Cal

So it was the first day of our holiday, and waking up stupidly early due to jet lag we arrived at Universal after eating an IHOP. Yum.
We got our tickets, and we waited for IOA to open (even though studios opened at 8) not having a clue how busy it was going to be.
It opened a bit before 9, and after scanning our fingers we were in. We went straight to the back of the park for the Wizarding World.

Seeing the whole area, and Hogwarts for the first time is amazing. Photos, like of most places won't do it justice.

So much bigger than I thought it was going to be, looks so much better in person.
Not really knowing what to expect for my first proper dark ride (previous favourite being Dual) I was very exited to say the least.
Forbidden Journey
Was seriously amazing, and in my opinion better than Gringotts. Gringotts may be more thrilling, but as an overall experience Forbidden Journey was my favourite dark. Perfect combination of screens and proper theming, and the ride system is soo cool! Amazed as I came off, I went straight round the single rider queue for another go.
Whole area has lots of shops to go in and experiences like live performances. Even if you're not a fan of Harry potter the area is amazing, yes I've seen the movies but I'm really not a fan of harry potter myself, and Forbidden Journey is still my favourite dark ride. The area also has a small Vekoma coaster called Flight of the Hippogriff with insane operations, and then obviously dragon challenge.
Dragon Challenge
This ride literally never had a queue, the only queue was annoyingly for the metal detectors. If you didn't know, you have to go through metal detectors for both Dragon Challenge and Hollywood rip ride rocket, and I'm assuming Hulk as well which wasn't open at the time. This is so that no personal belongings such as phones can be taken in the queue line.
After a really long indoor queue, you then get to the point where you choose Chinese Fireball or Hungarian Horntail (easier to just say Fire and ice still )
They are both really good coasters actually, a lot better than I thought they were going to be! I do wish I rode them when they dueled. The entrance looked amazing back when it was dueling dragon! I personally preferred the Fireball however they were very similar!
Re-ride queue takes you straight to the front of the building again, so you don't have to queue to get through the metal detectors again. Great idea.
Jurassic park
So Jurassic park was next, a really really good experience, especially the inside section and drop. So well themed, and the animatronics are amazing. It was however a really short experience and only had the 1 drop, a lot shorter than I was expecting it to be, especially the inside section. It was more outside than inside.
Ripsaw falls
Getting all the water rides done at once, ripsaw falls was next, the best looking log flume I've ever seen by far

It didn't disappoint. Theming was great, and had quite a few good drops. Lap bars did make it uncomfortable, and I believe it didn't have them when it first opened? Guess they're there for a reason.
Theming in this whole toon area is really nice, and the music is cool.
Popeye
By far the best rapids I've ever done. The theming is amazing, has a themed troff the whole way round. All the water effects make it so so good because of the randomness, lots high speed points and some good drops. I've heard so many times its the worlds wettest rapids, and after 4 re-rides, enough was enough. Still took a few hours to dry off in the heat.
Spiderman
That facade

Spiderman is an awesome ride, mainly screens but lots of scenery which adds to it. Lots of effects including fire, the music is perfect, one of my favourites. The ride system is really cool as well, and theres one point where it spins round loads which is fun. Defiantly my 2nd favourite dark ride I've ever done.
Say this about every area but he whole area is really nice, but it was such a shame hulk was closed and the ride was boarded off. Most of hulk was still there when I was there, but as I was there it was getting taken down.
Dr doom fearfall
2 S&S towers next to each other. Was really looking forward to this as I love drop towers and had never done a launching one before. I really enjoyed it, and the airtime once you get to the top is amazing. Single rider worked really well on this with it being up the exit, so no one really knows about it
Seaus Landing
A really really nice kids area, defiantly the the nicest I've ever seen. Did a few of the rides including the cat in the hat dark ride which was nice.
It then of course had the Hogwarts express which takes you to Studios, such a fantastic idea and is really handy. Not once did we spend the whole day in one of the parks, so this is great to take you from each one, when it doesn't have a queue.

Overall I loved IOA, its seriously such a beautiful park with such a good atmosphere. The whole park is superbly themed and has some great soundtracks just walking around the park. It's home to my 2 favourite dark rides, 3 great water rides and good coasters. The only downside in my opinion was the lack of rides, it really doesn't take long to get it all done especially during quiet days like when we visited. Was such a shame to see Hulk closed but I'm looking forward to visiting again to ride that and Kong
The journey continues at Studios... http://forum.maniahub.com/blog/76/entry-750-universal-studios-orlando-october-2015/

So we get of the Hogwarts express and arrive at Kings cross. It's crazy, literally just like a London station. The posters on the walls, to the bins, the constant train announcements, and they even had buskers!? It's just themeing to a whole new level.

We then walked out of Kings Cross to enter Diagon Alley. You turn a corner around a brick wall and then boom. There it is, Diagon alley.

Literally one place everyone has there phones out taking constant pictures. So real, just like the movies. Every little detail thought about. And same with the Wizarding world, such an amazing atmosphere, the music is perfect and has live performances. This area seems a lot more immersive with it being smaller, and the fire effect going off ever so often as well is cool.
Escape from Gringotts
Yes the whole experience starts from the queue with a lot of rides at Universal, but this whole queue is seriously amazing. Whole queue is well themed and has lots of entertainment, including 2 pre-shows! The single rider queue skips all of this out, so make you sure you go through the main queue once to see it all!
Onto the actual ride, again, its amazing! Beaten by the original FJ and Spiderman in my opinion, but the quality of the 3D on the ride is amazing. It does have quite a few rollercoaster elements in there as well which is cool. It was my brothers favourite ride ever.
Revenge of the mummy
Had no idea what to expect for this one. Walking through a very dark and atmospheric queue line. It ended up being one of the rides I rode the most at universal, most re-rideable, so so fun. More of a rollercoaster than a dark ride, it starts as a slow dark ride but soon turns into more of a rollercoaster. Really good theming, and the fire effects are amazing. Loved it <3 No 3D involved.
Twister
Very very dated, but it still had some pretty cool effects and is pretty interesting. The main part of the ride was over very quick though, did expect it to go on for longer. Good decision for it to go if I'm honest, it is very dated compared to the rest of the park and I'm sure Jimmy Fallon will be a lot lot better.
Hollywood rip ride rocket
Was really good, such a fun and unique coaster. Did find it slightly rough in some places, but it was nice having just a lapbar because of the freedom and found the seats pretty comfortable. Music made it really unique and it had quite a few near misses.
Men in black: Alien attack
So men in black was a shooter, competing with only dual and tomb blaster this is my favourite shooter. Again this was all proper theming, no screens involved. The ride system was pretty cool, lots of spinning round which actually had a bit of force to it Just a fun ride, I liked it.

Simpsons ride
Next up was the Simpsons ride, and yeah, It was alright. It was one of worst rides I did at Universal but that doesn't mean it was bad, it's just it was competing with some amazing rides. It basically lifts you up into like a curved Imax screen and you go on a rollercoaster journey, with 2 pre shows before the ride as well. I would of loved to of ridden it when it was back to the future.

The Simpsons building and whole area is amazing, the Simpsons theme gives it such a good atmosphere. It also has buildings you can go in like the Kick-E-Mart or Moe's as well as Simpson meets and greets.

E.T Adventure
Next up was ET which was an old dark ride with all proper theming, no use of screens. You sit on a bike which is pretty cool which is suspended from the roof (a similar ride system to Peter pan at Disney from what I remember) At the end of the ride is says goodbye to each individual rider, as you give your name before you get on the ride. Whilst it is a good ride, it is dated and is a ride I could be seen used for development (similar to Twister and Disaster.)
In between ET and the Simpsons there is a childrens area home to Woody the Woodpecker coaster, a barney show, a curious george play area and another play area. Maybe it's just because it was quiet while we were there but this area was always completely dead, and didn't really have a lot there apart from the coaster. It would be nice to see this area updated similar to Seuss Landing in IOA, or even a major ride put in there.
Transformers 3D
The moment you walk in the queue for this you know it's a new ride, and know its going to be a good one. Using the same or very similar ride system to Spiderman at IOA, it didn't disappoint. Not a lot to say about it really except it was very good, and that it used a good mix or real theming and screens similar to spiderman. Do prefer the previous 3 dark rides I've mentioned but this was really good.
Shrek 4D
Pretty good bog standard 4d cinema, very similar to Angry birds. Not a lot to say about it really, but it was good, and pretty funny
Terminator 2: 3D
Really didn't expect a lot from this, just a 3D cinema but was actually pleasantly surprised, it was very good. After a pretty long pre show (with live actors) we then got rushed in to a massive 3D cinema/ theater which was a mix of live action and 3D and loads of effects. Very impressive
Thats pretty much it for Universal, unfortunately we didn't get on Despicable me Minion Mayhem the whole time we were there as it always had a high queue time, wether that was because it has a low throughput or the fact its right next to the entrance I don't know?
I really liked Studios, and same with IOA, I loved the whole layout around the lake. I do however prefer IOA with it having my 2 favourite dark rides, better coasters and fun water rides.
City walk is such a nice area, and has some nice restaurants as well, although they are pretty pricey It's such a nice way to link the 2 parks as well, it takes less than 5 minutes if you are at one of the entrances.
Single rider queues are so so good, normally at least half the wait of the normal line, if not you get on pretty much instantly. A lot of times we got with people in our group as if they can't find a party of 2 quick enough they'll just shove 2 single riders on. Operations on all the rides are seriously faultless.
Thought it was worth mentioning that the drink capsules are really worth while here as well. You pay a higher price the first day for the cup but once you have a cup it's only $6 for unlimited refills all day. There are coke freestyle machines literally all round the parks which scan your cups automatically to see if they're active.

I've done a review of Busch Gardens Howl O scream if you haven't seen it already, and they will be a Universal Halloween Horror Nights one soon to compare

So it was the first day of our holiday, and waking up stupidly early due to jet lag we arrived at Universal after eating an IHOP. Yum.
We got our tickets, and we waited for IOA to open (even though studios opened at 8) not having a clue how busy it was going to be.
It opened a bit before 9, and after scanning our fingers we were in. We went straight to the back of the park for the Wizarding World.

Seeing the whole area, and Hogwarts for the first time is amazing. Photos, like of most places won't do it justice.

So much bigger than I thought it was going to be, looks so much better in person.
Not really knowing what to expect for my first proper dark ride (previous favourite being Dual) I was very exited to say the least.
Forbidden Journey
Was seriously amazing, and in my opinion better than Gringotts. Gringotts may be more thrilling, but as an overall experience Forbidden Journey was my favourite dark. Perfect combination of screens and proper theming, and the ride system is soo cool! Amazed as I came off, I went straight round the single rider queue for another go.
Whole area has lots of shops to go in and experiences like live performances. Even if you're not a fan of Harry potter the area is amazing, yes I've seen the movies but I'm really not a fan of harry potter myself, and Forbidden Journey is still my favourite dark ride. The area also has a small Vekoma coaster called Flight of the Hippogriff with insane operations, and then obviously dragon challenge.
Dragon Challenge
This ride literally never had a queue, the only queue was annoyingly for the metal detectors. If you didn't know, you have to go through metal detectors for both Dragon Challenge and Hollywood rip ride rocket, and I'm assuming Hulk as well which wasn't open at the time. This is so that no personal belongings such as phones can be taken in the queue line.
After a really long indoor queue, you then get to the point where you choose Chinese Fireball or Hungarian Horntail (easier to just say Fire and ice still )
They are both really good coasters actually, a lot better than I thought they were going to be! I do wish I rode them when they dueled. The entrance looked amazing back when it was dueling dragon! I personally preferred the Fireball however they were very similar!
Re-ride queue takes you straight to the front of the building again, so you don't have to queue to get through the metal detectors again. Great idea.
Jurassic park
So Jurassic park was next, a really really good experience, especially the inside section and drop. So well themed, and the animatronics are amazing. It was however a really short experience and only had the 1 drop, a lot shorter than I was expecting it to be, especially the inside section. It was more outside than inside.
Ripsaw falls
Getting all the water rides done at once, ripsaw falls was next, the best looking log flume I've ever seen by far

It didn't disappoint. Theming was great, and had quite a few good drops. Lap bars did make it uncomfortable, and I believe it didn't have them when it first opened? Guess they're there for a reason.
Theming in this whole toon area is really nice, and the music is cool.
Popeye
By far the best rapids I've ever done. The theming is amazing, has a themed troff the whole way round. All the water effects make it so so good because of the randomness, lots high speed points and some good drops. I've heard so many times its the worlds wettest rapids, and after 4 re-rides, enough was enough. Still took a few hours to dry off in the heat.
Spiderman
That facade

Spiderman is an awesome ride, mainly screens but lots of scenery which adds to it. Lots of effects including fire, the music is perfect, one of my favourites. The ride system is really cool as well, and theres one point where it spins round loads which is fun. Defiantly my 2nd favourite dark ride I've ever done.
Say this about every area but he whole area is really nice, but it was such a shame hulk was closed and the ride was boarded off. Most of hulk was still there when I was there, but as I was there it was getting taken down.
Dr doom fearfall
2 S&S towers next to each other. Was really looking forward to this as I love drop towers and had never done a launching one before. I really enjoyed it, and the airtime once you get to the top is amazing. Single rider worked really well on this with it being up the exit, so no one really knows about it
Seaus Landing
A really really nice kids area, defiantly the the nicest I've ever seen. Did a few of the rides including the cat in the hat dark ride which was nice.
It then of course had the Hogwarts express which takes you to Studios, such a fantastic idea and is really handy. Not once did we spend the whole day in one of the parks, so this is great to take you from each one, when it doesn't have a queue.

Overall I loved IOA, its seriously such a beautiful park with such a good atmosphere. The whole park is superbly themed and has some great soundtracks just walking around the park. It's home to my 2 favourite dark rides, 3 great water rides and good coasters. The only downside in my opinion was the lack of rides, it really doesn't take long to get it all done especially during quiet days like when we visited. Was such a shame to see Hulk closed but I'm looking forward to visiting again to ride that and Kong
The journey continues at Studios... http://forum.maniahub.com/blog/76/entry-750-universal-studios-orlando-october-2015/

So we get of the Hogwarts express and arrive at Kings cross. It's crazy, literally just like a London station. The posters on the walls, to the bins, the constant train announcements, and they even had buskers!? It's just themeing to a whole new level.

We then walked out of Kings Cross to enter Diagon Alley. You turn a corner around a brick wall and then boom. There it is, Diagon alley.

Literally one place everyone has there phones out taking constant pictures. So real, just like the movies. Every little detail thought about. And same with the Wizarding world, such an amazing atmosphere, the music is perfect and has live performances. This area seems a lot more immersive with it being smaller, and the fire effect going off ever so often as well is cool.
Escape from Gringotts
Yes the whole experience starts from the queue with a lot of rides at Universal, but this whole queue is seriously amazing. Whole queue is well themed and has lots of entertainment, including 2 pre-shows! The single rider queue skips all of this out, so make you sure you go through the main queue once to see it all!
Onto the actual ride, again, its amazing! Beaten by the original FJ and Spiderman in my opinion, but the quality of the 3D on the ride is amazing. It does have quite a few rollercoaster elements in there as well which is cool. It was my brothers favourite ride ever.
Revenge of the mummy
Had no idea what to expect for this one. Walking through a very dark and atmospheric queue line. It ended up being one of the rides I rode the most at universal, most re-rideable, so so fun. More of a rollercoaster than a dark ride, it starts as a slow dark ride but soon turns into more of a rollercoaster. Really good theming, and the fire effects are amazing. Loved it <3 No 3D involved.
Twister
Very very dated, but it still had some pretty cool effects and is pretty interesting. The main part of the ride was over very quick though, did expect it to go on for longer. Good decision for it to go if I'm honest, it is very dated compared to the rest of the park and I'm sure Jimmy Fallon will be a lot lot better.
Hollywood rip ride rocket
Was really good, such a fun and unique coaster. Did find it slightly rough in some places, but it was nice having just a lapbar because of the freedom and found the seats pretty comfortable. Music made it really unique and it had quite a few near misses.
Men in black: Alien attack
So men in black was a shooter, competing with only dual and tomb blaster this is my favourite shooter. Again this was all proper theming, no screens involved. The ride system was pretty cool, lots of spinning round which actually had a bit of force to it Just a fun ride, I liked it.

Simpsons ride
Next up was the Simpsons ride, and yeah, It was alright. It was one of worst rides I did at Universal but that doesn't mean it was bad, it's just it was competing with some amazing rides. It basically lifts you up into like a curved Imax screen and you go on a rollercoaster journey, with 2 pre shows before the ride as well. I would of loved to of ridden it when it was back to the future.

The Simpsons building and whole area is amazing, the Simpsons theme gives it such a good atmosphere. It also has buildings you can go in like the Kick-E-Mart or Moe's as well as Simpson meets and greets.

E.T Adventure
Next up was ET which was an old dark ride with all proper theming, no use of screens. You sit on a bike which is pretty cool which is suspended from the roof (a similar ride system to Peter pan at Disney from what I remember) At the end of the ride is says goodbye to each individual rider, as you give your name before you get on the ride. Whilst it is a good ride, it is dated and is a ride I could be seen used for development (similar to Twister and Disaster.)
In between ET and the Simpsons there is a childrens area home to Woody the Woodpecker coaster, a barney show, a curious george play area and another play area. Maybe it's just because it was quiet while we were there but this area was always completely dead, and didn't really have a lot there apart from the coaster. It would be nice to see this area updated similar to Seuss Landing in IOA, or even a major ride put in there.
Transformers 3D
The moment you walk in the queue for this you know it's a new ride, and know its going to be a good one. Using the same or very similar ride system to Spiderman at IOA, it didn't disappoint. Not a lot to say about it really except it was very good, and that it used a good mix or real theming and screens similar to spiderman. Do prefer the previous 3 dark rides I've mentioned but this was really good.
Shrek 4D
Pretty good bog standard 4d cinema, very similar to Angry birds. Not a lot to say about it really, but it was good, and pretty funny
Terminator 2: 3D
Really didn't expect a lot from this, just a 3D cinema but was actually pleasantly surprised, it was very good. After a pretty long pre show (with live actors) we then got rushed in to a massive 3D cinema/ theater which was a mix of live action and 3D and loads of effects. Very impressive
Thats pretty much it for Universal, unfortunately we didn't get on Despicable me Minion Mayhem the whole time we were there as it always had a high queue time, wether that was because it has a low throughput or the fact its right next to the entrance I don't know?
I really liked Studios, and same with IOA, I loved the whole layout around the lake. I do however prefer IOA with it having my 2 favourite dark rides, better coasters and fun water rides.
City walk is such a nice area, and has some nice restaurants as well, although they are pretty pricey It's such a nice way to link the 2 parks as well, it takes less than 5 minutes if you are at one of the entrances.
Single rider queues are so so good, normally at least half the wait of the normal line, if not you get on pretty much instantly. A lot of times we got with people in our group as if they can't find a party of 2 quick enough they'll just shove 2 single riders on. Operations on all the rides are seriously faultless.
Thought it was worth mentioning that the drink capsules are really worth while here as well. You pay a higher price the first day for the cup but once you have a cup it's only $6 for unlimited refills all day. There are coke freestyle machines literally all round the parks which scan your cups automatically to see if they're active.

I've done a review of Busch Gardens Howl O scream if you haven't seen it already, and they will be a Universal Halloween Horror Nights one soon to compare

So it was the first day of our holiday, and waking up stupidly early due to jet lag we arrived at Universal after eating an IHOP. Yum.
We got our tickets, and we waited for IOA to open (even though studios opened at 8) not having a clue how busy it was going to be.
It opened a bit before 9, and after scanning our fingers we were in. We went straight to the back of the park for the Wizarding World.

Seeing the whole area, and Hogwarts for the first time is amazing. Photos, like of most places won't do it justice.

So much bigger than I thought it was going to be, looks so much better in person.
Not really knowing what to expect for my first proper dark ride (previous favourite being Dual) I was very exited to say the least.
Forbidden Journey
Was seriously amazing, and in my opinion better than Gringotts. Gringotts may be more thrilling, but as an overall experience Forbidden Journey was my favourite dark. Perfect combination of screens and proper theming, and the ride system is soo cool! Amazed as I came off, I went straight round the single rider queue for another go.
Whole area has lots of shops to go in and experiences like live performances. Even if you're not a fan of Harry potter the area is amazing, yes I've seen the movies but I'm really not a fan of harry potter myself, and Forbidden Journey is still my favourite dark ride. The area also has a small Vekoma coaster called Flight of the Hippogriff with insane operations, and then obviously dragon challenge.
Dragon Challenge
This ride literally never had a queue, the only queue was annoyingly for the metal detectors. If you didn't know, you have to go through metal detectors for both Dragon Challenge and Hollywood rip ride rocket, and I'm assuming Hulk as well which wasn't open at the time. This is so that no personal belongings such as phones can be taken in the queue line.
After a really long indoor queue, you then get to the point where you choose Chinese Fireball or Hungarian Horntail (easier to just say Fire and ice still )
They are both really good coasters actually, a lot better than I thought they were going to be! I do wish I rode them when they dueled. The entrance looked amazing back when it was dueling dragon! I personally preferred the Fireball however they were very similar!
Re-ride queue takes you straight to the front of the building again, so you don't have to queue to get through the metal detectors again. Great idea.
Jurassic park
So Jurassic park was next, a really really good experience, especially the inside section and drop. So well themed, and the animatronics are amazing. It was however a really short experience and only had the 1 drop, a lot shorter than I was expecting it to be, especially the inside section. It was more outside than inside.
Ripsaw falls
Getting all the water rides done at once, ripsaw falls was next, the best looking log flume I've ever seen by far

It didn't disappoint. Theming was great, and had quite a few good drops. Lap bars did make it uncomfortable, and I believe it didn't have them when it first opened? Guess they're there for a reason.
Theming in this whole toon area is really nice, and the music is cool.
Popeye
By far the best rapids I've ever done. The theming is amazing, has a themed troff the whole way round. All the water effects make it so so good because of the randomness, lots high speed points and some good drops. I've heard so many times its the worlds wettest rapids, and after 4 re-rides, enough was enough. Still took a few hours to dry off in the heat.
Spiderman
That facade

Spiderman is an awesome ride, mainly screens but lots of scenery which adds to it. Lots of effects including fire, the music is perfect, one of my favourites. The ride system is really cool as well, and theres one point where it spins round loads which is fun. Defiantly my 2nd favourite dark ride I've ever done.
Say this about every area but he whole area is really nice, but it was such a shame hulk was closed and the ride was boarded off. Most of hulk was still there when I was there, but as I was there it was getting taken down.
Dr doom fearfall
2 S&S towers next to each other. Was really looking forward to this as I love drop towers and had never done a launching one before. I really enjoyed it, and the airtime once you get to the top is amazing. Single rider worked really well on this with it being up the exit, so no one really knows about it
Seaus Landing
A really really nice kids area, defiantly the the nicest I've ever seen. Did a few of the rides including the cat in the hat dark ride which was nice.
It then of course had the Hogwarts express which takes you to Studios, such a fantastic idea and is really handy. Not once did we spend the whole day in one of the parks, so this is great to take you from each one, when it doesn't have a queue.

