
 
All in all great park to see if you can. And worth the longer drive compared to say Chessington.
 
A few photos. 

Today, myself and others made our way to the park to check out the new area. Here’s just some of my thoughts. 
 
Tornado Springs is a lovely area and really adds another dimension to an already great park. It’s must be amongst the best areas I’ve seen in recent years. 
 
Storm Chaser is a lovely fun coaster with a very reasonable throughput, Cyclonator is surprisingly thrilling, the drop towers are fun and the tractor ride pleasant. Rest of the area further compliments this. 
 
Rest of the park still great and surprisingly busy. The comparison of newer areas to the likes of where Cobra and the Flume are located is remarkable. Hopefully they’ll sort those next. 
 
All in all great park to see if you can. And worth the longer drive compared to say Chessington.
 
A few photos. 

Today, myself and others made our way to the park to check out the new area. Here’s just some of my thoughts. 
 
Tornado Springs is a lovely area and really adds another dimension to an already great park. It’s must be amongst the best areas I’ve seen in recent years. 
 
Storm Chaser is a lovely fun coaster with a very reasonable throughput, Cyclonator is surprisingly thrilling, the drop towers are fun and the tractor ride pleasant. Rest of the area further compliments this. 
 
Rest of the park still great and surprisingly busy. The comparison of newer areas to the likes of where Cobra and the Flume are located is remarkable. Hopefully they’ll sort those next. 
 
All in all great park to see if you can. And worth the longer drive compared to say Chessington.
 
A few photos. 

**David Attenborough has entered the thread**

**David Attenborough has entered the thread**

Well when two boats love each other very much.. Okay maybe not now, it is a family forum.

@Matt Creek I cannot believe that Forbidden Tomb has returned!! I am delighted in fact ecstatic.I told you all to believe me and that Abdab would resurrect. From now on can you ALL take my word. Roll on the 17th of May when hopefully someone will vlog from inside Forbidden Tomb and we’ll see Abdab again.

Right. So Wisey & myself took a little trip to Chessington today, which would be our first trip and park visit of the year. 
 
To Sum Up:
Park is the best it’s looked in years, from areas such as Mexicana and Land Of The Dragons receiving noticeable touch ups  Park Audio was rather messy and untidy in several places, maybe there’s issue  All key eating places were open, although the surprise lack of outdoor seating was a little disappointing  Majority of staff were friendly enough, although there were some issues with one or two  Blue Barnacle is alright, least they replaced Buccaneer Zufari has interesting amendments   
Park operations left room for improvement, with rides stacking and breaking down often. Maybe these are start of season glitches but they still need addressing. RAP needs sorting because it’s getting a bit out of hand now! The park definitely warrants 7pm close, was very busy today!

Finally tried Croc Drop too. It’s a nice enough addition and looks visually pleasing (from the front). Nothing ground breaking but fun all round.
 

Maybe Forbidden Tomb will be the name of the top-spin going in Tomb Blaster's building?

2021 Edition Part two.
 
The other day, someone said Steel Vengeance was over-rated. I'm going to stand out here, shout to the world that if you decide to refer to something as over-rated then you have no critical discourse whatsoever and you need to pick up a thesaurus and learn some new descriptive language. Saying something is over-rated is the laziest critique anyone can possibly muster up because it requires no explanation and only looks to disregard peoples opinion. It says to others, 'sure you like a ride but thats only because you're following the crowd. No, I am the only true oracle, the only one that can see past the rose tinted glasses of hype and I stand before you now to tell you that you're a blind sheeple. Follow me, I declare that Steel vengeance/Taron/Nemesis/anything people quite like isn't as good as you think it is'.
 
Under-rated is different. There are so many attractions out there (Alpina Blitz at Nigloland for example) that fall completely under the radar and deserve to be spoken about more. The term under-rated is actually quite nice because it can be used to inspire people to try something or go somewhere they wouldn't necessarily go to without the recommendation. 
 
Over-rated is an awful awful phrase and looks to just belittle others viewpoints and enjoyment. 

We will get Bouncezilla and Gamefx back if we are lucky
 
If Loggers came back, I'd be a dutchman's uncle. They are probably waiting for it to just collapse to save on the good old demolition costs knowing them.

Sourced via Theme Park Guide's Facebook...

 
A freshly painted monkey
 

I hear Efteling has this entrances pictures all over the guest services!!

Narrator: it will

Basically. 

It really is a shame the amount of issues Lightning Rod has had and looks set to continue to have going forward.
 
The coaster is quite clearly a massive hit in the community and I can not wait for the day I get the chance to ride it, but there is simply no denying that it has been an absolute nightmare for Dollywood AND RMC in regards to maintenance and upkeep.
 
Very doubtful we are going to see RMC touch launches anytime soon given that it very much looks like the launch is the issue with Lightning Rod as made apparent by the scaling back of its speed near immediately after it opened.

Short answer: No
Long answer: Nope.

Stealth turns 15 years old today! Almost hard to believe it is actually that old..!
 
If you feel like reminiscing a bit, or simply haven't seen construction photos of Stealth, we have a nice selection of photos on the TPM Stealth page for your viewing pleasure...