Overall I loved IOA, its seriously such a beautiful park with such a good atmosphere. The whole park is superbly themed and has some great soundtracks just walking around the park. It's home to my 2 favourite dark rides, 3 great water rides and good coasters. The only downside in my opinion was the lack of rides, it really doesn't take long to get it all done especially during quiet days like when we visited. Was such a shame to see Hulk closed but I'm looking forward to visiting again to ride that and Kong
The journey continues at Studios... http://forum.maniahub.com/blog/76/entry-750-universal-studios-orlando-october-2015/

So was in the park from around mid day. The event started at half 7, and the park closed for normal quests at 6. People for Howl O scream were aloud in at 5 and were given wristbands, so from 6 only people with wristbands were given access to all the rides. This was nice as it meant we didn't have to sit doing nothing for an hour like we did at Universal.
Was really looking forward to this event, open until 1am with 7 houses with all the main rides open. There was a also a show, live music and nightclubs for those interested.
There were no specific scare zones listed on the map like universal but there quite a few around the park, and groups of actors walking round the park similar to Fright Nights. There were people dressed up in ghille suits hiding in bush's and trees all around the park who just randomly just out at people or make a loud bang every so often. I found out the hard way when at 6 (still daylight) I shat my pants when one jumped out a bush and made a loud bang. Didn't expect any actors to be out at all, especially at 6. The event hadn't even started and I had already had a much bigger scare than I got the whole time I was at Universal. Such a great idea, and scared so many people. No one expected it.
There was a group of clowns roaming the park as well, and one of them made me jump again as well. At a corner there was a clown just standing there making strange noises distracting me, then another clown jumps out from behind a bin with a horn and scares you. Very well done.
Anyway onto the houses...
The Basement
So first up was the Basement. Turned up here about 15 minutes before it opened not knowing how busy/quiet it was going to be, but thought it was strange there being like 5 people in front of me when there was only 15 minutes until it opened.

As soon it was time, we were led down into the main queue and we were straight in. No talks like all the events in the UK, just signs at the entrance.

So at Busch gardens all the mazes were free flow meaning you didn't have to hold on the person in front of you, and they put you in the maze in around groups of 20, not as small as what they do in the UK but not as big as Universal (which is just a 1 massive conga line.)
Themed around mamas kitchen and how she is gonna cook you up and eat you. A brilliant house, better than all of the ones I did at Universal! Theming was excellent, water sprayed at you (as vomit) for example. All actors were great and stayed in roll the whole time, chainsaw ending on this one as well. 9/10
So next up located in Gwazi park (now closed during the day)...
Circus of superstition 3D

So being a 3D maze, you wear 3D glasses and everything in the maze is painted really bright UV colours, and all the glasses do is make the colours strike out a lot more.
After doing a dreadful 3D maze at Universal Halloween horror night I really wan't expecting much from this one. I walked up to the maze to see a completely empty queue, and got asked if I wanted to wait for a group or just go in alone (Didn't meet my family until after this house). So for the whole first half of the maze I was completely alone until I caught up with another group. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. Full of scares, including actors on swings/bungees who come out of no where and swing of the wall right up to you (you can't see them on a wall before they swing at you, they just come at you out of nowherere and swing back again. ) Clown costumes were excellent, music was excellent, acting quality again was amazing and overall just an amazing house. Defiantly one of the best I've ever done. 9/10
Facade looked amazing.

And there was a giant clown running around outside as well.

Next up was the new house for this year, Unearthed scarlets revenge.

Waited around 15 minutes for this one, was a bit stupid of us going in the house at the entrance of the park just as the event started as it had no queue later on Gwazis queue was used as the queue for this house, and even went right up to the station...



So annoying having a beautiful woodie lit up next to us SBNO which closed months before we went All the trains are still there sitting in the maintenance sheds.
Anyway back to the house, it was alright. Theming was good once again and was creepy, but lacked scares, which wasn't helped by the fact too many people were let in meaning it was very slow moving inside there. The main character in there Scarlett was just weird, a sexy girl with horns? Don't know how she was meant to be scary, or how she linked in with the rest of the monsters in there and rest of the house. Was just all a bit weird. Was a good house but just no where near as strong as the first 2 I did. 7/10
Death Water Bayou
Didn't really know what to expect for this one. Walked up a long path to find a nice facade, looked like an abounded house. This house was seriously amazing. Probably the best house/maze I've ever done. Seemed to have so many parts of the houses all combined into one, for example the swings/bungees from the clown maze were in here. A ridiculous amount of scares, a spinning tunnel, actors were amazing, theming was amazing, was just a really strong house throughout, loved every second. Very intense, most amount of scares in a maze. 10/10!!
Zombie Mortuary
Wasn't expecting to be scared a lot from this one, had never been through a zombie maze but once again a very good house. Soundtrack was great with a strong organ sound playing throughout, made a creepy atmosphere. Zombie costumes were really good, theming was good surprisingly a lot of scares. Another really strong house. 8/10
Deadfull
Again a pretty strong house, not a lot to say about this one. Theming was great, remember seeing a Merry go round, a playground, a graveyard. Was more creepy than scary. 8/10
Zombie Containment unit 15
Unfortunately I didn't get to experience this one. It had over a 45 minute queue the whole night when everything else was pretty much walk on, so we really couldn't be bothered. Guessing the reason for this is low throughput, all I know is that you have a gun and have to shoot the zombies. My advice to anyone that goes would be to do this first before it builds up a queue, the queue did not go down the whole time we were there.
Rides open at night were:
Cheetah Hunt in the dark was very good with a lot of it being dark.

Dodgems were great with smoke, lazers and loud music.

Kumba :wub: :wub: :wub:

Sheikra

Falcons Fury, which the Americans seemed to love.

and Montu.
Overall this was by far the best Halloween event I've ever done. The park atmosphere was fantastic, actors all round the park were fantastic and obviously all the main rides are open for night rides. There was really good music throughout the park, lighting and smoke machines everywhere. It's crazy how much a huge place can all have such a good atmosphere.
All the houses were very good, all had excellent theming, nice facades, great soundtracks and full of actors. Obviously some were better than others, but all the houses were very strong and there was none that I thought were terrible.
Walking around the park in the day is completely different to walking around it at night, it just all comes out of no where. There are loads of really nice photo opportunities dotted around the park as well, with actors standing there and staff to take a photo for you. Have one of me and my Dad.

We left the park a few hours early, we got we wanted to do done multiple times as there was literally no queues. Busch are good with re-rides on the coasters as well which is nice.
Lots of actors at the exit when we left

Apologies all the photos are terrible but they were all taken on my phone and all turned out very bad at night.
Thanks for reading. Happy to do a trip report of Busch Gardens in the day, Universal halloween horror night, Islands of adventure, Studios, Sea World, Fun Spot if people are interested

So was in the park from around mid day. The event started at half 7, and the park closed for normal quests at 6. People for Howl O scream were aloud in at 5 and were given wristbands, so from 6 only people with wristbands were given access to all the rides. This was nice as it meant we didn't have to sit doing nothing for an hour like we did at Universal.
Was really looking forward to this event, open until 1am with 7 houses with all the main rides open. There was a also a show, live music and nightclubs for those interested.
There were no specific scare zones listed on the map like universal but there quite a few around the park, and groups of actors walking round the park similar to Fright Nights. There were people dressed up in ghille suits hiding in bush's and trees all around the park who just randomly just out at people or make a loud bang every so often. I found out the hard way when at 6 (still daylight) I shat my pants when one jumped out a bush and made a loud bang. Didn't expect any actors to be out at all, especially at 6. The event hadn't even started and I had already had a much bigger scare than I got the whole time I was at Universal. Such a great idea, and scared so many people. No one expected it.
There was a group of clowns roaming the park as well, and one of them made me jump again as well. At a corner there was a clown just standing there making strange noises distracting me, then another clown jumps out from behind a bin with a horn and scares you. Very well done.
Anyway onto the houses...
The Basement
So first up was the Basement. Turned up here about 15 minutes before it opened not knowing how busy/quiet it was going to be, but thought it was strange there being like 5 people in front of me when there was only 15 minutes until it opened.

As soon it was time, we were led down into the main queue and we were straight in. No talks like all the events in the UK, just signs at the entrance.

So at Busch gardens all the mazes were free flow meaning you didn't have to hold on the person in front of you, and they put you in the maze in around groups of 20, not as small as what they do in the UK but not as big as Universal (which is just a 1 massive conga line.)
Themed around mamas kitchen and how she is gonna cook you up and eat you. A brilliant house, better than all of the ones I did at Universal! Theming was excellent, water sprayed at you (as vomit) for example. All actors were great and stayed in roll the whole time, chainsaw ending on this one as well. 9/10
So next up located in Gwazi park (now closed during the day)...
Circus of superstition 3D

So being a 3D maze, you wear 3D glasses and everything in the maze is painted really bright UV colours, and all the glasses do is make the colours strike out a lot more.
After doing a dreadful 3D maze at Universal Halloween horror night I really wan't expecting much from this one. I walked up to the maze to see a completely empty queue, and got asked if I wanted to wait for a group or just go in alone (Didn't meet my family until after this house). So for the whole first half of the maze I was completely alone until I caught up with another group. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. Full of scares, including actors on swings/bungees who come out of no where and swing of the wall right up to you (you can't see them on a wall before they swing at you, they just come at you out of nowherere and swing back again. ) Clown costumes were excellent, music was excellent, acting quality again was amazing and overall just an amazing house. Defiantly one of the best I've ever done. 9/10
Facade looked amazing.

And there was a giant clown running around outside as well.

Next up was the new house for this year, Unearthed scarlets revenge.

Waited around 15 minutes for this one, was a bit stupid of us going in the house at the entrance of the park just as the event started as it had no queue later on Gwazis queue was used as the queue for this house, and even went right up to the station...



So annoying having a beautiful woodie lit up next to us SBNO which closed months before we went All the trains are still there sitting in the maintenance sheds.
Anyway back to the house, it was alright. Theming was good once again and was creepy, but lacked scares, which wasn't helped by the fact too many people were let in meaning it was very slow moving inside there. The main character in there Scarlett was just weird, a sexy girl with horns? Don't know how she was meant to be scary, or how she linked in with the rest of the monsters in there and rest of the house. Was just all a bit weird. Was a good house but just no where near as strong as the first 2 I did. 7/10
Death Water Bayou
Didn't really know what to expect for this one. Walked up a long path to find a nice facade, looked like an abounded house. This house was seriously amazing. Probably the best house/maze I've ever done. Seemed to have so many parts of the houses all combined into one, for example the swings/bungees from the clown maze were in here. A ridiculous amount of scares, a spinning tunnel, actors were amazing, theming was amazing, was just a really strong house throughout, loved every second. Very intense, most amount of scares in a maze. 10/10!!
Zombie Mortuary
Wasn't expecting to be scared a lot from this one, had never been through a zombie maze but once again a very good house. Soundtrack was great with a strong organ sound playing throughout, made a creepy atmosphere. Zombie costumes were really good, theming was good surprisingly a lot of scares. Another really strong house. 8/10
Deadfull
Again a pretty strong house, not a lot to say about this one. Theming was great, remember seeing a Merry go round, a playground, a graveyard. Was more creepy than scary. 8/10
Zombie Containment unit 15
Unfortunately I didn't get to experience this one. It had over a 45 minute queue the whole night when everything else was pretty much walk on, so we really couldn't be bothered. Guessing the reason for this is low throughput, all I know is that you have a gun and have to shoot the zombies. My advice to anyone that goes would be to do this first before it builds up a queue, the queue did not go down the whole time we were there.
Rides open at night were:
Cheetah Hunt in the dark was very good with a lot of it being dark.

Dodgems were great with smoke, lazers and loud music.

Kumba :wub: :wub: :wub:

Sheikra

Falcons Fury, which the Americans seemed to love.

and Montu.
Overall this was by far the best Halloween event I've ever done. The park atmosphere was fantastic, actors all round the park were fantastic and obviously all the main rides are open for night rides. There was really good music throughout the park, lighting and smoke machines everywhere. It's crazy how much a huge place can all have such a good atmosphere.
All the houses were very good, all had excellent theming, nice facades, great soundtracks and full of actors. Obviously some were better than others, but all the houses were very strong and there was none that I thought were terrible.
Walking around the park in the day is completely different to walking around it at night, it just all comes out of no where. There are loads of really nice photo opportunities dotted around the park as well, with actors standing there and staff to take a photo for you. Have one of me and my Dad.

We left the park a few hours early, we got we wanted to do done multiple times as there was literally no queues. Busch are good with re-rides on the coasters as well which is nice.
Lots of actors at the exit when we left

Apologies all the photos are terrible but they were all taken on my phone and all turned out very bad at night.
Thanks for reading. Happy to do a trip report of Busch Gardens in the day, Universal halloween horror night, Islands of adventure, Studios, Sea World, Fun Spot if people are interested

So was in the park from around mid day. The event started at half 7, and the park closed for normal quests at 6. People for Howl O scream were aloud in at 5 and were given wristbands, so from 6 only people with wristbands were given access to all the rides. This was nice as it meant we didn't have to sit doing nothing for an hour like we did at Universal.
Was really looking forward to this event, open until 1am with 7 houses with all the main rides open. There was a also a show, live music and nightclubs for those interested.
There were no specific scare zones listed on the map like universal but there quite a few around the park, and groups of actors walking round the park similar to Fright Nights. There were people dressed up in ghille suits hiding in bush's and trees all around the park who just randomly just out at people or make a loud bang every so often. I found out the hard way when at 6 (still daylight) I shat my pants when one jumped out a bush and made a loud bang. Didn't expect any actors to be out at all, especially at 6. The event hadn't even started and I had already had a much bigger scare than I got the whole time I was at Universal. Such a great idea, and scared so many people. No one expected it.
There was a group of clowns roaming the park as well, and one of them made me jump again as well. At a corner there was a clown just standing there making strange noises distracting me, then another clown jumps out from behind a bin with a horn and scares you. Very well done.
Anyway onto the houses...
The Basement
So first up was the Basement. Turned up here about 15 minutes before it opened not knowing how busy/quiet it was going to be, but thought it was strange there being like 5 people in front of me when there was only 15 minutes until it opened.

As soon it was time, we were led down into the main queue and we were straight in. No talks like all the events in the UK, just signs at the entrance.

So at Busch gardens all the mazes were free flow meaning you didn't have to hold on the person in front of you, and they put you in the maze in around groups of 20, not as small as what they do in the UK but not as big as Universal (which is just a 1 massive conga line.)
Themed around mamas kitchen and how she is gonna cook you up and eat you. A brilliant house, better than all of the ones I did at Universal! Theming was excellent, water sprayed at you (as vomit) for example. All actors were great and stayed in roll the whole time, chainsaw ending on this one as well. 9/10
So next up located in Gwazi park (now closed during the day)...
Circus of superstition 3D

So being a 3D maze, you wear 3D glasses and everything in the maze is painted really bright UV colours, and all the glasses do is make the colours strike out a lot more.
After doing a dreadful 3D maze at Universal Halloween horror night I really wan't expecting much from this one. I walked up to the maze to see a completely empty queue, and got asked if I wanted to wait for a group or just go in alone (Didn't meet my family until after this house). So for the whole first half of the maze I was completely alone until I caught up with another group. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. Full of scares, including actors on swings/bungees who come out of no where and swing of the wall right up to you (you can't see them on a wall before they swing at you, they just come at you out of nowherere and swing back again. ) Clown costumes were excellent, music was excellent, acting quality again was amazing and overall just an amazing house. Defiantly one of the best I've ever done. 9/10
Facade looked amazing.

And there was a giant clown running around outside as well.

Next up was the new house for this year, Unearthed scarlets revenge.

Waited around 15 minutes for this one, was a bit stupid of us going in the house at the entrance of the park just as the event started as it had no queue later on Gwazis queue was used as the queue for this house, and even went right up to the station...



So annoying having a beautiful woodie lit up next to us SBNO which closed months before we went All the trains are still there sitting in the maintenance sheds.
Anyway back to the house, it was alright. Theming was good once again and was creepy, but lacked scares, which wasn't helped by the fact too many people were let in meaning it was very slow moving inside there. The main character in there Scarlett was just weird, a sexy girl with horns? Don't know how she was meant to be scary, or how she linked in with the rest of the monsters in there and rest of the house. Was just all a bit weird. Was a good house but just no where near as strong as the first 2 I did. 7/10
Death Water Bayou
Didn't really know what to expect for this one. Walked up a long path to find a nice facade, looked like an abounded house. This house was seriously amazing. Probably the best house/maze I've ever done. Seemed to have so many parts of the houses all combined into one, for example the swings/bungees from the clown maze were in here. A ridiculous amount of scares, a spinning tunnel, actors were amazing, theming was amazing, was just a really strong house throughout, loved every second. Very intense, most amount of scares in a maze. 10/10!!
Zombie Mortuary
Wasn't expecting to be scared a lot from this one, had never been through a zombie maze but once again a very good house. Soundtrack was great with a strong organ sound playing throughout, made a creepy atmosphere. Zombie costumes were really good, theming was good surprisingly a lot of scares. Another really strong house. 8/10
Deadfull
Again a pretty strong house, not a lot to say about this one. Theming was great, remember seeing a Merry go round, a playground, a graveyard. Was more creepy than scary. 8/10
Zombie Containment unit 15
Unfortunately I didn't get to experience this one. It had over a 45 minute queue the whole night when everything else was pretty much walk on, so we really couldn't be bothered. Guessing the reason for this is low throughput, all I know is that you have a gun and have to shoot the zombies. My advice to anyone that goes would be to do this first before it builds up a queue, the queue did not go down the whole time we were there.
Rides open at night were:
Cheetah Hunt in the dark was very good with a lot of it being dark.

Dodgems were great with smoke, lazers and loud music.

Kumba :wub: :wub: :wub:

Sheikra

Falcons Fury, which the Americans seemed to love.

and Montu.
Overall this was by far the best Halloween event I've ever done. The park atmosphere was fantastic, actors all round the park were fantastic and obviously all the main rides are open for night rides. There was really good music throughout the park, lighting and smoke machines everywhere. It's crazy how much a huge place can all have such a good atmosphere.
All the houses were very good, all had excellent theming, nice facades, great soundtracks and full of actors. Obviously some were better than others, but all the houses were very strong and there was none that I thought were terrible.
Walking around the park in the day is completely different to walking around it at night, it just all comes out of no where. There are loads of really nice photo opportunities dotted around the park as well, with actors standing there and staff to take a photo for you. Have one of me and my Dad.

We left the park a few hours early, we got we wanted to do done multiple times as there was literally no queues. Busch are good with re-rides on the coasters as well which is nice.
Lots of actors at the exit when we left

Apologies all the photos are terrible but they were all taken on my phone and all turned out very bad at night.
Thanks for reading. Happy to do a trip report of Busch Gardens in the day, Universal halloween horror night, Islands of adventure, Studios, Sea World, Fun Spot if people are interested

So was in the park from around mid day. The event started at half 7, and the park closed for normal quests at 6. People for Howl O scream were aloud in at 5 and were given wristbands, so from 6 only people with wristbands were given access to all the rides. This was nice as it meant we didn't have to sit doing nothing for an hour like we did at Universal.
Was really looking forward to this event, open until 1am with 7 houses with all the main rides open. There was a also a show, live music and nightclubs for those interested.
There were no specific scare zones listed on the map like universal but there quite a few around the park, and groups of actors walking round the park similar to Fright Nights. There were people dressed up in ghille suits hiding in bush's and trees all around the park who just randomly just out at people or make a loud bang every so often. I found out the hard way when at 6 (still daylight) I shat my pants when one jumped out a bush and made a loud bang. Didn't expect any actors to be out at all, especially at 6. The event hadn't even started and I had already had a much bigger scare than I got the whole time I was at Universal. Such a great idea, and scared so many people. No one expected it.
There was a group of clowns roaming the park as well, and one of them made me jump again as well. At a corner there was a clown just standing there making strange noises distracting me, then another clown jumps out from behind a bin with a horn and scares you. Very well done.
Anyway onto the houses...
The Basement
So first up was the Basement. Turned up here about 15 minutes before it opened not knowing how busy/quiet it was going to be, but thought it was strange there being like 5 people in front of me when there was only 15 minutes until it opened.

As soon it was time, we were led down into the main queue and we were straight in. No talks like all the events in the UK, just signs at the entrance.

So at Busch gardens all the mazes were free flow meaning you didn't have to hold on the person in front of you, and they put you in the maze in around groups of 20, not as small as what they do in the UK but not as big as Universal (which is just a 1 massive conga line.)
Themed around mamas kitchen and how she is gonna cook you up and eat you. A brilliant house, better than all of the ones I did at Universal! Theming was excellent, water sprayed at you (as vomit) for example. All actors were great and stayed in roll the whole time, chainsaw ending on this one as well. 9/10
So next up located in Gwazi park (now closed during the day)...
Circus of superstition 3D

So being a 3D maze, you wear 3D glasses and everything in the maze is painted really bright UV colours, and all the glasses do is make the colours strike out a lot more.
After doing a dreadful 3D maze at Universal Halloween horror night I really wan't expecting much from this one. I walked up to the maze to see a completely empty queue, and got asked if I wanted to wait for a group or just go in alone (Didn't meet my family until after this house). So for the whole first half of the maze I was completely alone until I caught up with another group. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. Full of scares, including actors on swings/bungees who come out of no where and swing of the wall right up to you (you can't see them on a wall before they swing at you, they just come at you out of nowherere and swing back again. ) Clown costumes were excellent, music was excellent, acting quality again was amazing and overall just an amazing house. Defiantly one of the best I've ever done. 9/10
Facade looked amazing.

And there was a giant clown running around outside as well.

Next up was the new house for this year, Unearthed scarlets revenge.

Waited around 15 minutes for this one, was a bit stupid of us going in the house at the entrance of the park just as the event started as it had no queue later on Gwazis queue was used as the queue for this house, and even went right up to the station...



So annoying having a beautiful woodie lit up next to us SBNO which closed months before we went All the trains are still there sitting in the maintenance sheds.
Anyway back to the house, it was alright. Theming was good once again and was creepy, but lacked scares, which wasn't helped by the fact too many people were let in meaning it was very slow moving inside there. The main character in there Scarlett was just weird, a sexy girl with horns? Don't know how she was meant to be scary, or how she linked in with the rest of the monsters in there and rest of the house. Was just all a bit weird. Was a good house but just no where near as strong as the first 2 I did. 7/10
Death Water Bayou
Didn't really know what to expect for this one. Walked up a long path to find a nice facade, looked like an abounded house. This house was seriously amazing. Probably the best house/maze I've ever done. Seemed to have so many parts of the houses all combined into one, for example the swings/bungees from the clown maze were in here. A ridiculous amount of scares, a spinning tunnel, actors were amazing, theming was amazing, was just a really strong house throughout, loved every second. Very intense, most amount of scares in a maze. 10/10!!
Zombie Mortuary
Wasn't expecting to be scared a lot from this one, had never been through a zombie maze but once again a very good house. Soundtrack was great with a strong organ sound playing throughout, made a creepy atmosphere. Zombie costumes were really good, theming was good surprisingly a lot of scares. Another really strong house. 8/10
Deadfull
Again a pretty strong house, not a lot to say about this one. Theming was great, remember seeing a Merry go round, a playground, a graveyard. Was more creepy than scary. 8/10
Zombie Containment unit 15
Unfortunately I didn't get to experience this one. It had over a 45 minute queue the whole night when everything else was pretty much walk on, so we really couldn't be bothered. Guessing the reason for this is low throughput, all I know is that you have a gun and have to shoot the zombies. My advice to anyone that goes would be to do this first before it builds up a queue, the queue did not go down the whole time we were there.
Rides open at night were:
Cheetah Hunt in the dark was very good with a lot of it being dark.

Dodgems were great with smoke, lazers and loud music.

Kumba :wub: :wub: :wub:

Sheikra

Falcons Fury, which the Americans seemed to love.

and Montu.
Overall this was by far the best Halloween event I've ever done. The park atmosphere was fantastic, actors all round the park were fantastic and obviously all the main rides are open for night rides. There was really good music throughout the park, lighting and smoke machines everywhere. It's crazy how much a huge place can all have such a good atmosphere.
All the houses were very good, all had excellent theming, nice facades, great soundtracks and full of actors. Obviously some were better than others, but all the houses were very strong and there was none that I thought were terrible.
Walking around the park in the day is completely different to walking around it at night, it just all comes out of no where. There are loads of really nice photo opportunities dotted around the park as well, with actors standing there and staff to take a photo for you. Have one of me and my Dad.

We left the park a few hours early, we got we wanted to do done multiple times as there was literally no queues. Busch are good with re-rides on the coasters as well which is nice.
Lots of actors at the exit when we left

Apologies all the photos are terrible but they were all taken on my phone and all turned out very bad at night.
Thanks for reading. Happy to do a trip report of Busch Gardens in the day, Universal halloween horror night, Islands of adventure, Studios, Sea World, Fun Spot if people are interested

So was in the park from around mid day. The event started at half 7, and the park closed for normal quests at 6. People for Howl O scream were aloud in at 5 and were given wristbands, so from 6 only people with wristbands were given access to all the rides. This was nice as it meant we didn't have to sit doing nothing for an hour like we did at Universal.
Was really looking forward to this event, open until 1am with 7 houses with all the main rides open. There was a also a show, live music and nightclubs for those interested.
There were no specific scare zones listed on the map like universal but there quite a few around the park, and groups of actors walking round the park similar to Fright Nights. There were people dressed up in ghille suits hiding in bush's and trees all around the park who just randomly just out at people or make a loud bang every so often. I found out the hard way when at 6 (still daylight) I shat my pants when one jumped out a bush and made a loud bang. Didn't expect any actors to be out at all, especially at 6. The event hadn't even started and I had already had a much bigger scare than I got the whole time I was at Universal. Such a great idea, and scared so many people. No one expected it.
There was a group of clowns roaming the park as well, and one of them made me jump again as well. At a corner there was a clown just standing there making strange noises distracting me, then another clown jumps out from behind a bin with a horn and scares you. Very well done.
Anyway onto the houses...
The Basement
So first up was the Basement. Turned up here about 15 minutes before it opened not knowing how busy/quiet it was going to be, but thought it was strange there being like 5 people in front of me when there was only 15 minutes until it opened.

As soon it was time, we were led down into the main queue and we were straight in. No talks like all the events in the UK, just signs at the entrance.

So at Busch gardens all the mazes were free flow meaning you didn't have to hold on the person in front of you, and they put you in the maze in around groups of 20, not as small as what they do in the UK but not as big as Universal (which is just a 1 massive conga line.)
Themed around mamas kitchen and how she is gonna cook you up and eat you. A brilliant house, better than all of the ones I did at Universal! Theming was excellent, water sprayed at you (as vomit) for example. All actors were great and stayed in roll the whole time, chainsaw ending on this one as well. 9/10
So next up located in Gwazi park (now closed during the day)...
Circus of superstition 3D

So being a 3D maze, you wear 3D glasses and everything in the maze is painted really bright UV colours, and all the glasses do is make the colours strike out a lot more.
After doing a dreadful 3D maze at Universal Halloween horror night I really wan't expecting much from this one. I walked up to the maze to see a completely empty queue, and got asked if I wanted to wait for a group or just go in alone (Didn't meet my family until after this house). So for the whole first half of the maze I was completely alone until I caught up with another group. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. Full of scares, including actors on swings/bungees who come out of no where and swing of the wall right up to you (you can't see them on a wall before they swing at you, they just come at you out of nowherere and swing back again. ) Clown costumes were excellent, music was excellent, acting quality again was amazing and overall just an amazing house. Defiantly one of the best I've ever done. 9/10
Facade looked amazing.

And there was a giant clown running around outside as well.

Next up was the new house for this year, Unearthed scarlets revenge.

Waited around 15 minutes for this one, was a bit stupid of us going in the house at the entrance of the park just as the event started as it had no queue later on Gwazis queue was used as the queue for this house, and even went right up to the station...



So annoying having a beautiful woodie lit up next to us SBNO which closed months before we went All the trains are still there sitting in the maintenance sheds.
Anyway back to the house, it was alright. Theming was good once again and was creepy, but lacked scares, which wasn't helped by the fact too many people were let in meaning it was very slow moving inside there. The main character in there Scarlett was just weird, a sexy girl with horns? Don't know how she was meant to be scary, or how she linked in with the rest of the monsters in there and rest of the house. Was just all a bit weird. Was a good house but just no where near as strong as the first 2 I did. 7/10
Death Water Bayou
Didn't really know what to expect for this one. Walked up a long path to find a nice facade, looked like an abounded house. This house was seriously amazing. Probably the best house/maze I've ever done. Seemed to have so many parts of the houses all combined into one, for example the swings/bungees from the clown maze were in here. A ridiculous amount of scares, a spinning tunnel, actors were amazing, theming was amazing, was just a really strong house throughout, loved every second. Very intense, most amount of scares in a maze. 10/10!!
Zombie Mortuary
Wasn't expecting to be scared a lot from this one, had never been through a zombie maze but once again a very good house. Soundtrack was great with a strong organ sound playing throughout, made a creepy atmosphere. Zombie costumes were really good, theming was good surprisingly a lot of scares. Another really strong house. 8/10
Deadfull
Again a pretty strong house, not a lot to say about this one. Theming was great, remember seeing a Merry go round, a playground, a graveyard. Was more creepy than scary. 8/10
Zombie Containment unit 15
Unfortunately I didn't get to experience this one. It had over a 45 minute queue the whole night when everything else was pretty much walk on, so we really couldn't be bothered. Guessing the reason for this is low throughput, all I know is that you have a gun and have to shoot the zombies. My advice to anyone that goes would be to do this first before it builds up a queue, the queue did not go down the whole time we were there.
Rides open at night were:
Cheetah Hunt in the dark was very good with a lot of it being dark.

Dodgems were great with smoke, lazers and loud music.

Kumba :wub: :wub: :wub:

Sheikra

Falcons Fury, which the Americans seemed to love.

and Montu.
Overall this was by far the best Halloween event I've ever done. The park atmosphere was fantastic, actors all round the park were fantastic and obviously all the main rides are open for night rides. There was really good music throughout the park, lighting and smoke machines everywhere. It's crazy how much a huge place can all have such a good atmosphere.
All the houses were very good, all had excellent theming, nice facades, great soundtracks and full of actors. Obviously some were better than others, but all the houses were very strong and there was none that I thought were terrible.
Walking around the park in the day is completely different to walking around it at night, it just all comes out of no where. There are loads of really nice photo opportunities dotted around the park as well, with actors standing there and staff to take a photo for you. Have one of me and my Dad.

We left the park a few hours early, we got we wanted to do done multiple times as there was literally no queues. Busch are good with re-rides on the coasters as well which is nice.
Lots of actors at the exit when we left

Apologies all the photos are terrible but they were all taken on my phone and all turned out very bad at night.
Thanks for reading. Happy to do a trip report of Busch Gardens in the day, Universal halloween horror night, Islands of adventure, Studios, Sea World, Fun Spot if people are interested

So was in the park from around mid day. The event started at half 7, and the park closed for normal quests at 6. People for Howl O scream were aloud in at 5 and were given wristbands, so from 6 only people with wristbands were given access to all the rides. This was nice as it meant we didn't have to sit doing nothing for an hour like we did at Universal.
Was really looking forward to this event, open until 1am with 7 houses with all the main rides open. There was a also a show, live music and nightclubs for those interested.
There were no specific scare zones listed on the map like universal but there quite a few around the park, and groups of actors walking round the park similar to Fright Nights. There were people dressed up in ghille suits hiding in bush's and trees all around the park who just randomly just out at people or make a loud bang every so often. I found out the hard way when at 6 (still daylight) I shat my pants when one jumped out a bush and made a loud bang. Didn't expect any actors to be out at all, especially at 6. The event hadn't even started and I had already had a much bigger scare than I got the whole time I was at Universal. Such a great idea, and scared so many people. No one expected it.
There was a group of clowns roaming the park as well, and one of them made me jump again as well. At a corner there was a clown just standing there making strange noises distracting me, then another clown jumps out from behind a bin with a horn and scares you. Very well done.
Anyway onto the houses...
The Basement
So first up was the Basement. Turned up here about 15 minutes before it opened not knowing how busy/quiet it was going to be, but thought it was strange there being like 5 people in front of me when there was only 15 minutes until it opened.

As soon it was time, we were led down into the main queue and we were straight in. No talks like all the events in the UK, just signs at the entrance.

So at Busch gardens all the mazes were free flow meaning you didn't have to hold on the person in front of you, and they put you in the maze in around groups of 20, not as small as what they do in the UK but not as big as Universal (which is just a 1 massive conga line.)
Themed around mamas kitchen and how she is gonna cook you up and eat you. A brilliant house, better than all of the ones I did at Universal! Theming was excellent, water sprayed at you (as vomit) for example. All actors were great and stayed in roll the whole time, chainsaw ending on this one as well. 9/10
So next up located in Gwazi park (now closed during the day)...
Circus of superstition 3D

So being a 3D maze, you wear 3D glasses and everything in the maze is painted really bright UV colours, and all the glasses do is make the colours strike out a lot more.
After doing a dreadful 3D maze at Universal Halloween horror night I really wan't expecting much from this one. I walked up to the maze to see a completely empty queue, and got asked if I wanted to wait for a group or just go in alone (Didn't meet my family until after this house). So for the whole first half of the maze I was completely alone until I caught up with another group. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. Full of scares, including actors on swings/bungees who come out of no where and swing of the wall right up to you (you can't see them on a wall before they swing at you, they just come at you out of nowherere and swing back again. ) Clown costumes were excellent, music was excellent, acting quality again was amazing and overall just an amazing house. Defiantly one of the best I've ever done. 9/10
Facade looked amazing.

And there was a giant clown running around outside as well.

Next up was the new house for this year, Unearthed scarlets revenge.

Waited around 15 minutes for this one, was a bit stupid of us going in the house at the entrance of the park just as the event started as it had no queue later on Gwazis queue was used as the queue for this house, and even went right up to the station...



So annoying having a beautiful woodie lit up next to us SBNO which closed months before we went All the trains are still there sitting in the maintenance sheds.
Anyway back to the house, it was alright. Theming was good once again and was creepy, but lacked scares, which wasn't helped by the fact too many people were let in meaning it was very slow moving inside there. The main character in there Scarlett was just weird, a sexy girl with horns? Don't know how she was meant to be scary, or how she linked in with the rest of the monsters in there and rest of the house. Was just all a bit weird. Was a good house but just no where near as strong as the first 2 I did. 7/10
Death Water Bayou
Didn't really know what to expect for this one. Walked up a long path to find a nice facade, looked like an abounded house. This house was seriously amazing. Probably the best house/maze I've ever done. Seemed to have so many parts of the houses all combined into one, for example the swings/bungees from the clown maze were in here. A ridiculous amount of scares, a spinning tunnel, actors were amazing, theming was amazing, was just a really strong house throughout, loved every second. Very intense, most amount of scares in a maze. 10/10!!
Zombie Mortuary
Wasn't expecting to be scared a lot from this one, had never been through a zombie maze but once again a very good house. Soundtrack was great with a strong organ sound playing throughout, made a creepy atmosphere. Zombie costumes were really good, theming was good surprisingly a lot of scares. Another really strong house. 8/10
Deadfull
Again a pretty strong house, not a lot to say about this one. Theming was great, remember seeing a Merry go round, a playground, a graveyard. Was more creepy than scary. 8/10
Zombie Containment unit 15
Unfortunately I didn't get to experience this one. It had over a 45 minute queue the whole night when everything else was pretty much walk on, so we really couldn't be bothered. Guessing the reason for this is low throughput, all I know is that you have a gun and have to shoot the zombies. My advice to anyone that goes would be to do this first before it builds up a queue, the queue did not go down the whole time we were there.
Rides open at night were:
Cheetah Hunt in the dark was very good with a lot of it being dark.

Dodgems were great with smoke, lazers and loud music.

Kumba :wub: :wub: :wub:

Sheikra

Falcons Fury, which the Americans seemed to love.

and Montu.
Overall this was by far the best Halloween event I've ever done. The park atmosphere was fantastic, actors all round the park were fantastic and obviously all the main rides are open for night rides. There was really good music throughout the park, lighting and smoke machines everywhere. It's crazy how much a huge place can all have such a good atmosphere.
All the houses were very good, all had excellent theming, nice facades, great soundtracks and full of actors. Obviously some were better than others, but all the houses were very strong and there was none that I thought were terrible.
Walking around the park in the day is completely different to walking around it at night, it just all comes out of no where. There are loads of really nice photo opportunities dotted around the park as well, with actors standing there and staff to take a photo for you. Have one of me and my Dad.

We left the park a few hours early, we got we wanted to do done multiple times as there was literally no queues. Busch are good with re-rides on the coasters as well which is nice.
Lots of actors at the exit when we left

Apologies all the photos are terrible but they were all taken on my phone and all turned out very bad at night.
Thanks for reading. Happy to do a trip report of Busch Gardens in the day, Universal halloween horror night, Islands of adventure, Studios, Sea World, Fun Spot if people are interested

So was in the park from around mid day. The event started at half 7, and the park closed for normal quests at 6. People for Howl O scream were aloud in at 5 and were given wristbands, so from 6 only people with wristbands were given access to all the rides. This was nice as it meant we didn't have to sit doing nothing for an hour like we did at Universal.
Was really looking forward to this event, open until 1am with 7 houses with all the main rides open. There was a also a show, live music and nightclubs for those interested.
There were no specific scare zones listed on the map like universal but there quite a few around the park, and groups of actors walking round the park similar to Fright Nights. There were people dressed up in ghille suits hiding in bush's and trees all around the park who just randomly just out at people or make a loud bang every so often. I found out the hard way when at 6 (still daylight) I shat my pants when one jumped out a bush and made a loud bang. Didn't expect any actors to be out at all, especially at 6. The event hadn't even started and I had already had a much bigger scare than I got the whole time I was at Universal. Such a great idea, and scared so many people. No one expected it.
There was a group of clowns roaming the park as well, and one of them made me jump again as well. At a corner there was a clown just standing there making strange noises distracting me, then another clown jumps out from behind a bin with a horn and scares you. Very well done.
Anyway onto the houses...
The Basement
So first up was the Basement. Turned up here about 15 minutes before it opened not knowing how busy/quiet it was going to be, but thought it was strange there being like 5 people in front of me when there was only 15 minutes until it opened.

As soon it was time, we were led down into the main queue and we were straight in. No talks like all the events in the UK, just signs at the entrance.

So at Busch gardens all the mazes were free flow meaning you didn't have to hold on the person in front of you, and they put you in the maze in around groups of 20, not as small as what they do in the UK but not as big as Universal (which is just a 1 massive conga line.)
Themed around mamas kitchen and how she is gonna cook you up and eat you. A brilliant house, better than all of the ones I did at Universal! Theming was excellent, water sprayed at you (as vomit) for example. All actors were great and stayed in roll the whole time, chainsaw ending on this one as well. 9/10
So next up located in Gwazi park (now closed during the day)...
Circus of superstition 3D

So being a 3D maze, you wear 3D glasses and everything in the maze is painted really bright UV colours, and all the glasses do is make the colours strike out a lot more.
After doing a dreadful 3D maze at Universal Halloween horror night I really wan't expecting much from this one. I walked up to the maze to see a completely empty queue, and got asked if I wanted to wait for a group or just go in alone (Didn't meet my family until after this house). So for the whole first half of the maze I was completely alone until I caught up with another group. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. Full of scares, including actors on swings/bungees who come out of no where and swing of the wall right up to you (you can't see them on a wall before they swing at you, they just come at you out of nowherere and swing back again. ) Clown costumes were excellent, music was excellent, acting quality again was amazing and overall just an amazing house. Defiantly one of the best I've ever done. 9/10
Facade looked amazing.

And there was a giant clown running around outside as well.

Next up was the new house for this year, Unearthed scarlets revenge.

Waited around 15 minutes for this one, was a bit stupid of us going in the house at the entrance of the park just as the event started as it had no queue later on Gwazis queue was used as the queue for this house, and even went right up to the station...



So annoying having a beautiful woodie lit up next to us SBNO which closed months before we went All the trains are still there sitting in the maintenance sheds.
Anyway back to the house, it was alright. Theming was good once again and was creepy, but lacked scares, which wasn't helped by the fact too many people were let in meaning it was very slow moving inside there. The main character in there Scarlett was just weird, a sexy girl with horns? Don't know how she was meant to be scary, or how she linked in with the rest of the monsters in there and rest of the house. Was just all a bit weird. Was a good house but just no where near as strong as the first 2 I did. 7/10
Death Water Bayou
Didn't really know what to expect for this one. Walked up a long path to find a nice facade, looked like an abounded house. This house was seriously amazing. Probably the best house/maze I've ever done. Seemed to have so many parts of the houses all combined into one, for example the swings/bungees from the clown maze were in here. A ridiculous amount of scares, a spinning tunnel, actors were amazing, theming was amazing, was just a really strong house throughout, loved every second. Very intense, most amount of scares in a maze. 10/10!!
Zombie Mortuary
Wasn't expecting to be scared a lot from this one, had never been through a zombie maze but once again a very good house. Soundtrack was great with a strong organ sound playing throughout, made a creepy atmosphere. Zombie costumes were really good, theming was good surprisingly a lot of scares. Another really strong house. 8/10
Deadfull
Again a pretty strong house, not a lot to say about this one. Theming was great, remember seeing a Merry go round, a playground, a graveyard. Was more creepy than scary. 8/10
Zombie Containment unit 15
Unfortunately I didn't get to experience this one. It had over a 45 minute queue the whole night when everything else was pretty much walk on, so we really couldn't be bothered. Guessing the reason for this is low throughput, all I know is that you have a gun and have to shoot the zombies. My advice to anyone that goes would be to do this first before it builds up a queue, the queue did not go down the whole time we were there.
Rides open at night were:
Cheetah Hunt in the dark was very good with a lot of it being dark.

Dodgems were great with smoke, lazers and loud music.

Kumba :wub: :wub: :wub:

Sheikra

Falcons Fury, which the Americans seemed to love.

and Montu.
Overall this was by far the best Halloween event I've ever done. The park atmosphere was fantastic, actors all round the park were fantastic and obviously all the main rides are open for night rides. There was really good music throughout the park, lighting and smoke machines everywhere. It's crazy how much a huge place can all have such a good atmosphere.
All the houses were very good, all had excellent theming, nice facades, great soundtracks and full of actors. Obviously some were better than others, but all the houses were very strong and there was none that I thought were terrible.
Walking around the park in the day is completely different to walking around it at night, it just all comes out of no where. There are loads of really nice photo opportunities dotted around the park as well, with actors standing there and staff to take a photo for you. Have one of me and my Dad.

We left the park a few hours early, we got we wanted to do done multiple times as there was literally no queues. Busch are good with re-rides on the coasters as well which is nice.
Lots of actors at the exit when we left

Apologies all the photos are terrible but they were all taken on my phone and all turned out very bad at night.
Thanks for reading. Happy to do a trip report of Busch Gardens in the day, Universal halloween horror night, Islands of adventure, Studios, Sea World, Fun Spot if people are interested

If 2014 was a year with new rollercoasters left, right and centre, then 2015 was like returning to old friends and sharing a big hug. This was a first for me. Not a single new park in 2015 and only two rollercoasters to my name. Why was this? I wish I knew but my priorities seemed to be tried and tested parks rather then venturing out into the unknown in a quest too boost a coaster count.
To start the year, it took till May to visit my first theme park of the year; the amazing Europa Park. We all know the draw with this, the important thing is that this theme park blows my mind overtime and if you haven't been yet, go. The best collection of rides, shows, hotels, entertainment, bars, environments and theming in the world. We took a detour via Disneyland Paris which just seems to go from strength to strength.

A month later, came Florida for my birthday (Although my partner will always maintain it was just for Star Wars weekend). Despite all the criticism Florida gets, I always have a wonderful time at Disney World and always shed a tear when I leave. Was good to see Dan9 on his first trip there too.

October time and back to Disneyland Paris before the big refurbishment years hit which includes massive closures to Disneyland Parc. No Thunder Mountain, no Star Tours and other rides down for several months. We were there to take my partners mum on her first Disney trip. She had an amazing time is already pushing us to visit for Christmas in 2016.

The final foreign trip of the year was a free trip that I won to Europa Park. I could complain that we were only there for a day and a half and spent most of the time tired, but thats petty when everything about the trip was paid for buy the Stuttgart government. Every ride had some kind of Christmasy vibe such as the Spacemen on Euro-Sat dressed as Santa or entire rafts on the Indian river raft ride taken over by Snowmen. It was wonderful.

And now.. the depressing part of the trip report.
I've taken a massive break from Merlin, even before the Smiler incident. My trips to Alton, Thorpe and Chessington in 2014 had been pretty depressing. The parks were getting run down, lots of ride closures and things broken and a general feeling that the parks were not where they should be and with no hope in sight I'd just gone cold turkey and wouldn't be talked round to visiting. Once the Smiler crashed in June, I felt compelled, despite my feeling that Merlin don't deserve defending, to defend the park against the public and particularly the media calling our parks unsafe, deserving of closure and other negative comments that really put a shiver down my coaster enthusiast spine. Despite all the bad things that I know of the Merlin parks, safety has never been something I've questioned or even thought of when riding an attraction at their parks.
I even felt a need to visit and it wasn't until August that I stepped back into Thorpe Park. The same old issues arose. Loggers, Saw, Slammer, Colossus, Fish, Storm Surge and the Swarm all closed at the same time. The terrible Angry Birds Land and the not even worth looking at I'm a Celebrity Maze hardly inspire confidence that Merlin can get these parks back on track. There are some nice shiny parts of Thorpe but Nemesis Inferno, Stealth, The Swarm and Detonator cannot save Thorpe. A worthy, insightful, interesting, entertaining, fun attraction is needed desperately IMO.

October saw me visit Alton. Christ what a ghost town. The Smiler incident has truly ripped the heart out of Alton Towers. I've never seen Nemesis, Air and Rita running one train and struggling to fill all the rows and I've certainly never seen Oblivion on a two carriage operation. Whilst all the outrage at Alton about rumoured ride closures and massively cut hours is justified, theres only so much money that can be made from the few people that visit. It's very easy to sit in a room and declare Alton a disgrace for whats happening there. All we can say is that Alton is ever to get back to its feet, it needs to remember what its sole purpose is and hopefully in two/three years time, Alton would be the popular place it was ten years ago.

And with that, happy new year everybody!

SPOILERS AHEAD
Sunday 11th October 2015
Went to Thorpe Park on Sunday from 10:30 till 10. Operations were really good all day, and didn't see any rides break down all day. Queues were minimal in the day, and all rides were walk on from 4 onwards. To give you an idea of how quiet it was, Stealth was on 1 train and the gate was still left open on the platform. MBV was walk on a lot of the night, and SAW Alive were allowing us to go on again, straight through the fast track queue.
It was a shame to see Slammer closed again, thats the second time this year it's closed 2 days before I've been. Samurai hasn't been open any of my visits this year, and Vortex re-opened late afternoon. It was running really well!
Roaming actors were really good this year, bumped into them many times, and one of them kept putting his fingers in my ears? The Cabin roamers were really good as well. Shame some of the only Fright Night theming has been lost, such as the trucks by Tidal Wave and Stealth lit up with smoke and no fire effect by Saw.
Maze count
Containment x 1
The Big Top x 2
Saw Alive x 4
Cabin In the Woods x 4
My Bloody Valentine x 7
Couldn't really be bothered to do Blair Witch, was over an hour every time I looked, even at 9 the queue was full,
Can find my full ride count here - http://ridecount.com/browse/trip/15849
The Big Top - 0.000001/10
I was looking forward to this maze so much from the initial reveal, outside theming looked great and loved Carnival of Screams, but the big top is one of the, if not worst scare maze I have ever been in. The fact you could see the red roof above the black curtains the whole time ruined it. The maze was well too open.
The first tent was utterly pointless. Both times I went on it the actor literally said 'Go left or right, it's your choice.' Either way you walk down a path of black curtains and exit that tent. You then enter the 'mirror maze' which had so much potential with the strobe lights and loud music. Again the theming was awful, you could see the red roof and it was way too short, because it was too open. 1 actor didn't do it either. The outside section both times an actor guided us straight through, none of the actor banging in the box like I've seen on youtube. Third tent was better, but not good, again way too open for any scares and lacked theming. Chainsaw ending was poor, and the second time he didn't even bother trying to chase us.
I really have been disappointed with the last 2 mazes, didn't particularly like Studio 13 and this was dreadful.
Wasn't willing to give it a second go, but saw that there was about 5 people in the queue. It was just as bad...

Saw Alive - 8/10 (6/10 Later on)
By far the best run throughs I've had on SAW, lots of Actors earlier on in the night and all very energetic and in role. As the night went on there did seem to be less actors in there so it did seem to get worse.
On one of our runs as we were having our photo taken actors came out shouting telling everyone to get back, and staff came and got us all out. I had never seen staff an actors so serious and angry, could tell something serious had happened. Found out it was all due to Travellers abusing an actor. Later that night later that night the roaming actors were banging the fence and making a laughing sound (being clowns.) The person in front of us in the queue then started having a go at them, saying 'Come to this side of the f****** fence then' and then attempted climbing over, a member of staff then stepped in and shouted saying if he continues to behave like that she'll get him kicked off the park. Not good.
Cabin in the woods - 8/10
Really enjoyed Cabin on Sunday, not as good as 2013 but was a lot better than last year. Plenty of actors and seemed a lot darker this year and lots of smoke, meaning actors were just coming out of no where. Also noticed actors were appearing from windows which was pretty cool? Didn't notice that in previous years.
No idea why the tunnel wasn't working when they've had a whole year to fix that, and the 4th time now I've been to the control room and nothing worked
Queue time said 90 minutes and we queued 25, there was a staff member standing in front of the queue (blocking the entrance) and she said 'Would you like to buy fast track the queue is a lot shorter'. When will they learn.
There were 3 actors roaming the area all night who were great, 1 of them in particular was hilarious.
My Bloody Valentine - 9/10
For the third year running, my favourite maze at the park. Not as good as previous years due to it being shorter this year, and for some reason no Harry Wardens?
Actors were really good in this, and loads of them. At one point an actor came up behind the 2 of us, and there was an actor in front of us, so we were trapped. Towards the end of the night when it was quiet the beginning actor was putting us in on our own which was good as well, but I did find my cousin shortly.
On one of the last run throughs an actor did head-but me by accident which was pretty funny, he did instantly go out of act and apologise, asking if I was alright but it wasn't hard. Could certainly see that ending badly if it was one of the travellers he head butted
Atmosphere in the queue was really good as well this year, blasting out the music and the loop has been extended this year. It's on about a 4-5 minute loop now instead of last years 1 minute. Also, the team running the maze the whole night were amazing. Never moved so quick in a maze queue before, and even though they were moving the queue quick, there wasn't too many people in the maze. Never clashed with another group in there after the splitting point. I guess not having the door this year helped.
Did see one breakdown which was due to the lights going out apparently. It was the 5th time it happened that night. Did re-open very quick though.
First time I've ever seen a maze walk on...

(Blurry I know but I rushed)
Containment
Not going to give this one a rating as you can't really compare it to the mazes, but it was good. It wasn't scary, but it was fun. It was just about worth the £8 but I wouldn't do it again. Once you have done it once it would be pointless doing it again. Actors were really good as well, staying in role for the whole 5 minutes. One of them took an agressive approach and shouted at us the whole time, and others were just acting weird? I got asked to open my mouth "because everyone loves a bit of oral"
We escaped the first 3 rooms but failed on the last one. They did say because we escaped 3 of them she would give us green bands as 3 is good but 1 of us had to take a red one, so I took it. A red band meant that actors are meant to pick on you more throughout the night which was a good idea, but I didn't notice anything.
I did witness a lot of trouble, due to the park being full of travellers. Apparently this day is known for it, however I went the same day last year and didn't notice it. I saw them chucking rubbish from depth charge onto people in the containment queue, staff must of threatened them at least 5 times but they couldn't do anything as they didn't have a radio. Also saw an evac on Saw, them threatening the roaming actors, MBV staff shouting at a group of 10 year olds, queue jumping multiple times, and a group of 10 year olds were shouting every time the Big Top host was trying to talk. Did feel sorry for the staff but there simply wasn't enough done, they just kept threatening.
Did really like the park audio this year, was nice to hear the Asylum theme being played again as well. However, did prefer the director announcements. The new ones are very unclear and couldn't understand a word any of the announcements said. Audio was also played very quietly this year which was a shame and Detonator wasn't playing any audio all night
Thanks for reading

The last day of BelGerAnd is here! And unfortunately it's not ending with a bang, but rather a slur of 'b's and 'a's in one word - Bobbejaanland. For those curious, it's pronounced Bob-e-yan-land (we didn't fully know this until about half way through the day).
Being close to the park meant that after our free breakfast, we arrived with plenty of time for the 10am opening. We got there at about 9:45 and let through the main gates, where we were immediately bombarded by a costumed character and member of staff forcing us to having a photo with them. Whilst this was happening, Adam had seen a hidden A4 sign saying that the park was closing at 6pm, instead of 7pm as advertised on the site. This filled us with some hope, since it indicated that the park might be quieter than the park originally expected, especially for a lovely (33 degrees) Saturday in July.
The entrance area can be likened to Towers Street at Alton I guess, in that there's a street with a few shops and stuff. At the end of the street, they had gates which would open at 10, after a little intro show my The Smurfs (yeah, bit random). So whilst we waited for the gates to open, we went to the customer service kiosk to ask where we got maps; turned out they were 2 euros each!? Fortunately I had some loose change I was trying to get rid of, so did get one, but the cost for a map is ridiculous.

My 'How on earth do I pronounce this?' face.


Even the Smurfs had no clue why they were there.
With the entrance show done, we headed into the park. We realised that a map wasn't really needed for the park quickly, since the park was just based around an oval lake, with nothing particular hidden. So we essentially just went round the lack and ticked off the rides as they came. Bobbejaanland had the most coasters out of all the parks on the trip, with 7. Just a shame that none of them were very good...
Our first ride of the day was Typhoon, the world's second Gerstlauer Eurofighter built. I was quite keen to try out another Eurofighter, and was looking forward to it. But the ride just doesn't really do a lot. After the standard (and VERY slow!) vertical left and 97 degree drop came a vertical loop, which was actually very intense and the highlight of the ride. The rest of the ride slowly meanders abouts, doing some turns, some twists and some inversions, but it just feels slow and boring. A real shame.
The coaster opened on 3 cars (out of a possible 5 by the looks of things), but at one point in the day, was down to 1 car it was so quiet! We didn't bother riding it again because there were other, better rides, on park.



We had planned to do the nearby Dizz, the Maurer spinner, afterwards, but since it opened at 10:50, apparently, we moved onto Revolution, the indoor coaster with a rather impressive 30 car train (and thus being able to hold 60 people per train), and a very long-winded spiral lift hill. I was expecting a coaster with such a ridiculous gimmick to be a bit boring, but it was surprisingly fun. It wasn't a 'good' ride (indeed, it just about scrapped onto my 'Top 20' list for coasters ridden during this trip), but it was fun.
The remaining coasters quickly followed. Speedy Bob, a Wild Mouse, was very meh, and it really shows how much theming can do to a ride, as it feels completely different to Rattlesnake. Dream Catcher, a suspended Vekoma coaster, was next, and was very forgettable. The junior coaster Oki Doki was a surprise; a nice fun coaster. The powered coaster Bob Express was also pretty neat, featuring an interesting enough layout. We eventually rode Dizz in the afternoon, but it was by far the worst spinning coaster I've done; the layout doesn't lend itself to allow the cars to spin that much..




Bob Express geek board.


We also watched the first showing of their new show, featuring magicians Rob and Emiel. I don't know how big they are in Belgium / Netherlands, but they have their own website, so they must have made a bit of a name for themselves I guess? Unfortunately the show wasn't very good (a lot of the stuff was very visual, so the language barrier wasn't much of an issue), though they did seem to be a bit nervous, and there were some crowds troubles. They did speak to us before the show though, after noticing we were English, and did have a bit of a chat with us.

The redeeming feature for Bobbejaanland though is in some of its other rides and, surprisingly, their indoor attractions. The park has many small attractions, like boat rides, water slides, slidey slides, and a few flat rides / dark rides. However, there are four that really stand out:
The first of which is El Rio, a park's rapids. With the majority of the layout hidden away, it was hard to tell what to expect. But the ride had a decent layout - featuring a whirlpool! - and got you a good level of wet. It was nice to see a decent rapids at the park.
What is most interesting about this ride though is the ferris wheel feature on its ride:

Don't get too excited; it's not in operation. Essentially, what would happen is a boat would travel onto a platform, the wheel would rotate, and the boat would go down a long, steep-ish drop, likely making a very nice splash. Unfortunately, the wheel hasn't been in operation for about 9 years, according to TPR, because it was an operational nightmare. Boats instead take a route around the wheel.
The next stand out ride was Indiana River, an indoor log flume. This is one of two log flumes on the park, though the second, outdoor, one is very meh. Given the looks of the outdoor rides on park, it was a pleasant surprise to see this ride so well themed. It was very jungle-like, and the majority of the route had some nice features to look out. The ride seems to get the front of the boat soaked, and the back of the boat stays dry (we tried a couple of different seating configurations on our goes and this always seemed to be the case), which is a bit odd.


(Above photo taken with flash on; the place feels a lot more atmospheric in low light!).
Another water ride which stands out is Banana Battle, an indoor splash battle. The layout has LOADS of interaction points, meaning that you get drenched. It's a great ride all in all, and even if it's a bit too wet for my liking, I still enjoyed it. The ride smelt a bit too much like chlorine for my liking though..

Finally, the best attraction on park is, by some way, The Forbidden Caves (warning: spoilers!). New for this year, it's an immersive tunnel ride. In a similar vain to Hex, the ride has 2 pre shows before the main ride. The premise of the ride, from what I gathered/remember, is that we're going on a Cave Tour, inspired by explorer Jasper Dubois. He had many adventures, but got lost on one whilst trying to find some treasure, so we're going to go find him.
The group is taken around by a 'tour guide' during the pre shows. Usually this is in Dutch, but on our second go, it was only us and an English-speaking French couple, so we were fortunate enough to be given the pre shows in English (lucky that the staff member spoke very good English too!). The first pre show takes place in an elevator, descending us down "several thousand meters very quickly", and the guide tells a few jokes. It was a standard effect, but done well. The second one involves a lot of talk about the treasure and the guide touches a found gem, which, in turn, activates loads of effects, with things shaking of the walls, loud noises, smoke, lights, and a evil force warning us to go away. It was very dramatic and very well done.
The ride itself then follows. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a letdown. It's either too hard to see the screen (if you sit too far back), or all the immersion is ruined if you sit too close to the front (you see the trough the ride carriage travels in, etc.). The video itself is alright and it's not a bad simulation experience, it's just that the ride hardware is very meh and average.
All in all, Forbidden Caves was a fab attraction, and its overall quality feels out of place at an average park like Bobbejaanland. Indeed, in terms of quality, and even theming, it wouldn't have felt out of place at some major parks that I've now visited! So kudos really need to be given to the park for opening such a solid attraction! The one thing which was a bit of a shame was that is opened at 1, and closed just before the park closed.



Overall Bobbejaanland thoughts: Bobbejaanland is a very odd park, and it's not surprising that a park of this size and quality cut it's opening times by an hour at such short notice; they clearly weren't getting the guests to warrant it. But, despite its overall average-ness, there are a couple of neat little rides there, and if Forbidden Caves is the sort of level of theming and quality we can expect from the park in the future, it might be one to surprise us all in a few years time.
---
And so that's it! We left Bobbejaanland and hit the road for the long drive back to Calais. Funnily enough, we actually passed Plopsaland on the way, which made the trip feel nice and closed in a way. Unfortunately, when we got to Calais, we were told that no ferries had gone to Dover all week (because of the immigration problems at the time), and so we had to try our luck at Dunkirk. Fortunately we managed to get on a ferry there, but it meant we didn't get back till rather late (I tucked myself into bed at the cool time of half 3 in the morning...).
Thanks to anyone that did read all the entries or leave comments; t'is greatly appreciated!

Roman Roaming: Highlights from Italy, Part 2
 
Ciao! You've found Part 2 of my Roman Roaming Trip Report - if you've not yet seen Part 1, it's worth checking that out first. Part 2 continues with the tour around the land of pizza, pasta and Mario Balotelli, and includes the following Parks:
 
Part 2
Mirabilandia, Ravenna Ai Pioppi, Treviso Etnaland, Sicily  

 
Bellissimo. Let's dive straight in!
 
Mirabilandia
 

 
Mirabilandia is Italy's #2 Theme Park, yet can hardly be called "conveniently located"; its closest major city is Ravenna (nope, me neither), and the closest airports are Bologna (90 mins drive), Florence (150 mins drive), and Venice (150 mins drive). You can see the Park skyline for miles in advance of actually getting there, due to the vast area of flat fields and low vegetation that surround it. And yet that doesn't prevent Mirabilandia from being rammed most days of the weekend / holidays, largely by Italians.
 
For this reason, Mirabilandia was the only Park in which I chose to invest in a Flass Pass, which afforded unlimited riding on all rides all day. It operated via a wristband system, and dedicated ride entrances - flash the wristband, and you're let straight on. Very similar to Thorpe's Ultimate Fastrack (£80), but with less need to re-mortgage your house, at just €39 (approx. £28).
 
Few of the locals had opted for the Flash Pass, so it turned out to be a highly worthwhile purchase - namely for the numerous laps I managed on Katun, unarguably one of the best B&M inverts in the world.
 

 
No doubt many of you on here will have ridden Katun, but for those that haven't, there is a very good reason that it has placed in and around the top 10 in Mitch Hawker's annual Best Steel Coaster Poll for the last 10 years. Only Alton's own Nemesis can boast a similar record as an Invert.
 
And why? Katun's sense of speed is hard to beat. The steep first drop is a genuinely thrilling, high-octane rush of a start (which consistently gave me an shot of adrenaline that few rides do), and from there the ride never lets up, with a layout including a very floaty zero-G, and a very speedily-taken cobra roll. The final helix, again taken at some speed, with riders' feet nearly brushing the dense vegetation that has grown up around it, is another highlight, and an excellent end to the ride.
 

 
It's very hard to make the call as to which is the better inverted coaster vs. Nemesis, but Katun wins points for a simply stunning first drop, and for the sheer relentless-ness of the ride. Nemesis benefits from its greater number of near-misses, given its location in the pit, arguably a better theme, and an excellent final corkscrew inversion that - as an ending - just edges out Katun's. It's interesting to note that both Nemesis and Katun are "old school" B&Ms, having been built in 1994 and 2000 respectively, and there's a pretty solid argument that the Swiss manufacturer have edged away from these more intense inverted layouts in recent years (although Asterix's excellent OzIris can perhaps make a counter argument here).
 
At the end of the day, one ride Katun alone is worth the flight out to Mirabilandia. Book it now.
 

 
Mirabilandia also offers an attractive set of supporting rides, including the visually impressive Intamin Water Coaster, DiVertical. Opened in 2012 (and initially mired with technical problems), DiVertical remains the tallest Water Coaster in the world, with its 197ft elevator lift structure towering over the skyline.
 
Boats meander along a concrete trough towards the bottom of the lift, where they are loaded individually onto a platform - connected to one side of the dual-pronged structure - that raises the boat up to the top. The bulbous middle of the elevator lift is to allow for another platform with an empty boat - connected to the other side - to descend alongside the ascending platform containing riders. It's a very speedy process, and hats must be tipped to Intamin for making it so efficient.
 
The drop itself is a fun one - not overly steep, but longer to compensate, and the minimal lap-bar restraints ensure riders feel vulnerable during the descent.
 

 
The initial splashdown is mild, with the track barely skimming the water - the proper dose of H2O is to come. The boat careers over a well-profiled airtime hill, a couple of turns, and downward helix, before making a proper splash back down into the trough. As you can see, riders should not expect to come away dry from the experience - but in the scorching Italian summer, I didn't see one person who cared.
 
I was expecting to enjoy DiVertical, but I really enjoyed DiVertical - Intamin may well have a ride that betters Mack's well-received Water Coaster. Intamin's track is smoother (), and there is real tension built by the lift structure. Colour me surprised, but I wouldn't mind seeing more of these pop up in the warmer Parks of the world.
 

 
Continuing the Intamin theme, Mirabilandia also hosts one of the better layouts of the Intamin Accelerator in iSpeed. Opened in 2009, iSpeed accelerates from 0 - 60mph in 2.2 seconds (not dissimilar to Rita), up a 180ft top hat (not dissimilar to Stealth). What follows thereafter though is dissimilar to both UK Accelerators - a further 2,500ft of twisty, airtime-filled track, including a corkscrew and inline twist.
 
The layout is great fun, fairly intense, and taken at some speed - indeed, the ride actually hits its top speed (74mph) well after the LSM launch. What prevented it becoming a brilliant ride for me was alas the restraints - the same as those featured on Stealth and Rita.
 
As you will know, these restraints have a thin over the shoulder design, with weighty bars that sit over riders' thighs. And actually this design is pretty bearable (but wouldn't go as far to say comfy) on the UK Accelerators. But on iSpeed, where there are numerous quick direction changes, and multiple pops of ejector airtime, the restraints just became painful, making re-riding a not-too-attractive prospect.
 
I managed 5 goes (with the Flash Pass), and found towards the end that the best way to ride was to use my hands to push up against the shoulder bracing on the OSTRs, to stabilise me and alleviate the pressure from the lap bar on my thighs. In this position, the air time didn't crush my legs against the solid, straight bar as much, and the direction changes didn't slice my neck with the shoulder bracing as much. But I shouldn't have to do this to enjoy the ride - rides should be comfortable and afford the rider as much freedom as possible.
 
In sum: great layout, hampered by poor trains, 7/10. If Mack could build iSpeed but with their Mega Coaster trains, that would be amazing, thankyouverymuch.
 

 
Mirabilandia is also host to Niagara, a very wet 100ft Shoot the Chutes flume, Reset, an excellent post-apocalyptic New York-themed laser shooter Dark Ride, and Eurowheel, Europe's largest ferris wheel, which stands tallest in the Park's skyline at 300ft.
 
It's also well known for its expensive-looking stunt show, which gets refreshed yearly. After many seasons running with a "Police Academy" theme, this year Mirabilandia debuted a new Grosso Guaio a Stunt City Show ("Big Trouble in Stunt City"), in collaboration with Hot Wheels - which meant the Park could generate extra cash through placing Hot Wheels kits for sale in every retail outlet on Park.
 
The arena set looked great, and after a pretty slow start (15 mins of talking, "comedy", more talking, and some audience participation), the eventual stunts were pretty impressive. It was the usual fare: car chases, motorbike jumps, dumper trucks doing wheelies; but the stand out moment came in the finale, where "Europe's first" real-life loop-the-loop stunt was unveiled. The green Hot Wheels-branded car attacks it with some speed and the chassis actually connects with a trough in the loop to keep it on course through the manoeuvre, but it's nonetheless an impressive visual spectacle, especially in combination with the trigger-happy pyrotechnics used throughout the show!
 
Great fun, and a nice way to end the day at one of the more impressive Italian Parks.
 

 
Ai Pioppi
 
From the sublime to the ridiculous... this next Park couldn't be more different to Miribilandia if it tried.
 
Presenting Ai Pioppi. Ai Pioppi ("the poplars") is an "osteria" - literally translated as a "bar" or "tavern". It's actually more of a restaurant, and is nestled in the woodland 30 minutes drive north of Treviso (an hour north of Venice).
 
All very good, but why did a family-run restaurant feature in my roam around Italy?
 
Because, of course, this particular restaurant has roller coasters...
 

 
The restaurant itself is pretty rustic - the menu most comprising steak, fish, and polenta slices all being cooked on large hot plates together. Chips were also available. The outdoor seating area has been built to cater for crowds, with large numbers of benches and tables scattered around the expansive undercover area next to the kitchen.
 
Pricing was highly reasonable, and the food was tasty enough. There was even a nicer indoor section for the more formal meal out.
 
But you didn't come here for a food review...
 

 
Ai Pioppi is a restaurant with a difference, as the back of it features an entirely hand-built playground filled with rides ranging from swings, slides, seesaws, gyroscopes, flat rides and even roller coasters!
 
Some history: on June 15th 1969, a man named Bruno bought himself a few jugs of wine, some sausages and a few other items, and set up a tiny food stand underneath a tree in northern Italy to see if anyone would show up. By the end of the day - to his surprise - he had sold almost everything and the family restaurant, Ai Pioppi, was born.
 
The next month he had an encounter with a blacksmith who didn’t have time to make a few hooks for some chains. Bruno decided instead he would learn to weld to make the hooks, and enjoyed it so much he began to dream up small rides he could build to entice new customers to Ai Pioppi.
 
40 years later, and Bruno is still building rides by hand. And admission for these rides remains free for all patrons of his restaurant.
 

 
This is the workshop from which Bruno dreams up, and subsequently builds, new rides.
 

 
And this is the man himself - in his element as architect and manufacturer of his restaurant's attractions... and seemingly laughing in the face of retirement!
 

 
So what's on offer? There's too much to show, so here I'll offer some highlights, starting with this "ferris wheel with a difference".
 
Like many of the rides at Ai Pioppi, this attraction uses people-power to operate. Riders (max of 2) climb up the ladder to get to the central platform, where there are walkways to each opposite end. The way to make the wheel turn is for the riders to distribute their weight by walking (either forwards or backwards - different direction by each) in the smaller wheels situated at each end. With each rider moving around their respective mini-wheels, the central wheel turns, and it's entirely possible to complete a full 360 turn (and for riders to remain fairly upright) if both participants get the hang of it.
 
Fascinating to watch, and fairly daunting to ride - there are no restraints to speak of, only a handlebar to hold, so it's quite easy to see this going wrong with a mis-step or two...
 

 
Onto another hand-built kinetic wonder. In this ride, guests sit in cages and pedal what most closely resembles a bicycle, in order to drive their carriage around the large loop. There are heavy counterweights at the other ends of the pendulums, which enables a decent momentum to be built up - hard work to start with, but it's not too difficult to get into a rhythm and build up enough power to get close to inverting.
 
The best I managed was to get my cage to the 1-o-clock position on the "clock"; not quite enough to get to "12-o-clock" and beyond to make the full inversion. There were three reasons for this:
 
1) Momentum runs out very quickly when your cage (the heavier part) reaches any height, meaning a huge effort is required on the pedals to continue to push it over the top;
2) The "restraints" consisted of two curved shoulder bars, not unlike the ones featured on Thorpe's Slammer, but with zero padding, so they hurt really quite a lot when your entire body weight starts to rest on them, and;
3) By the time I'd pedalled all the way to "1-o-clock", I was fairly terrified of the entire contraption.
 

 
Moving on, to the 4 roller coasters that exist at Ai Pioppi.
 
Two were unfortunately not operating during my visit; the oldest, Bob, had a large twig over the tracks and the gate to access it was padlocked. Unfortunately, my Italian wasn't good enough to ask Bruno what was wrong. The second, Catapulta, has been "Under Construction" for 5+ years now, although given that it looked like it was attempting a petrifying Stealth-like launch using a counterweight system, this wasn't a huge issue for me...
 
The Carrello della Gobba ("Cart with a Hump") was open, and is a fairly sizable butterfly / shuttle ride with a c.30 degree incline, a bunny hop after the initial drop, and a steep (nearly vertical) ramp at the other end. Being similarly "people-powered", riders have to push the single-person cart to the top of the incline (on the left) until it locks into place at the top, get into the thing, lower and lock the "restraint", and release the brake on the floor of the cart to start the descent...
 

 
Given my previous experience with the flat rides, and the appearance of the cart (below), I was needless to say rather apprehensive about releasing the brake (had Bruno ever heard of ADIPS?!). However, my fears were (mostly) unfounded, as Carrello della Gobba gave a pleasantly smooth ride, marred only by the extreme ejector airtime over the bunny hop, which would have certainly thrown me (to some considerable height) out of the cart, had the painful metal thigh-restraint not prevented me from doing so. Ow.
 
The ride also takes a fair time to finish, because there is nothing to stop the cart once its been released at the top; it just continues to shuttle forwards, and backwards, and forwards, until friction alone brings it to a slow enough speed to get out of it unharmed.
Most riders came off with grins on their faces, and bruises on their thighs!
 

 
But the emotions stirred by Carrello della Gobba were nothing in comparison to Ai Pioppi's headline attraction, the Pendolo ("Pendulum").
 
Pendolo, like Carrello, is a butterfly / shuttle ride, but on a much grander scale, and without the bunny hop. Built 15 years after the original Bob coaster, Pendolo towers well above every other construction in the woodland, including the trees.
 
When we approached the ride, it was considered a write-off; the cart was covered up, and the railings sported signs saying "Closed" and "Under Maintenance". Given the sheer size of the thing, and the disconcerting yellow sign that advertised "maximum speeds of 100 km/hour", I would be lying if I said that a tiny part of me wasn't a tiny part relieved that I wouldn't be riding today...
 

 
But as we were eating our steak and polenta for lunch, Bruno had other ideas... and set to work fixing up the Pendolo to get it into operation!
 
When the first test car ascended the incline - shunning people-power this time, being driven by a pulley system with motor - we all held our breath as to whether the car would complete the run successfully, given the rampant foliage growing up through the track...
 

 
...but complete successfully it did, making a huge clattering racket as it thundered through the bottom of the half-pipe and up the towering steep ramp the other side. Much like Carrello, there was no braking mechanism, so the ride took around 3 minutes of coasting up and down each side of the track to slow down enough to (manually) pull the car to a halt for the oncoming riders.
 
And then it was my turn. Getting into the 3-across car, featuring seats still covered in leaves and head rests that had clearly been "borrowed" from a Fiat 500, I had rarely been more nervous for a ride. Not even the Vietnamese coaster with the non-locking OTSRs last year had me as worried as this one did, and I'm unashamed to say that at the point the car was released at the top of the slow incline, I shrieked like a little girl.
 
Whether we hit 100 km/hour or not, I will never know, but it could well have been; thankfully the near-vertical ramp that greeted us at the other side was quick to take the speed out of the car, and back down we went. The adrenaline rush was massive; 80% due to pure fear, 20% due to the thrill of the (impressively smooth) ride.
 
I have no doubt that the first time I rode Colossus, way back when, I experienced a similar level of nerves and excitement (10 loops! OMG!). But having grown older and more travelled, it's become harder and harder to re-create that pure adrenaline rush. Ferarri World's Formula Rossa did it for me last year, but then it had to launch me to 149mph across the Arabian desert to do so.
 
All the more kudos then, to Bruno, for giving me such intense "fear and thrills" feelings all over again on his Pendolo . Bravo!
 

 
In sum, Ai Pioppi is an absolutely bonkers place; as likely to make you soil your underwear in fear as it is to make you drop your jaw in wonder. It's probably a place that I'll never frequent again. But boy, am I glad to have been. Bruno - thank you for the memories, and don't ever stop inventing.
 
For more, there's a mini-documentary about Ai Pioppi available on Vimeo that's well worth 11 minutes of your time, here.
 

 
Etnaland
 

 
And finally, a little note on Etnaland. Etnaland is not an easy place to get to; situated on the isle of Sicily, around 30 minutes drive from the town of Catania on the east coast. Even a weekend trip over is not the easiest; only Ryanair fly direct from the UK (Stansted), only once a day during peak season, and even then it's a 3 hour+ drive to the Park from Sicily's Palermo airport...
 
This is a shame, because Etnaland is a gem of a Park. It features both a Water Park and a Theme Park, and in the summer season opens the former 9am - 6pm, and the latter 7:30pm - 1am. The only overlapping attractions to the Parks are the Jungle Splash (Shoot the Chutes with a vertical lift, below), and the Crocodile Rapids (Hafema Rapids) rides - and in the daytime, both rides add huge volumes of water to the experience (e.g. Crocodile Rapids has a massive waterfall directly over the rapids trough; in the evening, this is switched off... in the daytime, it is not...).
 
Ride either of these "Theme Park" rides in the daytime without wearing "Water Park" attire (e.g. swimming costume) at your peril...!
 

 
As for the Theme Park, it boasts a (surprisingly) excellent S&S Mine Train, Eldorado, which offers a wonderfully drawn-out first drop, detailed mountain rock work, and impressive forces on the downward helices. More mine trains from S&S, please! Other supporting rides include the novel The School dark ride, featuring desks and multi-choice questions rather than the usual laser guns, Quasar, a Zamperla Disk'O coaster, and the imaginatively-titled Etnaland Tower, a standard 200ft S&S Double Shot (elevated above others by offering excellent views of a certain Mount Etna...).
 
The real reason to make the effort to get to Etnaland, however, is The Storm, one of the first Mack MegaCoasters built after the debut of Blue Fire in Europa Park in 2009. I love the comfort of the Mack MegaCoaster trains, and was intrigued as to how this one would ride, especially compared to my experiences on Helix (review), and Alpina Blitz (review).
 
Happily, I can report that The Storm is an excellent ride; smooth, with a few pop of airtime, and an absolute killer Mack-trademark inline twist at the end of the course (akin to Blue Fire), but with the added bonus of a loud thunder crack being played by a nearby speaker when the train travels through it. It's infinitely re-ridable and has a great "rock and roll" theme, with heavy metal being blasted out through the queue line every time a train ascends the lift hill! Catch a POV of it here.
 
So how does it compare? It's certainly a brilliant ride... but lacks the insane airtime of Alpina Blitz, the length and terrain of Helix, and the theming and near misses of Blue Fire... so unfortunately doesn't compare quite as well to these similar Mack rides. It also could have done with being a little more forceful. But given the overall quality of the Mack product, there is absolutely nothing for Etnaland to be ashamed of - The Storm easily outstrips a large majority of the other coasters I've ridden. Top notch work from Mack, again.
 
And at 1am, with its LED lighting package shining bold in the moonlight, it looks bloody good too.
 

 
~
 
In short, I'd thoroughly recommend checking Italy out - both as a "normal" tourist and a "coaster" tourist; the country is packed with variety, and this trip report has barely scratched the surface of what's on offer.
 
And worth re-iterating again: whilst many of the Parks showcased here are relatively easy to get to for your average coaster enthusiast, touring the whole country and hitting everything is rather more tricky - which is why unlike my previous Trip Reports, for Italy I was with a large group from the European Coaster Club. If you've not heard of the ECC, membership is £25.50 a year, and that buys you 6 issues of the excellent First Drop magazine, a bunch of discounts for Parks across Europe, and of course access to trips such as the one I've described here
 
Thanks for reading!

Arabian Adventure
 
It's winter: the nights are drawing in, the days are getting shorter, and it's altogether a bit chilly. So what better excuse than to have a quick break away to the UAE; land of sand, sun, Sheiks... and coasters! Thanks to a bargain return BA flight booked relatively last minute, I enjoyed 4 pleasantly warm (28°C) days at the end of November in the Emirates, seeing the sights, enjoying the food, and riding the rides. Read on for the highlights, and lowlights, of my Arabian Adventure.
 
This trip report covers all of the Parks I visited:
 
Sparky's FEC, Dubai Wonderland, Dubai Sega Republic, Dubai Yas Waterworld, Abu Dhabi Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi  
I was based in Dubai for my visit, and all of the Dubai Parks were within easy reach of the Metro. Like most of the buildings & infrastructure in Dubai, the Metro is very new, with the first line having been opened only in 2009, and a second one following in 2011. The city's tram is so new, it was only 2 weeks old when I visited! Dubai is also very easy to get around via the relatively cheap taxis, which are ubiquitous.
 
Yas Island, which houses both Yas Waterworld and Ferrari World, is located in Abu Dhabi, and the only means of getting there is via car. Given that the UAE has a less than impressive road safety record (supposedly you are 7x more likely to have a road accident vs. in the UK), for these Parks I opted to avoid driving myself and got a taxi, which took just under an hour each way.
 

 
So, on with the report. Hold on tight - it's a long one. And the first (mini) Park I visited was Sparky's:
 
Sparky's Family Entertainment Centre, Dubai

Sparky's FEC is a very new addition to the Dubai amusement scene, having only officially opened in March 2014. Owned by Saudi Arabia's Al Hokair Group (who run 55 indoor recreation centres in Saudi and the UAE), the complex is based on the top floor of the Al Ghurair Centre - one of the more modest Malls in Dubai, but still comparatively large compared to anything in the UK. The site houses an ice rink, 5D cinema, dark ride, go karts, soft play area, many arcade games... and a coaster!
 
Entrance is free, and rides and arcade games are on a pay-as-you-go basis. The minimum top-up on the Sparky's card was 50 AED (£8.77), which got me 2 rides on the coaster and 1 go on the 5D cinema (which incidentally was very well done, if quite jumpy... damn zombies).
 

 
The coaster was simply called Roller Coaster, and stood seemingly deserted when I walked up to the entrance gates: I had to ask an attendee tending to another ride to come over and open it up for me! Truth be told, the FEC wasn't busy, so I suspect it makes sound business sense to employ fewer "roaming" ride operators than have more of them all fixed on certain rides for the day.
 

 
Roller Coaster is an I.E. Park Spinning Coaster - indeed, is one of I.E. Park's very first Spinning Coasters. Riders sit back to back on Maurer-style spinning cars, with a simple lap bar to hold them in. Squarely aimed at the family market, the ride features 2 lift hills and weaves its way around the top of the FEC.
 

 
And perhaps surprisingly, the ride was good fun from start to finish. I wasn't expecting much to start with, but Roller Coaster had a good amount of spinning, a few airtime-inducing drops (when sat at the back) and was altogether a very comfortable ride. Not half bad for a new model, so I.E. Park should be commended. It looks pretty good too (pictured here above the ice rink)!
 

 
Sparky's won't take up any more than an hour or so of your time due to the small choice of attractions and even smaller crowds, but I'd nonetheless recommend paying it a visit if you're in the area. Roller Coaster is a decent attraction, and the supporting rides make for a more entertaining visit to a shopping mall than normal!
 

 
Wonderland, Dubai

Wonderland is situated to the north of Dubai city, only 10 mins drive from the airport. Before venturing off to find it, I questioned whether it would even be worth a visit: it was a little out of the way, looked as if it had only one operational coaster (a Vekoma Roller Skater), and the reviews on Trip Advisor were not even slightly encouraging (11% approval at time of writing). But not wanting to judge the place before I'd seen it myself, I took the Metro to the nearest stop, Dubai Healthcare City, and walked up to the Park entrance.
And this is what I found:
 

 
And this is what the car park looked like:
 

 
And there was no activity going on at this Beijing Jiuhua Amusement Rides Spinning Coaster:
 

 
And this contraption looked like it would kill anyone who tried to ride it:
 

 
Undeterred, I walked up to the very-far right booth at the entrance to speak to the attendant, and asked if I could buy a ticket. He was a local Emirati guy in traditional dress, but was a man of few words.
 
"Park is closed today", he said - even though their website stated it was open from 10am to 12am. When I asked why, he said that there was a "big new attraction coming", and they had to close the whole Park to construct it. "What sort of ride?", I asked, somewhat surprised. "A big one which spirals around a lot", he said, gesturing with his hands. I couldn't see any construction going on.
 
"When are you opening again?", I asked. He shrugged.
 
I then asked if I could have a look around the deserted Park to take some photos, but unsurprisingly he declined. The only snap I got was of the view into the Park from the entrance gates (below).
 
"Water park is open today", he said, pointing over to the left. And then he sat back down again.
 

 
But I had a good look at the water park, and it didn't look very open to me. Cutting my losses, I left Wonderland feeling more than a little frustrated.
 

 
Sega Republic, Dubai

Sega Republic is a relatively new FEC located on the top floor of the Dubai Mall. The Dubai Mall is the "world's largest shopping mall", with over 1,200 (count them) stores, including all the luxury brands you could want, along with a Debenhams, M&S, and Hamleys. Annually it hosts more visitors than New York City . So there's more than enough demand for an indoor Theme Park and Sega Republic stepped up to the mark, opening in 2009.
 
Much like Sparky's, Sega Republic operate on both a pay-as-you-go basis, where rides range in price from 15 AED to 30 AED (£2.63 - £5.25), and a pay-once basis, where a "Power Pass" for all rides is available at 175 AED (£30.65). Payment is handled via a Sega-bespoke smart card system, where ride entrances have only Sega-card readers and don't accept cash: Sega-cards must be topped up at designated payment booths prior to riding.
 

 
It's a pretty big FEC at 76,000 sq ft, and sprawls across 2 floors. As standard, the Park opens from 10am to 1am (11pm at off-peak times), so there's lots of opportunity to visit. And the Park's headline attraction is the rather good Gerstlauer custom spinner, Spin Gear.
 

 
As with the rest of the Park, Spin Gear is themed around Sonic and friends, and features an enclosed dark section in the second half of the ride that is not visible from the outside. It's a good length, smooth family spinner - the local riders opposite us in our car certainly seemed to enjoy themselves.
 

 
The standard of presentation is really rather good, with Doctor Eggman goading Sonic / presenting safety information in the queueline videos.
 

 
And the cars are very comfortable too, with a snug lap bar restraint to hold you in. So in all, Spin Gear can be recommended: it's a solid attraction that's much larger than first appears, and produces some good lateral forces. Well worth giving a go.
 

 
A side note on Sega Republic: prior to boarding any ride, riders are forced to stand and read a laminated sheet of paper with detailed instructions / safety information / rider restrictions printed on it. Ride attendants present this laminate to every rider about to board, which was fine given the relatively low crowds, but would be a throughput nightmare if there was any sort of queue.
 
I've never seen a Park do this before - highly conservative, and probably highly unnecessary.
 

 
Sega Republic had a good selection of flats to support the main 'coaster, include Xyclone, a gyro-swing-esq ride, which goes a full 360° and inverts riders over the top. Good fun, although a little painful being slammed back onto your restraint every time the carriage comes down having gone over the top.
 

 
My favourite flat was the innovative Halfpipe Canyon, which rode a little like a standing-up-pirate-ship. Huge amounts of fun, the ride puts 4 riders in 2 teams of 2, who compete against each other on their respective green or orange skateboard. Once the ride begins, the skateboards start to swing much like a pirate ship. Once the boards have reached their highest swings, they also rotate 360° for added disorientation. Teams gain points for stamping left-right-left-right on the plates underneath them at the points where the skateboards reach the top of the halfpipes - the most points wins.
 
Halfpipe Canyon: huge re-rideability - some people were running around for second / third / tenth goes - and very entertaining. If you ever see one of these, hand over your money!
 

 
Yas Waterworld, Abu Dhabi
 
And now onto the Parks in Abu Dhabi, both based on Yas Island. Yas Island is - much like the Palm in Dubai - an artificial block of land, located just off the coast of Abu Dhabi. It's still half completed, but the stats are staggering: the idea for the island was conceived only in 2006, but was built and opened for business just a few years later. The F1 circuit is the main draw, but the island has just opened a large Mall, and is home to both Yas Waterworld, and more famously Ferarri World. Total investment in the project is estimated at US$40 billion - that's 9 zeros - $40,000,000,000 . We opted for Yas Waterworld first.

Yas Waterworld opened only last year in January 2013, and has already been named the second best waterpark in the world, behind Disney's Typhoon Lagoon. Pretty impressive, and it's easy to see why - for me the Park is right up there with any of its American counterparts in terms of number, quality and variety of flumes & rides, and the standard of presentation across the whole Park is top notch.
 

 
For example, I don't think I've ever seen such a glorious mess of flumes as this (below) in any water park I've been to! These snake flumes were all provided by WhiteWater - the company behind our own revered Storm Surge. I think they've innovated a little since the advent of their Spinning Rapids Ride: these 6 slides include both cool new Rattler sections and a SuperBowl.
 
WhiteWater actually provided 12 out of the 14 attractions for Yas, and the Park is great advert for their products. One of the star attractions is the Liwa Loop AquaLoop, which I'm happy to confirm is one of the most heart-in-mouth water slides I've ever ridden. That moment when you're standing atop a trap door, knowing there's a freefall drop of several tens of feet below you and then a loop, hearing a calm female voice counting down "3...2...1..."? Scary bananas. WhiteWater also supplied a Freefall Speed Slide and a 6-lane Whizzard racer, which were both a whole lot of fun.
 

 
Judging by queue length alone though, it was ProSlide who won the popularity contest at Yas with their ginormous HydroMagnetic Mammoth Water Coaster installations that went by the names of Dawwama and Falcon's Falaj. Both slides use LIMs to propel the 6-person rafts up, as well as using gravity to push them down again into features such as this massive 20m funnel.
 
And you can't even blame low capacity for that queue - ProSlide claims a throughput of up to 1,080 per hour on their 6-person Water Coasters!
 

 
Hugely wet, hugely fast, hugely fun. And the uphill LIMs are a big improvement on e.g. Alton's Master Blaster water-propelled method.
 

 
But the real reason for visiting Yas Waterworld was to have a go on their Vekoma Splash Party coaster, Bandit Bomber.
 

 
It's a pretty bold decision by the Park to install a water-based steel coaster in a wet environment, especially given that previous attempts by other manufacturers (notably Setpoint) can hardly be deemed a success - Carowinds and Hersheypark can tell you more. The track layout sprawls across the Park affording riders a good view of the slides below, and the real fun comes when the 4-person trains roll through the "splash zone". In this area, riders on Bandit Bomber can choose to press a "trigger" button attached to the seats to dump a load of water on the queueing guests below. Guests below can retaliate thanks to ground-based water guns pointing up at the track.
 

 
It's a great idea, although unfortunately marred by the fact that on some of the trains, the hardware wasn't working (meaning no water was dumped, even if the triggers were pressed at the right time by riders), and that many of the riders seemingly had no idea that they had a trigger at their disposal, choosing instead to completely ignore the splash zone interactivity.
 
Whilst this was a shame, for those riders who did know what they were doing, and had been lucky enough to get a working train, Bandit Bomber was a lot of fun - anyone who's used the pay-per-use water guns located to the sides of Storm Surge or Tidal Wave will know how gratifying spraying a complete stranger with water can be.
 

 
And for everyone else, Bandit Bomber was still a solid family ride, with a decent twisty layout that afforded some good negative-G-inducing drops and swoops. Extra points to Vekoma for producing a really smooth ride, too - their latest steelies are so much improved vs. their back catalogue (their 2013 suspended family coaster Orkanen is one of the best family rides out there). Guests were running around back to the ride entrance to try it again; a thumbs up from me.
 

 
Yas Waterworld, then, is an excellent Park with only a few flaws (location is a bit in the middle of nowhere, and it's not cheap at 240 AED - £42), so I'd encourage anyone in Abu Dhabi, or even in Dubai, to make the trip over to Yas Island to spend a day there. The themeing and attention to detail is superb, and for my money the range of attractions and quality of the environment makes this a notch above more established local rivals such as Wild Wadi or Aquaventure.
 

 
Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi

Last but not least - Ferrari World. This had been by far my most anticipated Park due to its scale ("world's largest indoor Theme Park") and its speed machine ("world's fastest roller coaster"). As we had only a day on Yas Island, we didn't get over to Ferrari World until 4pm, having spent the morning and a fair amount of the afternoon in Yas Waterworld! Doing both Parks in one day does however have the advantage of being able to use the Yas Park Pass - a snip(?) at 365 AED (£63.87) - which bought us entry into both attractions.
 

 
The first thing to say is that the huge red structure which houses this Park is really, well, huge. It is so huge, in fact, that it's almost too big for the number of attractions that Ferrari World offers - around 15 if everything is operational. Walking from one side of the place to the other takes a considerable amount of time, but it wouldn't be difficult to polish the Park off in just half a day - as we did!
 
It's clear however that the Park are aware of this and are still investing. The 200ft drop tower that sits in the middle of the structure is currently under scaffolding (although it was unclear whether this was for renovation or to dismantle it), and the flume ride was boarded up with large "Coming Soon" signs plastered all over it. Local news suggests that the Park plans to install 7 new rides over the next 3 years, with the general manager claiming that some of these will be "iconic". Gringotts coaster, anyone?
 

 
But let's get straight to business - and the reason most of you probably came to read this trip report in the first place.
 
Formula Rossa is a breathtaking, pant-wetting rocket of a ride, and gave me the biggest adrenaline rush I've had from a 'coaster in a good long time; maybe even ever.
 

 
Made by Intamin, the coaster somewhat trumps sister hydraulic launch rides Stealth and Rita by boasting a launch of 0 to 149mph in ~4 seconds. That's basically Stealth's launch, and then Stealth's launch again. What follows is a 171ft hill, and then one of the longest layouts in the world (6th longest at the time of writing - Lightwater's Ultimate comes in at 2nd), mostly consisting of high hills and wide turns.
 
Although Ferrari World is an indoor Park, their star attraction of course launches off into the desert outside. And the Park provides a great viewing platform for potential riders to assess what they're letting themselves in for...
 

 
Two things happen in the station to keep the ride safe and operational. One: the train wheels and chassis are sprayed with water via automatic misters to cool it down in between launches. With temperatures in the summer averaging over 38°C, Intamin have had to adapt to the local climate. And two: riders are presented with red glasses, to keep any windy desert sand away from delicate eyes when moving at 149mph. All riders are required to wear these.
 

 
This ride is - unsurprisingly - all about the speed. The layout is fun, but with the transitions so wide and the hills relatively tall, not especially forceful. It's just fast. Bloody fast.
 
I rode Formula Rossa twice; once in the 3rd car (of 4), and once in the front row. In the 3rd car, the speed was palpable, with facial features distinctly wobbling and riders' screams literally taken from mouths.
 
On the front row, the ride morphs into an even more intense beast. Words cannot describe the sheer thrill of the launch: it really pushes the limits of human endurance on a Theme Park ride. My face turned into a rubbery mess, my arms - which were over-confidently in the air until about halfway down the launch track - were pinned back down into my lap bar, and my eyes streamed from the speed (even though I had the glasses on). In many ways, I am thankful for the trims on the hill after the launch - if the train continued to career around the track at the launch speed, it would have been a very uncomfortable experience indeed.
 
For me, the rush was comparable only to the huge adrenaline shot I experienced when skydiving over Salisbury Plain a few years ago - with a vertical terminal velocity of about 120mph. I have never experienced a Theme Park ride like it.
 

 
The riders' expressions say it all.
 

 
The Park's supporting attractions are the Fiorano GT Challenge racing coasters, from Maurer Söhne. Located on the other side of the Park, these dualing car-themed coasters use LSM technology to launch riders at a more family-friendly 59mph.
 

 
The trains are themed to Ferrari F430 Spiders, and feature comfy lapbars common to their spinner rides (a la Sonic Spinball). With a launch straight after the station, 3 further launches around the 1km track, and a handful of stop-start magnetic brake sections, the ride was both thrilling and a lot of fun. The ride layouts weaved in and out of each other, with red, yellow and green lights situated to the side of the tracks to inducate the (green) launches, (yellow) hairpin turns and (red) braking sections.
 
The ride ops didn't mind re-riding here, so we had a good 10 goes on Fiorano GT Challenge, on both the left (black) and right (red) sides - the left proved the favourite.
 

 
Other attractions at Ferrari World included the Scuderia Challenge simulators, Speed of Magic 4D dark ride, Viaggio in Italia Soarin-style attraction, newly-installed Tyre Twist teacups ride, and Karting Academy go-karts, which operated on a time-slot basis (we asked for a slot at 4:30pm, but were told the next available slot was at 7:30pm, so gave it a miss).
 
One of the largest-footprint rides inside the giant Ferrari building is Bell'Italia, a tour around a mini-Italy in a tracked Ferrari 250 California car. This ride proved to be a little embarassing, as the majority of "mini-Italy" had either been removed, or was in a state of disrepair. We were just driving around a load of empty green banking; Verona was little more than a sign saying "under renovation". Really quite poor.
 
Unfortunately, the Bell'Italia experience was somewhat reflective of Ferrari World as a whole; the two major 'coasters notwithstanding, the Park is a little in a state of disrepair at the moment. It is badly missing supporting attractions, with the closure of the drop tower and water ride not helping matters. The main Ferarri building is vast and needs more inside it to justify a gate price of 250 AED (£43.75). Although Formula Rossa and the Go Karts had queues, crowds were low (much lower than Yas Waterworld), which did little to lift the atmosphere - it was all a bit empty and flat.
 
I have hope for Ferrari World, though. Its coasters are both of real quality, and they have the infrastructure to build upon and grow. Yas Island is not even finished yet and Abu Dhabi has great potential to capitalise on tourism in the same way that Dubai has done. Fingers crossed the owners can keep the venture afloat and the Park doesn't go the same way as other expensive IP-led ventures such as ill-fated Hard Rock Park.
 

 
Burj Khalifa, Dubai
 

 
OK, so this is clearly not a Theme Park... but you, esteemed reader, may still be interested. This is the Burj Khalifa, and I was lucky to get in a visit to "At The Top" during my trip. Much in the spirit of all things UEA, you may not be surprised to hear that this is the "tallest building in the world". Tom Cruise famously sat on top of it. To put some numbers around it, the Burj Khalifa is 828m tall. That's insanely tall. If Nemesis Inferno's track was stretched out vertically from start to end, it still wouldn't be as tall as the Burj. London's The Shard could be stretched 2.5 times its height, and it wouldn't be as tall as the Burj.
 
In person, it's really quite impressive. It towers above Dubai's already screamingly tall skyline. The building houses 30,000 people, in both office and residental space. And for 165 AED (£28.87), tourists can take the (ear-poppingly fast) elevator up to floor 124 for a simply stunning view of the Emirate.
 
I picked my time slot to visit a couple of weeks before I arrived in Dubai ("At The Top" sells out weeks in advance), so I was primed for a good sunset at around 5pm. It didn't disappoint.
 

 
Watching the sun set over the city, desert and sea, from nearly a kilometer up in the sky, was a very cool moment. And as you might expect Dubai just lights up at night, yielding awesome views such as the below. Magnificent.
 

 
~
 
So, there is a wealth of Theme Park fun to be had out in the UAE, with clear highlights of my trip being Formula Rossa, Sega Republic and Yas Waterworld. The region is growing so rapidly that in many areas you can almost smell the investment being pumped into the place. That's not to say it's been an easy ride, however - the recession in 2008/2009 hit the sector hard, with projects like Universal Studios Dubailand barely making it off the drawing board. Indeed, when I was travelling down to Abu Dhabi from Dubai, I could see from my taxi the entrance arch to the proposed Universal Studios standing alone in the vast desert around it - very bizarre.
 
One large reason to be excited for UAE's Theme Park future is the development of Dubai Parks and Resort, a massive £1.7bn entertainment complex located towards the south of Dubai city centre, slated to open in 2016. Parques Reunidos - operators of Parque Warner Madrid and Mirabilandia - have been appointed to run two of the three Theme Parks due to open at the resort: Motiongate Dubai (a 4 million sq. foot Hollywood-inspired Park, with studios such as Dreamworks already on board) and Bollywood Parks Dubai (a 3-million sq. foot Bollywood-inspired Park, with major Mumbai studios on board).
 
The third Park in the complex is from a more familiar operator: Merlin Entertainments. Legoland Dubai, a proposed 7th Legoland Park, promises more than 40 attractions upon opening over an area of 3 million sq. foot. Construction boards have already gone up and are again visible from the E11 road to Abu Dhabi, so if all goes to plan, I can see many reasons for a return trip in a few years' time. And I haven't even mentioned the near-future opening of IMG Worlds of Adventure, featuring a Mack launched coaster...
 
Thanks for reading!

Roman Roaming: Highlights from Italy, Part 1
 
Ciao! You may well consider that writing up a two-week, 3,500km road trip around the coasters of Italy, covering 16 parks, 6 fairs and thousands of photos, would be quite the drawn out process - and you'd be right. So please forgive me for opting to showcase the highlights here instead; the stand-out, the fun, and the unusual.
 
Italy is a fantastic place to be a tourist - from the 2,000 year old ruins of Pompeii, to the narrow backwaters of pretty Venice, to the imposing Dolomites and other mountainous regions across the country - there's no shortage of things to see and do. Add to the list the ancient sites in Rome, Pisa's Leaning Tower, and the stunning islands in the South to enjoy, and I can think of few other European countries with so much variety to offer a traveller. It's also a country that's rapidly growing its coaster count, with an array of high-budget new Theme Parks opening their doors in the very recent past (Miragica; 2009, Etnaland; 2010, Rainbow Magicland; 2011, and Cinecittà World; 2014, to name a few).
 
I've chosen a select few of the Parks I visited over the Italy tour to highlight here:
 
Part 1
Cinecittà World, Rome Gardaland, Lake Garda Cavallino Matto, Livorno  
Part 2
Mirabilandia, Ravenna Ai Pioppi, Treviso Etnaland, Sicily  

 
Bellissimo. So, in no particular order, on with the Trip Reports!
 
Cinecittà World
 

 
Cinecittà World, the newest Park in Italy having opened only in July last year, is situated a 45 minute drive south of Rome. There is a once-daily shuttle bus that runs from Rome to the Park (departing 09:30, returning 18:15) for the sum of £10, but alas no clear other public transport options - so if you've not got a vehicle, it's the shuttle bus or bust! This is a shame, given that the Park opens until 23:00 in the Summer as standard...
 
The €250m Park is something of a Universal Studios of Italy - Cinecittà is the largest film studio in Europe, and counts Martin Scorsese among its regulars. For the studio, which has fallen from over 350 productions a year in their heyday, to just 50 in the last six years, Cinecittà World represents an entry into an adjacent market to grow again and bring freshness to the brand.
 
And it's an absolutely gorgeous Park. Brand spanking new, and gobsmackingly pretty. Below is the entrance, where naturally there is a red carpet for guests to walk down. Every day, the Park stages a 15 minute "welcome" show upon opening, where a large cast of singers and dancers perform whilst slowly retreating backwards down "Cinecittà Street" (1920s New York), which connects the entrance to the main Park plaza. Visitors walk down Cinecittà Street with the cast, and upon reaching the central plaza, the show finishes with a flourish and the rides all officially open. Nice touch!
 

 
Wisened readers will probably have already guessed why I've included Cinecittà in this report - it is of course home to a near-clone of our very own beloved(?) 10-looper Colossus. Inexplicably named Altair CCW-0204 (no, I didn't really get the theme...), the ride is identical to Thorpe's own but for a few differences: a re-profiled first drop, a faster cable lift hill, and lapbar trains.
 
And in the clear blue skies of the hot Italian summer, it looked great
 

 
The cobra roll and final inline twist that we are all so used to seeing in Staines. Note that Intamin have gone for their newer "box" supports, rather than the cylindrical columns of Colossus.
 

 
And these are the lapbar trains, affording the rider a huge deal more upper-body freedom, if not that much more lower-body freedom (there was still not exactly an abundance of space for legs and feet to be positioned...).
 

 
So how did the train compare? The short answer is that the new trains are a vast, vast improvement on Colossus' own, and Thorpe should invest in a new set immediately. They improve the ride experience dramatically, especially during the final 5 inlines, where the train almost throws riders out of their seats with only a single bar holding them in - superb.
 

 
The more nuanced answer is that the ride still isn't perfect. Whilst the new trains are a vast improvement, they are still rattly - Altair does not provide the glass-smooth experience that you might expect from e.g. a Mack Mega Coaster. And true to form, the seats towards the back were rougher than those at the front (the same, constantly vibrating roughness that Colossus exhibits - just less so).
 
Intamin's version of the lap bar also proves sub-optimal; the lap bar on these trains are exactly that: just a solid, straight bar. They don't mould around your thighs (Mack), or pin your hips (S&S), or hug your stomach (Maurer). They are just a solid, straight bar - and as such were a little uncomfortable, especially through the inlines: your thighs just slam into them (and full body weight rest on them) on every inversion.
 
It's by no means a deal breaker, and Altair remains a substantially improved experience over Colossus, but there's still work to do for Intamin to perfect the 10-looper model. That said, it's hard not to like the ride, with its futuristic theming, faster lift hill, and steeper, more thrilling first drop. I still enjoy Colossus, and Altair betters it.
 

 
A quick shoutout to the other headline rides at Cinecittà - Darkmare is a rightly well-received Intamin Family Drop Coaster, that has a much better "coaster" section than Thirteen at Alton, and a much worse "drop" sequence than Thirteen at Alton. Housed entirely inside (the building is ginormous), the first 2/3rds of the ride features some thrilling (and super smooth) transitions through drops and swoops around Darkmare's impressive "Hell" themeing.
 
The final 1/3 of the ride - the drop sequence - has none of the drama of Alton's effort: the train approaches a giant screen showing a winged Roman "Satan" figure surrounded by flames and oozing blood. With no warning, the train performs the 5m drop (unlike Thirteen: no bouncing, no bangs), and winds back to the station.
 
Nonetheless, a good attraction - and infinitely re-rideable.
 

 
More impressive themeing is showcased on Mack's longest Supersplash ride: Aktium. Inspired by Ben Hur, the ride has two drops and a splash zone for watchers, which proved popular in the midday heat.
 

 
And with Cinecittà clearly having done a 3-attraction deal with Intamin, the final headline ride is the most impressively themed (bar Disney's Tower of Terror) Drop Tower that I've seen. The actual elephant itself ("Erawan") is a third of the height of the 180ft tower, which features Sit Down, Tilt Sit Down, and Tilt Stand Up Floorless sides. I tried them all, and as with Apocalpyse at Drayton Manor, the Tilt Stand Up ride was by far the most thrilling.
 
Guests enter the ride under the trunk...
 

 
...and exit through the feet. Unbelievably detailed theming work on show here, backed up by a trademark punchy Intamin drop. I loved it!
 

 
Cinecittà World deserves success - the place looks shiny and spotless, and there is immersive themeing everywhere you look. The Park also offers a kiddie area, 4 backlot sets for guests to wander around, and a blockbuster show, Enigma, which is staged twice a day.
 
However, on the day I visited (a hot Saturday in August), the Park can barely have been breaking even: visitor numbers were low to the point where some Altair trains were not being fully filled before being dispatched. I saw no advertising for Cinecittà in and around Rome (in stark contrast to the ubiquitous adverts for Rainbow Magicland - a Park further away!). Some of the Park's supporting attractions aren't great (the 4D Immersive Tunnel is really tedious). And Cinecittà still needs investment to bolster its ride count: there's just not enough there yet to warrant a full day out, especially when crowds are as low as they were.
 
Cinecittà is only a baby - it's just turned one year old - so these complaints are perhaps excusable. Fingers crossed the Park grows and continues to invest in high quality, highly themed experiences.
 
Oh - and it's cheap too; adult tickets start from €23 / £16.75 (compare to Thorpe's £59.99...). Don't miss it if you're visiting Rome!
 
Gardaland
 

 
No doubt you are familiar with Gardaland - one of the larger Parks in Merlin's Resorts portfolio, and set against the stunning backdrop of Italy's Lake Garda.
 
As it's well covered elsewhere, I will spare you a full Trip Report of the place, but needless to say I was impressed. The Park has an extensive ride lineup, all of which are well themed, and the Park itself is pretty vast - it can easily lay claim to being a "Resort" as you'd want at least 2 days to properly do it all in the Summer. Pleasingly, the Park also had a daily opening ceremony featuring Park mascots and confetti cannons, and their suite of bespoke Park-wide music was playing everywhere, which was available to buy on CD for €8 - bargain!
 
The Park has somewhat "grown up" a bit in the last 4 years, with the arrival of two new B&Ms - the second of which debuted this year. Oblivion: The Black Hole wins no awards for creativity (I mean, come on Merlin...), but does deserve recognition for ride experience.
 
I'm an unashamed fan of Krake over at sister Heide Park, so was intrigued as to how Garda's Oblivion would compare. Thankfully it too is a great ride, with bags of floaty airtime (especially in the back row), a great drop, and an interesting (if short) layout in the second half. The airtime hill after the Immelman is some of the best track that B&M have produced in recent years; forceful ejector airtime, great stuff.
 

 
And the ride experience is complemented by the almost universally excellent theming. Case in point is the "black hole" that the train dives into, which appears to suck all manner of objects into it, including a TV outside broadcast van. The queueline is also an interesting one, snaking indoors around high-res floor-to-ceiling screens filled with bespoke-filmed Oblivion content, and other theming set pieces (see the white tent above). The station is filled with an array of mock-security cameras all pointing at the trains (a cynical person would say Merlin over-bought on cameras for the Smiler... ).
 

 
Gardaland's Dive Machine also benefits from a fantastic location, right on the edge of Lake Garda itself. Ascending the lift hill with that view over to your right adds an element that Alton and Heide can't begin to compete with.
 
So which is the preferred Merlin Diver? It's genuinely hard to say, so I'm going to do a lot of fence sitting. Alton's Oblivion is the groundbreaking original, and with the best theme. The trains are bigger, heavier, and the track actually dives into a hole, with very little curvature / bottoming out noticeable as a spectator - hugely worrying for the first time rider! Both the Heide and Garda Dive Machines appear less intimidating, in part due to the fact that they are smaller, and you can see the track bottoming out at the bottom of the dive. But I absolutely love Krake's dive into the creature's mouth and subsequent splashdown for visual impact, and Garda's Oblivion has the better, longer layout of all three rides.
 
Let's just say that they're all enjoyable, hugely re-ridable coasters, and leave it at that. Not going to trouble my Top 10, but I'd ride any of them any day
 

 
Onto the second of the Park's B&Ms: Raptor, opened in 2011, was the original B&M prototype Wing Rider coaster, beating Thorpe's The Swarm by a year. It's another great-looking ride, and I especially enjoyed the "guns" pointing at the train in the station - very atmospheric. The trains look great, and if you think they look remarkably similar to Swarm's, you'd be right: Merlin took a near-replica of the Raptor train design and heavily borrowed from it for Swarm's alien race train shells (saving both $$ and time).
 

 
The ride is really quite different to Swarm's. The Swarm is dominated by that Dive Loop first drop, inversions and helices. Raptor feels far less twisty in comparison - the first drop is a traditional straight one, and there's far more linear track generally, meaning the ride is far more about swooping around the near-miss scenery and generating pops of airtime than Swarm's is. Raptor is also helped by the lush landscaping present at Gardaland - it's built on a hill - so the ride feels faster and more exciting due to the close proximity of the foliage and trees.
 

 
I've yet to ride a Wing Rider that's particularly forceful or intense, but Raptor for me shows off the hardware at its best. Don't get me wrong, being at my local Park, I love the Swarm - particularly the themeing effort and ride storyline. But as a roller coaster, Raptor gives the superior ride. There's more airtime, more near-misses, and it's really bedded in well in its location at Gardaland. For me, there's no fence sitting here:
 
Raptor > The Swarm > Flug der Dämonen (poor pacing, and those vibrations...). Sorry Heide .
 

 
Gardaland easily rivals Alton as Merlin's best Theme Park property, but it's a shame its ride lineup is so inconsistent. As good as Raptor and Oblivion are, they can't excuse the existence of the extended SLC Blue Tornado (one of the most painful SLCs I've ridden; Vekoma should hang their head in shame), or the prototype Screaming Squirrel, Sequoia Adventure (ride it once and no more: why, S&S, why?!). And when the world's longest Wacky Worm, Ortobruco Tour (well over 2 minutes of ride time!), emerges as one of the better coasters in the Park, you know there's some room for improvement...
 
Nonetheless, Gardaland overall's a great Park, and deservedly #8 in Europe. Visit for Oblivion and Raptor, and their superbly themed Intamin Water Coaster, Fuga da Atlantide. If the ride lineup continues to expand along the same trajectory of the last few years, Gardaland has a bright future ahead.
 
Cavallino Matto
 

 
I'll finish off Part 1 with a short note on Cavallino Matto. Cavallino is a regional Park in Tuscany, and a very pretty one at that. The name "Cavallino Matto" literally means "The Crazy Little Horse" in Italian, which goes some way to explaining the Park's strange mascot.
 
With a small selection of flat rides, travelling coasters and a dodgy 4D cinema, it has been relatively unheard of on these shores - until this year, when the Park stepped up and installed their first large-scale 'coaster, Freestyle.
 
Freestyle is a relocated Togo Stand Up coaster from Canada's Wonderland, where it operated for nearly 30 years as SkyRider. Now moved across the Atlantic and given a striking paint job, the ride finds itself with a new lease of life as the star attraction in this smaller Park. And there's no doubt that it looks fantastic.
 
It also means that a certain Park in Tamworth can no longer claim to have "Europe's only Stand Up roller coaster". Sorry, Drayton
 

 
Unfortunately it rides terribly, like most Stand Ups, and all Togo rides (Togo are now not in business, having been bankrupted by a Knott's Berry Farm lawsuit in 2001 over manufacturing defects in their new Windjammer Surf Racers coaster). The ride is fine if the train is going straight, with no horizontal or vertical directional changes... but alas this is the exception rather than the norm, and rib-bruising, head-banging, and manhood-punishing all takes place along the course of the track.
 
Against intuition, the worst parts of the ride are actually the small bunny hops towards the end of the layout; although small, these are taken so quickly that there's a pronounced whiplash effect on those riding. Check out the facial expressions of the riders below and see for yourself...
 
Screams of pain, or delight?
 

 
That said, you can't deny it looks good, and it's certain to do wonders for this fledgling regional Park. I'd ride it any day over Gardaland's Blue Tornado. And one would imagine that after 30 years of operation, Canada's Wonderland sold it off fairly cheaply, so I'd say it was a sound investment for Cavallino.
 
It also gave rise to one of my favourite photos from the trip - Freestyle poking out from above the mass of Tuscany Pine trees that fill the Park's landscape, with the deep blue Mediterranean in the distance. Lovely
 

 
~
 
That ends Part 1 of my Roman Roaming Trip Report - well done for making it this far! If you're keen for more, Part 2 will showcase the thrills of Miribilandia, the terror of Ai Pioppi, and the charm of Etnaland - Sicily's first major Theme Park.
 
A final point: whilst many of the Parks showcased here are relatively easy to get to for your average coaster enthusiast, touring the whole country and hitting everything in 2 weeks is rather more tricky - which is why unlike my previous Trip Reports, for Italy I was with a large group from the European Coaster Club. If you've not heard of the ECC, membership is £25.50 a year, and that buys you 6 issues of the excellent First Drop magazine, a bunch of discounts for Parks across Europe, and of course access to trips such as the one I've described here
 
Thanks for reading!

Causing a bit of a gap to the long speculated trip reports of certain members visiting several new major parks [surprisingly not Benin in this case], you may be wondering what the Creek will be able to provide to contend with this. If you were hoping for reports of new visited parks and the like, you may leave feeling rather disappointed [there are big plans in the works for the near'ish future though], however what I will offer instead will be in the shape and form of unique and different theme park activity.

Having been a big fan/enthusiast of parks and coasters for a long time, there is something I had always wanted to do at a park for a long time in my life; that was walking up to the top of roller coaster lift hill. Following the foreseeable cancellation of my Towers lift hill walk [due to the unfortunate accident of a certain ride], I instantly booked myself a coaster climb on one the coasters at Thorpe [whether it's a good idea to this the day after a heavy night clubbing and drinking is another story however]

Judging from the [poorly quality] picture above you can tell right away which ride I went for; Colossus
After having experienced my chosen ride at the end of the day before closing, I waited patiently outside the ride's exit [as instructed by the details on the email I'd received when I booked it], where I was soon approached by a member of Thorpe's stuff and when clarifying my name, I knew my experience was about to begin.

Being directed in to the Swarm's control booth with others taking the walk [a dad and his son], we were given an informative talk about the ride's generally statistics from basic things such as opening in 2012, being built by Bolliger & Mabillard and costing 20 million to more complex and interesting facts.
When it comes to dispatching the ride, the operator in the control booth must press both green buttons with his hands in-addion to the platform staff pressing the other four buttons. If one of these buttons isn't pressed the ride will not dispatch. Interestingly, there are four positions staff can be allocated to on this ride, control operator, baggage room, front and back of station, where are total number of seven staff are required on two trains operation and six on one train operation.
The ride's console is a lot smaller and advanced from the park's older consoles [inferno's apparently strikes similarities but is noticeably bigger]. Not only can individual rows of restraints be released individually [no need for the recheck all bars here] but the computer system can also calculate how many trains have been running on the system and give a general count of throughput. Speaking on throughputs, one train operation on Swarm allows for about 600 people per hour [pph] whilst two trains allows up to 1200 PPH.
As you can witness from the photo [and the giveaway on the booth] the ride was on just one train at the end of the day, however this was to ensure final checks on the ride's others train which would be checked up through the evening/night and then run on the circuit the next day whilst the existing train would then receive it's inspection. Interestingly whilst the work shop is located on the right to the station building, there is a giant cold fridge in there too [ I forget why though].
Other interesting things the console allows [pictured above] is to open/close gates, stop and start the ride and also stop and start on the lift hill too. The ride was naturally locked down when we were there which only the engineering crew would be able to open to stop any possibility of the ride operating whilst we were there. One of the other proceedures of loading aside from the buttons and thumbs up is all seats must be closed and locked for dispatched regardelss of them being with or without riders.

The second part of the console, this allows the operator to speak to through the tannoy systems, and press automated announcments such as weather closing and reopening. There's naturally a phone too for the operator to contact platform staff.

like all ride's alike, the ride uses CCTV throughout the surrounding area which is to used to ensure the ride is working correctly and that no one has trespassed in the surrounding area [which would result in an e-stop].

Before doing the actual part of the lift walk, everyone was instructed to put on safety harness vests, which involved putting the main part on your chest whilst adjusting and tightening the giant clip and then getting your legs through the holes then adjusting them. This was finalised by the ball hold which would connect to the coaster wire itself.

Then it was time for the walk itself to begin. This gaint bit of machinery operates the lift hill of the ride.
The harness I was wearing was connected to the chainwire at the side, which involved in the positioning of the clip. Every so often, you would need to push the clip through a check point area so to ensure maximum safety. If you folded the clip in, then it would stick you to position. The design of this safety figure has been designed to prevent slip backs, so if you accidentally trip up on the way up or down, the clip safely locks you in place preventing any major accidents from happening.

One of things talked about was the actual meaning of the ride's project name LC12. I naturally put it down as Lez Cougan, however the actual meaning of the acronym was infact Lost Cause. Mentions of other project names such as Project Odyssey [Colossus] and Project Dylan [saw] were also mentioned briefly there too.
And many steps later, we finally reached the top. It was a very nice day so I was able to get some pretty good views of the park and surrounding area whilst I was up there [including Heathrow].


Who Thought Thorpe was so beautiful


I learn't many interesting new facts on my climb which was great to hear whilst taking in the stunning views below. These included,
1/ Stealth & Rita were originally supposed to be one big coaster however due to some difficulties in planning it, this was split in half. So Thorpe got one half [the better half IMO] whilst Towers got Rita.
2/ The reason why Nemesis Inferno was themed like a volcano was because of the fire that took place on the site the ride replaced [Tropical Travels].
3/ If Thorpe were to build something massive on the empty island next to Swarm, they would need to remove something equivalent in size [my tour guide described the park's landscape as being like a Lilo.

I naturally had to ask/enquire about WC16 [Thorpe's new dark ride] during the climb. However unsurprisingly he wasn't able to provide much information except that it would be the first kind of ride to ever exist in the world and that it would be a top class ride. Even facts down to when it would open [spring or summer] could not be provided.
He did mention there would be more interesting in vestments on the way within the park and that Thorpe's target was now all age groups.


When it came to Fright Nights, he said that this years one would be bigger and better, however couldn't confirm completely if there would be any new attractions or face it alone returned [but hinted the former was likely].

On the operational front, the ride cannot operate below 5 degrees or in winds over 35 MPH, there's a wind tracking device at the top of the hill which is sort of in the form of a micro wind turbine.


The main Thorpe hotel is expected to open around 2018/2019. It was mentioned how a spruce up of the entrance would be liked [depecting a very RCT style appearance] and hinted that a redesign in the future would probably happen however the dome would remain for the foreseeable long term due to it's complex structure and helpful functions within the park.


One of the most eager questions I asked I did manage to get an answer for though was the future of the now closed Chief Rangers Caroulsel? When dismantled the ride was stored temporarily in the staff car park for a while, however unfortunately the ride will never be able to return to the park.
This is because it's going to a different park. Which though wasn't said however apparently it isn't close to any major European parks and the country of location is unknown [so tracking of the ride will likely be extremely difficult]. I am happy to confirm though that many prominent items from the old ride have been salvaged including the old ride centrepieces which are apparently now located in the education centre. The other horses on the ride are believed to have been kept to use on the ride's new home.


I asked on what the forseeable future for Mr Monkey might be and he reckons the ride is here to stay as a tribute and lone survivor of the Ranger area that once dominated the park.

When it came to potential rides going, the answer was generally that Thorpe like to keep their rides and that Samurai was closed so that they could give it out the attention it needed to work again as it was still a popular ride at the park.






When it came to Colossus's 'potential' repaint he was unsure on whether it would get fully done and did agree that ride presentations are an important aspect of rides. He did however hint towards the possible return of the railway in the future and the re-theme of Rumba though.

Proof this is real



A pic of me and my guide



I'm a long way up!

After this unique,interesting and insightful experience, I gradually made it down from this giant coaster back to the ground where I thanked my host before grabbing my belongings and making my way.
The Big Question
Was The Walk Worth £50?
Just about,
in this experience, not only do you get to go up and down your coaster of choice, but you are presented with stunning and amazing views of the surrounding area not just in the park but on for many miles throughout the landscape. You also learn a lot of new facts and information on different things in the park from the operational and management side to how the park works as a whole. Seeing the control cabin of one of my favourite coasters was another interesting sight and I enjoyed my time doing this experience where all the VIP team were extremely friendly and helpful and this was no rush or pushing ahead on the experience at any time.
I will probably do another lift walk here at somepoint in the future [not sure when though] on Colossus to see how it compares and look how different the ride works from an operational view, B&M were described as the creme de la creme of coasters when I was there. If you're in to different theme park experiences and wish to experience a lift hill walk, I would definitely recommend experiencing one on The Swarm!

Day 2 of the trip got off to a slightly bad start, with no where around our French hotel seemingly being open for us to buy breakfast (despite the internet and shop signs saying they would be open..). After much wandering around, we found a nice little bakery where I couldn't resist getting anything other than a croissant. After food was sorted, and a nice 30 minute car journey was had, we arrived at our second park , Bellewaerde.
Now, before I start, I should probably confess that I hadn't really heard of Bellewaerde at all until Adam suggested it be part of the trip in its early planning stages. I remember hearing about their signature coaster, Huracan, being built a couple of years ago (indeed, if you dig round on the forums, you'll probably find it being briefly because of its epic opening ceremony), but I didn't exactly think anything of it other than "Oh, that's an obscure park I've never heard of and probably won't visit any time soon". Fast-forward to now and I'm here, with said coaster right before my eyes.
We were directed to park by the Mexico entrance rather than the main entrance, which straight away took us to the likes of Huracan and some of the other big rides on park. Huracan opened at half 10, so we decided to wait around a bit, and Jack and Peaj went on El Toro, the park's breakdance to pass the time...

They weren't overly impressed with it.
We joined the queue for Huracan, which was stated to be about 30 minutes. Given this was the park's headline ride, we decided to brave it expecting it to be longer later in the day. The entire queue is indoors and very nice, though slightly boring to wait in admittedly. This is saved by the epic station area, which is nicely themed, very atmospheric and has awesome lighting and sound effects.
The coaster starts off with a dark ride section, taking you pass a waterfall and many large temple-like statues. I think the ride is meant to have on board audio, but unfortunately it wasn't working for us. Whilst the theming here was something special, the lack of audio obviously meant something felt like it was missing. The lift hill then takes you outside briefly, giving a lovely view of part of the park, and the warehouse the ride is held in, before dropping you back inside. There's some cool light effects in there, and the layout is fun, but again, without any audio, it feels like a lot is missing from the attraction. The ride ended and left me saying "Is that it?". As an overall attraction, it's probably great when everything is working, but it just didn't do enough for me on the day. A real shame.

Entrance / outdoor section

Atmospheric station is atmospheric.
We then moved over the El Volador, a Topple Tower. Infamous rides really, and whilst I have wanted to try one out for ages, I was a bit unsure on whether the ride would be any good. The ride experience is weird, as it's not dull, not exciting, but it just happens. Very unremarkable in my opinion. I guess for me they're a lot like top spins in that they're fun rides to watch, but that's about it.


It was time to move onto another coaster, with Boomerang just around the corner. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's a Vekoma Boomerang. It's the first one I've done, and I wasn't exactly looking forward to it after hearing many bad reviews. Alas, even if the long-ish queue gave me plenty of time to hear the rattlyness of the ride, I went in with an open mind. Admittedly, I didn't find it as rough as I was expecting, but it wasn't a comfortable ride. Coupled in with the fact that it's an intense ride mean I didn't enjoy that much.


To complete of Mexico, we watched a French showing of the park's new 4D film, Le Petite Prince (we could also have watched it in Dutch if we wanted, but chose against it. It's got a fair few special effects, and the fact we were told to keep our bags away from the seats should have been an indication of what to expect from the film. The seats move in all directions an awful, awful lot - the effect is a lot more over-used than any of Angry Birds' effects, for some perspective. The film itself was alright though.
After about 2 hours in one area of the park, we finally moved along to the Far West to do River Splash, the park's log flume. It was a very warm day once again, so I was hoping for a reasonable splashing. Unfortunately, despite having a nice bit of theming and style to the ride, it was quite short, relatively dry and all in all, just a bit meh.

Final drop

Adam insisted I take a photo of the bin, because "no one would believe they have themed bins here if we didn't take a photo".
After a spot of lunch and making priorities of what we should get done, we headed over to Jungle Mission. Bellewaerde is a theme park and zoo integrated into one another, and Jungle Mission is one of those rides that mixes theme park and zoo perfectly (sort of like what Zufari tries to do at Chessington). It's a boat ride that lets you see multiple animals exhibits, but also has a variety of special effects that make it feel like a fun boat ride. It was my favourite attraction of the day probably, with the effects being great, the theming being great, and decent views of the animals too.

The station area had loads of these cobwebs on the ceiling - I'm still not sure if they're theming or real...





Next up was Houdini, a Vekoma Madhouse. The pre-show was interesting with lots of good bits of theming, and I think we were able to be able to pick up the general gist of the story. The actual ride section was alright, but not to the standard of Hex, unsurprisingly. Still, a fun ride in its own right. This was followed by the Bengal Express - a train ride that takes you through lion and tiger enclosures. Again, another fun ride, but the heat meant that the (obviously enclosed) train carriages were quiet warm, and the animals themselves were more lounging around staying cool.


With time ticking on, we went to the Canada area of the park, with a Shoot-the-Chute style ride, Niagara, on the cards. Now, I'm not someone who likes get drenched on water rides unless I'm in the right mood (for context, I haven't done Tidal Wave since 2009 or 2010, despite many opportunities to). So I gave this one a miss, but did queue with the group. Somehow we were lucky and skipped a good 60 minutes of the 80 minute queue when a staff member from the station shouted for a group to come forward to fill up a row (why they got a group from near the end of queue instead of the front I have no clue, but I guess we weren't going to complain...). After seeing everyone after the ride, they didn't look that wet and I kind of wished I done the ride now, but ah well...

Looking pleasantly wet-ish.
A go on Screaming Eagle, a Shot n Drop tower, followed. Once again, it's a type of ride I'd never done before, but had wanted to try. It was okay, but I think I prefer ordinary drop towers to be honest - they provide a better, and more comfortable, experience really.
With 5pm approaching, we headed over the Gold Rush Stunt and Dive Show, new for this year. It was really good fun, with great special effects, a decent run time (25 minutes or so) and some good stunts of course. Being a stunt show meant it was very easy to follow as well, an added bonus for a park which is trying to cater for 2 different languages. It bought back some memories of Thorpe's stunt and dive show too; forgot how much I missed it!


With the show over and the 6pm close looming, there was only really time for one more ride, and we opted to do Bengal Rapid River, unsurprisingly a rapids ride. It was a really fun ride, with it being quite 'rapidsy', a good level of wetness, with some nice bits of theming and scenery scattered around the course. Also slightly strange to see a rapids ride have its station on a slope (though, as we'd find out during the trip, not exactly uncommon!).

First time I'd seen a rapids ride with the 'wedge seat' boat design too!
Final Thoughts: Bellewaerde is an odd park in some ways. It's a mixed bag between having some quality attractions (Jungle Mission, Bengal Rapids), but then some attractions which feel like they have missed opportunities (Huracan, River Splash). Maybe on a different, slightly quieter, day, I'd feel different about the park. But even then, I still feel like the park needs a little bit more to feel complete. It's a park I'm not exactly desperate to go back to any time soon, but a park I'm glad I've done. One final thing I want to mention is how friendly and generally great the staff were - also an added bonus that many spoke English, which was much appreciated after some of my failed attempts at speaking French!
We then set off to head to Brussels, which was meant to be a relatively nice journey. Unfortunately, roadworks on the motorway had other plans. A journey which should have taken us just over an hour ended up taking us 2 and a half hours, thanks to single file traffic and an accident. Joyous. Fortunately, when we arrived at the Meininger hotel in Brussels, we were greeted by great staff, a huge room and a Hard Rock Cafe a very short walk away! Would highly recommend this hotel for anyone planning to go to Brussels. There was also a fabulous atmosphere in the city centre with many celebrating the closure of roads happening in the area for an 8 month trial period (to help the atmosphere around that area or something; not too sure on the actual reason).

A beautiful panoramic shot of the group in Brussels

So, as some on here might be aware, myself, scarycoasterboy (Adam), J.S217 (Jack) and Peaj did a bit of a European road trip at the end of last month / beginning of this month. 8 days, 7 parks, 3 countries - it was a big'un. Parks we visited were...
Plopsaland de Panne (27th June)
Bellewaerde (28th)
Walibi Belgium (29th)
Phantasialand (30th)
Toverland (1st July)
Efteling (1st-3rd)
Bobbejaanland (4th)
As we were visiting Belgium, Germany and Holland, we squished the three countries together to get the working title of 'BelGerAnd' for the name of the trip. Unfortunately, that terrible attempt just sort of stuck (much like Stealth's project name ey?). So that explains that.
(PS: Any feedback on the style of this would be great. I do plan on writing up reports from all the parks, so would be nice to do it in a way that people would want to read it!)
Anyway, enough set up, let's get down to TR-ing...
An early start beckoned us - leaving to get the 5:15 ferry from Dover. Naturally, this meant we arrived at Plopsaland - a realtively short drive from Calais - ridiculously before the 10am opening...

The entrance area looks very nice.
We wandered around the local area to pass the time, and about a 5 minute walk away, we found a Belgian War Memorial. It was somewhat surprising to realise that a theme park was so close to a place like. We had a wander around and it really hits home...

With our respects paid, we ventured off to the world of Plopsa. First up was the coaster I was most looking forward to off the day, Anubis.
It's the first launched Gerstlauer I've done, and indeed the first rolling launch I've done. I was looking forward to it, after hearing many good reviews. After a near walk-on through the nicely themed queue, we were on. Simply put, the ride is fab - the launch is great fun, and then the ride that follows mixes pops of airtime, inversions and bits of force nicely together. I found going up the initial hill quite intense too. The ride flows really well and it's very smooth too. It's a little on the short side and lacks any substantial outdoor theming, but at the same time, it doesn't leave you feeling short changed. All in all, a great ride that is really enjoyable.

A somewhat understated entrance.


Couple of ride shots.
We then moved over to Rollerskater, one of the park's family coasters. This immediately caught my eye for one reason - the random theming. From a giant washing machine, bird in a cage to a turtle on a plate, the ride seemed a bit wacky. The coaster itself is fun, but the random bits of theming just make it a right laugh.

Lift hill

The infamous washing machine

Station building
We then ticked off another cred, by doing their powered coaster, De Draak. It's got an extravagantly themed queue line, but it also has a long layout that interacts nicely with the surroundings. Picks up some decent speed and it's nice that it goes round twice too.

De Station.
With temperatures soaring, we decided to cool down on De Boomstammetjes, the park's log flume. It was okay, had a nice double drop finale, but didn't get you wet enough really. By now we had realised something a bit odd - the park itself felt very very busy, but the queues themselves didn't really reflect that. Not sure if that's the norm for Plopsaland given their target market or not, but we weren't really going to complain, as it gave a nice atmosphere to the park, but meant we could try out all that the park had to offer.
With this in mind, we did a few of the filler rides, including Waterfietsen; some pedal swan boats. Was a very nice tour round the lake, though have to admit my legs were aching after a while! Two filler rides that we didn't get done during this little period, however, were their Teacups, which is still being given its awesome-looking retheme, and Rox-Flyer, their Star Flyer. Ah well.

Two rides of spite.
With some flat rides done and lunch out of the way, we moved over to Supersplash, the 'water coaster' which anyone would have a hard time calling a 'coaster'. It was probably our longest queue for the day, at about 20-25 minutes - quite nice that it was indoors too! Following an interesting lift sequence, the ride does a drop underneath a bridge, before coming back up and then giving a nice-looking splash and then meandering back to the station. The lift sequence is nice, but lacking anything substantial really. The drop I found a bit rough in all honesty, but the splash was nice - not wet of course, but was refreshing. I'm a bit unsure on it as an attraction - it takes ideas from a couple of different rides, but doesn't really do anything with them. A bit of a shame.


A shame I didn't get a shot with a boat in really.
We then planned to tick off the two remaining creds on park - Vleermius, the random suspended coaster, and Viktor's Race, the park's kiddie coaster. Unfortunately, it became apparent that Vleermius would spite us - it was closed with no obvious work being done to it. Shame, as it's something I did want to try out, but I'm sure I'll get to try something like it in the future. Viktor's Race, however, was open. Nothing really to say about it, merely one done for the coaster count.

Neither ride was very photo-worthy for me, it would seem.
More wondering round the park was done afterwards, and getting in some rerides along the way. We were planning on heading over the to Wickieland to try out the Disk-o and splash battle over their, but noticed the Disk-o was closed due to it stalling, so we decided to leave that area till later. Instead, we worked our way over to the indoor area Maya Land, near the front of the park.
It's a great area for kids with some fabulous looking rides. The one that caught my attention the most though was De Waterlelies, a Zamperla Demolition Derby. After not getting on the one at Drayton for the past two years, this simply had to be done. Certainly a fun little ride, though it does sort of feel like it drags on a bit towards the end. We also did the slide in Maya Land before leaving to explore the rest of the park once again.

Spinning waterlilies <3
After a couple more rides on Anubis, we then headed over to Het Bos van Plop, an indoor boat ride. I really enjoyed it to be honest, the theming was lovely, the music was catchy and it was just a nice way to relax. Such a simple ride executed so well. We then did the train ride around the park before heading over to Wickieland again...

The Disk-o was still closed, but the car had been bought back to the station-area at least. Instead, we decided to the splash battle - Wickie The Battle. It was very nicely themed, a good length and got you to a good level of wet. Great water ride all in all!

With park close nearing, we dashed over to Supersplash for one more ride (majority vote over-ruled me unfortunately!). We then stayed in the park for a bit longer, looking around the entrance and such, before hitting the road. An hour-or-so drive later, we arrived at our French hotel, and after realising the hotel owners were out for the night and eventually being given our keys by other guests, we were finally in. A quick McDonald's and some French TV bought an end to our first - and fortunately longest - day!
Final Thoughts: I really enjoyed Plopsaland. It's a fab little park, with some nice little gems and great theming. The addition of a woodie next year is definitely music to my ears - one more family thrill coaster would complete the park's line up I think. It's certainly a park I want to go back to soon, and the proximity to me is a bonus!

Today celebrates the 25th anniversary of Universal Studios Florida (and in essence the entire Orlando Resort but more on that later). Instead of revising for my exams I've decided to share how the park has fallen, picked itself up hugely and become a real competitor to Disney.
It started nearly 35 years ago with the idea of Universal building a theme park on the East Coast coming into managers minds in 1981. It was a big move, Hollywood was already in place as a working studios with the studio tour built to it and the theme park slowly around it. This time, Universal would have to build from the ground up! With Disney and SeaWorld in place in Orlando and doing well, it was decided the park would be built in Orlando and the original piece of land they wanted is what they have today. When Disney were looking at building in Florida, they had also looked at this plot of land (a section between the I4 and Florida Turnpike) but decided there wasn't enough land available, but Universal were happy with the size.
During development between 1982 and 86, the park sought for other investors to help remove the risk. One company they approached was Paramount Studios (oh the irony of that today) and Eisner who was one of the executives at the time. He didn't take up the project but he sure did remember what he saw. Later in 1984, Michael Eisner became CEO of Disney and knew what Universal were up to. Disney had already been looking at a studios styled theme park but now plans were hurried along. In 1986, land clearing of the swamp land Universal purchased began and in 87 the park is announce with a proposed opening of December 1989. Although Universal had a years head start, MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) opened a whole year and a month earlier on May 1st 1989. Why? Disney has there own planning area/council that gives out building zone permits etc, the Reedy Creek Improvement District (basically why Disney can build what they want whenever).
It seemed Disney had the upper hand, but Universal now knew that Disney were rushing through a studios park with the main component supposed to be a studio tour (which is originally what USF was going to utilise). Universal decided to rethink its move, and instead of making the studio tour the main aspect, it looked to the Hollywood tour for inspiration. On that, you go through Amity where Jaws makes an appearance to attack your tram. Universal therefore decided to use this one aspect and build the boat tours through the village of Amity giving Jaws its own ride. Working closely alongside Spielberg, the E.T ride was developed and Kongfrontation. All of these were going to push the boat out with ride technology and thrills. Spielberg also wanted a Back to The Future Ride which began development. In 1988 the park delays their opening date till 1st May 1990 and in 1989 MGM Studios open whilst Universal claim Disney and Eisner stole many of the concepts they originally created.

Original entrance
Now 1990, and at the end of January the opening date of USF is once again pushed back, this time to 7th June 1990. Soft openings did begin in late May but all the main attractions were still undergoing testing and fixing glitches. 7th June arrives, but the park is filled with technical glitches everywhere! Jaws, Kongfrontation and Earthquake all struggle so much so the park begins to give out vouchers entitling guests to a free visit when the attraction are finally operational.

One of the first park maps (late 1990 early 1991)
Jaws didn't feature on this map however, because the ride was fundamentally flawed technically. So much so, on 30th September 1990 Universal close the ride to fix it up. They sue the original company (Ride & Show Engineering) and get Totally Fun Company to completely redesign and create the ride basically from the scratch. In 1993 Jaws reopens and in the two years closed, Back To the Future, The Blues Brothers Show and Fright Nights (which was renamed Halloween Horror Nights) began in the park. With the park finally finding ground and critics admiring the highly advanced rides (that were now working) the park announces it expansion into a resort complex with a second park to be built.
Before that let's take a look at a ride that is renowned and one I wish I had ridden, Kongfrontation! Based on the 1976 film and King Kong Encounter segment on the Hollywood Tour (which burnt down in 2008 to be replaced by King Kong 360) it was about escaping the Manhattan Island in these aerial trams as Kong is rampaging the city. Like many of the elder Universal rides, it relied on spieling as well as physical sets/effects to portray the story. I've heard from people who rode it that it was a brilliant experience, especially for its time when it opened and that the "Banana Breathe" King Kong animatronic was truly something!

It was designed by Totally Fun Company who re did Jaws, and manufactured by Arrow Dynamics. Sadly, it only lasted 12 years before it was replaced with The Mummy. http://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20141225/29776/5-things-you-never-knew-about-kongfrontation-universal-orlandoBrilliant article here on Kongfrontation and some secrets. Truly remarkable that Kong entered the ride car envelope which on most rides would cause an e-stop.

Universal Studios in 1990 (the car park in the forefront of the photo is now IOA)
Many of the parks original attractions now don't exist (only E.T, The Horror Make Up Show and A Lucy Tribute remain from 1990). Something I found out was the studio tour the park once had that went through the studios in use and the Nickleodeon Studios that were on the site that upon exiting the ride you went through the Universal Studios Store which still exists today in the same place!
With IoA moving ahead (although construction which was meant to start in 1995 started two years late in 97) Universal continued to open new attractions, such as Terminator2: 3D, Twister and A day in the park with Barney (all of which remain today). More attractions were built up to 1998 like Woody Woodpecker, Kidzone and Men In Black along with the IoA preview centre by Kongfrontation. In 98, Disney also opened Animal Kingdom, once again the two giants were battling each other head on.
May 28th 1999, Islands Of Adventures opens to the park with many new technologically advanced rides. At the same time, CityWalk, a replica of the restaurant district at Hollywood, and the first hotel opened making Universal a resort. Marketed as Universal Studios Escape attendance didn't rise as they had hoped. This was largely put down to people thinking Islands Of Adventure was just a new area of the Studios park, not a whole new park on its own! Disney are said to have had E-Ticket attractions ready and lined up for each of its parks in case Universal's attendance boomed but it's impact was non existent to Disney so these were cancelled. Beastly Kingdom was the planned one for Animal Kingdom but instead we got Camp Minnie and Mickey (soon to become Avatar... maybe Disney are battling Universal ride on ride, land on land).
In 2002 the Resort is renamed to Universal Orlando Resort and Kongfrontation is closed. For the next 7 or so years the parks direction was often slashed by enthusiasts as investors didn't seem to do much that was new and exciting. Island's had NO major new attraction invested in until 2010 and Universal just replaced outdated attractions with modern overlays. The Mummy replaces Kong in 2004 and is a sublime coaster with brilliant effects (although it does stick out a bit). Disaster overlays Earthquake in early 2008 which doesn't go down to well, nor does the closing of the classic Back to the Future ride to replace it with a Simpsons simulator (which when it opened stuck out like a sore thumb). The following year the park opens Rip Ride Rokit. The public enjoy the coasters, as do I, but its structure is an eyesore and it feels cheap (especially with all the problems it had and still has). It doesn't seem to fit in with the park one bit. Whilst all this is going on though, Island's have announced they're building a castle, a special Hogwarts castle! And in the background, Comcast is buying shares of NBC Universal from GE. And in 2010, the Universal that operates today with its non stop investing began.

Sure was popular
Wizardirng World Of Harry Potter opened to the public and was a huge success! Islands attendance increases from 5.2 million in 2008 to 7.6 million in 2011 which was the first time the Studios park was surpassed by Islands (and Islands remained ahead for 2012 and 13). With the Comcast agreement battling on as they seek to buy out all the shares from GE, Studios announces the closure of Jaws at the end of 2011, Despicable Me opens in 2012 and Transformers in 2013. The park then announces its main plans, Diagon Alley on the old Jaws site with the Hogwarts Express to link the two parks for summer 2014. Springfield is also announced which makes the Simpsons ride fit in much more into an area instead of just being a ride.
2014 arrives and Diagon Alley opens on July 18th in an attempt to put Studios ahead of Islands once more. By now, Comcast have 100% of the shares in NBC Universal and are investing left right and centre with a Springfield in Hollywood, Harry Potter in Japan and one in Hollywood for 2016. Diagon Alley is well received with its further immersion and realism to the films. Crowds flood to the park applying serious pressure to the star attraction (Gringotts) which opens on a reduced capacity and regular break downs.

The queue times achieved make news globally. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2686145/Hope-brought-book-Harry-Potter-fans-wait-line-SEVEN-HOURS-new-theme-park-ride.html
The 2014 TEA Theme Index report thing shows how Universal is booming evermore! Studios Orlando saw a 17% increase to 8.26 million causing it surpass IoA once again which is at 8.14 million (still nearly double the parks figuer of 4.27 million in 2009). The other Universal parks are growing well too though, with Hollywood having a 11% increase and soon a Potterworld of its own, and Japan's Potterworld opened last year giving the park a 16.8% increase to 11.8 million, making it the 5th most visited park in the world and jumping the 3 Floridian Disney parks that aren't Magic Kingdom. Comcast's persistence in investing may seem risky, but it sure is paying off majorly at the moment and why stop when figures are growing massively every year.
Universal is starting a theme park revolution. It is going all out on an immersive experience write down to what you eat and drink. The battle is on between Universal and Disney with both parks continually announcing expansions and the next best thing! Disney open Frozen next year to Universal's Kong. Disney open Pandora to Universal's amazing new waterpark Volcano Bay.
The Comcast era of Universal is one to enjoy. The company themselves say they'll invest in one major new attraction at each site every year for the next five years at least. With Kong opening next year, Volcano Bay in 2017 and potential rethemes of Twister or Disaster in that time as well, rumours are the Studios next big investment will be a further Potter expansion to replace Fear Factor Live. Although the Unviersal Parks division makes up a tiny amount of Comcast's profits, the company are happy to keep taking risks and invest big in an attempt to fight Disney. Will they ever win, no. But it's sure fun to watch and even better for new ride technologies as both chains plough money into developing the latest thing.
"Theme parks, I think, when we first showed up, were something that came with the rest of the company, now they're right at the core of what we're all about and we think provide a tremendous growth opportunity."- Steve Burk, CEO of the NBCUniversal division of comcast at Comcast's 2015 analyst report
So 25 years on from a park opening to take on Disney head to head on what was a swamp, the companies are finally clashing big time and the results are glorious! To the next 25 years!

Yes I know what you're thinking, another Europa Park/Disneyland Paris trip report from Mark9. I was blown away by Europa Park in 2010 and 2013 and surely this trip can't be any different. And how could I possibly compete with the three blog wonder of Matt Creek's comprehensive Disneyland trip reports. Well... this is a report with a little bit of difference (Or at least I hope so, this is all on the fly so might just end up me complimenting every aspect of Europa Park). Nonetheless, I hope this entertains or at the least interests you.
Scene 1 - Staying on site at Europa
I make it a point to stay on site at Europa. Unlike other parks where it isn't essential, I feel staying on site gives such an advantage because of the sheer beauty and theme of the hotels. I've previously stayed in the Tipidorf, Hotel Colosseo and Bell Rock, and this time around was Hotel Alcatraz. Themed around a Spanish castle, this 9 floor building is the closest to the theme park.

During check in I was hoping, praying for a view of the park. My wishes came true with an 8th floor view over the entire park. This blows away my previous favourite view of Shambhala and Dragon Khan at PortAventura.


Hotel Alcatraz itself isn't the best of the hotels at Europa but it is certainly the most intimate, As an alcoholic I particularly enjoyed the 40th anniversary special cocktails in the bar on the 9th floor which afforded spectacular views of Wodan and the hotel area. I had a Blauer Enzian (The Mack name for their powered coasters) and a 40th Euromaus special. They were delicious.

Staying at Europa Park is a fantastic experience and well recommended. The staff are friendly, accommodating and the attention to detail in the rooms is second to none. Next time, I'll be staying in Hotel Isabel but for first timers, Colosseo is the one I'd recommend.
Scene 2 - 40 Years of Europa Park
​Something that separates Europa out from the competition is its sense of pride in its achievements. It's easy for a park owned by a coaster manufacturer to perhaps do this, investments after all are cheaper and as a showroom for the Mack products, it can afford to be perhaps more extravagant then others. I find this a cop out excuse though. The reason Europa Park is the best park in Europe (perhaps the world) is because it never rests on its laurels, it never slows down and it never stops improving. Back in 2013, massive works had been done to the rapids including a new lift hill building, animatronics and theming and a new tunnel to accommodate the rapids going over the pathway into Iceland. This time around two other rides were in the process of change. Columbus Dinghy, a simple boat carousel like Chessington's Seastorm had seen massive change with new queue line theming, a show during the ride and a simple addition of a steering wheel which allows the rider to control when the boat spins. A small change but massively changes the fun levels of the ride. And completely unnecessary as there was nothing wrong with the ride set up previously.
The other two ride's to see a change is the rides Splash Battle, Whale Adventure. Now with the tag line 'Northern Lights'. It wasn't open unfortunately, still in construction but a massive change and I'll be interested if the water sprayers remain on the boats. Eurotower has been spruced up with new theming and a steampunk look.
Other new additions include a new 40th anniversary parade, a new 4D show which was really fun, a travel escalator in the car park (WOO) and a new show called Fabulous Europe. This was a dud, essentially trying to imitate Disney's Soarin' but lacking any kind of cohesive flow or enjoyment.


Scene 3 - Rides and Stuff
Rides are Europas bread and butter. With so many, it's impossible to get them all done in a day. That being said, there has been some operational changes and it makes me slightly concerned. Firstly, Europa was always a park that wanted you in and out a seat as quickly as possible. That hasn't changed. What does seem different is that the rides weren't at full (or higher capacity). Now maybe it wasn't necessary as the park wasn't packed on our visit, but I was surprised to be hanging around for a few seconds in stations on Euro-Mir and Eurosat along with trains being deliberately stacked. Silver Star's third train never made an appearance, neither did the second Pegasus train. They also seemed pretty intent on checking bars which in previous years only happened on Wodan and Blue Fire. Now the only ride not really checked is Alpen Express, that was the only ride that ran with urgency.
Arthur as a piece of ride hardware is sublime. It's an amazing piece of kit that train. The ride itself could be better. There's some parts of the ride show that don't live up to expectations such as the giant rat in which its pulley system is more noticeable then the rat itself or the fact the first screen on the ride is so in view of the queue that its effect is pretty much zero. I would love for a park like Phantasialand to get their hands on the hardware as they could do it absolute justice. Europa kind of dropped the ball on the ride experience on this one, even though I enjoyed the ride for what it was.

And finally, I just wanted to show some pictures of how beautiful Europa is. Trip reports sometimes get stuck in a list of ride descriptions and misses what makes a park good or bad. This time around, I really wanted to appreciate what makes Europa special.

Euro-Mir

Switzerland

Atlantica Supersplash and Portugal

Austria

Greece
And with that another year of Europa Park had passed. Pleas visit this wonderful park. It deserves every accolade and every part of your attention.
Scene 4 - Disneyland time
I'll keep this brief. Visiting at the moment doesn't deliver the Disney experience that people probably deserve, at least if you're going primarily for the rides. With Space Mountain closed for a refurb, a lot of pressure is being put on Thunder Mountain and that seems to have terrible reliability. First day, it was closed, second day it opened at 12, third day it was on and off. With both main coasters down, rides like Indianna Jones and Phantom Manor have 45 minute queues. It's the first time I've ever used an Indy fasts or even seen it running. Beyond refurbs of Thunder and Space, another massive ride is required to spread those queues. A potential Star Tours 2 refurb in Discoveryland will only go so far. All the ride investment is in Studio Parc and even there was rammed. I'm never going to queue 55 minutes for RC Racer or 20 minutes for Slinky Dog. That's an insult.
The park though is on the up and is a very different place from my first visit in 2013. Life seems to be returning such as a new spring time show, more meet and greets occurring regularly and the stages in Frontierland/Discoverylandcoming back into action. With Cafe Hyperion closed in Discoveryland, all the other food places on park were open. I couldn't believe my eyes to see Hakuna Matata open and actually serving food. Hopefully this isn't temporary and will continue to serve in future.



So all in all a successful week. If you read this far, I thank you for your time. Till next time, Mark9 out.

Lots of people always go on about wanting to go to the greats of Florida for Disney and Universal. More people are able to visit DLP but there's a little place in this country that makes you feel like you're at Disney or Universal. Thing is, I couldn't quite work out which company clearly secretly owns this park. Of course, it is the one and only Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach. So let me show you why I'm not sure if it's Disney or Universal.

From the outskirts it doesn't look great. But hey, Universal don't theme their rides all the way around when they don't have too. And this path was cold along the beach so you wouldn't want to go there anyway. Think of it as a cast members rat run!

Oh yes, Splash Metal Mountain! 3 lift hills, 3 drops in a metal mountain frame!

Heck, that could even become the Universal globe on top of the structure.

Cattlepen to deal with the huge crowds!

And timed maintenance on off peak days so it can have full throughput for those busy summer days.

Argh!!!! Watch out for Jaws in Amity!

Right next to the land of Frozen! Hi there Olaf

Oh my favourite the vehicles from automobile and automobile 2! It's the finale of the the FORMULE 1 between Thunder McKing and Chuck Hicks!

Nice to see Universal using the old school Simpson characters again! You could learn a thing or two Orlando.

There was a fun house! Probably Minion related.

It's just like an inside version of Wishes or Dreams!

Disney needs to use the Mulan IP more, glad to see it being used here.

Truly a high quality ride by Disney

Surprise!

Ah Phantom Manor

Frankenstein's Monster from Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue!

Wacky Disney kids coaster. It's like Heimlich... or maybe it is!

What's this down here

Twister! Will be a sad day when it leaves Orlando but here at Great Yarmouth it keeps going strong

As well as other Universal THRILL rides.

Monorail to get you from one place back to that place

With a Dr Seuss like tunnel.
Lunch approached so we decided to take a walk from one park to find another

It had a rollercoaster called Spook Express. Was in a mountain, had dark bits, basically space spook mountain!

So nicely themed!

And more minions!

On ride photos taken by someone with a camera. True quality!

Look at the little snail they had!

Snails love airtime! I've no idea what Disney feed them but they love it!

Clearly waiting the Puss In Boots layover for the Goose in the beanstalk.

So Farm Cruise

Watch out for the Pirates of the Yarmouth!

Zoo Cruise.

Pinocchio dark ride section with It's A Small world playing. So urm It's a small boy?

Peter Pans not flying flight

Evolution.

Like the film as you can see.

They also had a roller coaster with a flame spitting tower thing at the top (flame wasn't working)

Prehistoric Twirl.

So whilst you all scratch your heads wondering if Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach is Disney or Universal I'll leave you with some pictures of Roller Coaster




Snail Always.

For a few years now Towers has been subject to a mind marmalising force known as the Ministry of Joy and I think it's only time I reveal some of the hidden secrets after we persuaded a few Smile Assistants we want to help correct others. To do so we had to receive a grand tour of the correctional device. Be warned, what you see and read today is top secret and may correct you just by looking at it. It is your own choice to continue reading this...

Before embarking upon the process we decided to analyse the mysterious goings on by the Ministry. Maybe if we could work out their ways we'd be able to avoid correction.
However, it is very difficult to understand this mess.
Some advocates were being corrected as we watched on.

As we approached we were already being told to join them.

We knew from the start, trying to find out how they correct people without being corrected would be difficult.

Here is a vehicle to make you smiling advocates. Did you know, on Smiler they are called vehicles, Oblivion are shuttles, Air are crafts and the other coasters are trains. Random.

It was time to reach the top and try and understand the mess.

It seems to completely correct you it has two halves... must be two rides.

Crazy.

We were informed by the Smile Assistant Matt that this large tree in the middle is the height tree for X-Sector. Back in 1998 when the lord of Darkness was trying to force people to look down, the Ministry of Joy had to make the tree taller so put more ground under it. By doing so they could build Oblivion. However, in 2011/12 a storm threatened the trees existence so they chained it down because without it they may have had to close Oblivion and wouldn't have been able to build the correctional device that is Smiler. It is also 1 metre taller than Oblivion.

Low and behold the device itself! In the background you can see Enterprise but originally that was meant to leave instead of Submission. Engineering got £10,000 to get Submission back to having its two arm working together which the Ministry couldn't wait for! However, some management people decided it hurt too many people and wasn't making them Smile so they got rid of it and spent the £10,000 on Enterprise.

Under the twisted track is the queueing pen. It is made up of 6 areas, area 1 the Optical procedure room, area 2 the one outside that, area 3 has the shop alongside area 4, area 5 being the back corner and area 6 the new extension up to the toilets. Now, there are 3-5 ways of fully optimising the queue but you are meant to do it in order so 6-5-4-3-2-1 as much as possible so people can work out the queue time. Smile Assistant Dave told us of this time he made it do like 6-5-2-3-1-4 or something crazy and no one could work out the queue time... it has also never been replicated as no one can work out how he did it. In total there are as many as 20 possible queue line possibilities in some form.

Here we see the first lift... the secrets lie within the tunnel.

For the geeks.

These arrows help you to know where correction is... not like you have a choice though.

This door <3 There used to be a set of stairs here. The door is in the baggage room and it was meant for Smile Assistants to use in case a vehicle stopped on the brake run before the first lift. However, some staff took the fun too far and were opening it going boo, knocking on it and so on. So, they moved the metal staircase around the corner to which it now leads to nowhere and the door is permanently locked.

The first of 14.

So elegant. (I fear I'm starting to be corrected...)

Ah the glass floor. Smile Assistant Matt told us it works better with the lights on and was meant to help correction. But, due to delays on the Swiss side of things the whole tunnel was rushed to completion. It was originally meant to continue the Optical Procedure but this never happened. They'd love it to get completed but don't think it ever will.

Here is where you leave the station.

If you wave at the Smile Op and they wave back at you with their foot, that is because upon dispatch they have to hold two buttons down for 5 seconds before Correction can begin. And you all thought they were just being weird (yeah they are).

We then went into the pit. Yes, it is mainly made of concrete.

And track.

And muddy arrows.

Confusing.

The reason parts of the supports go into the concrete and others like this tiny one are encased in footers is because the support wasn't long enough (due to the groundwork issues) so instead of waiting for new pieces they used the materials they had (a lot of concrete obviously).

The Marmaliser.
It was all starting to get too much!!! So we went for a walk.

We came across this chained up tree.

On the walk a witch stopped us and said "You will either get corrected or for every geek who comes to visit this tree Nemesis will slowly be destroyed." I couldn't let this happen!
So 7 goes later followed by a further 4...

We were corrected.

And Nemesis keeps going strong!
So remember one thing guys,
Smile. Always.