Merry-go-girl

Yeah, but it's a step up that all the sandwiches are now served toasted.

The irony of the extinguisher sitting by the door. Tut-tut-tut.

Could have been as simple as a tree ornament falling onto one and catching fire. From the looks of the incinerated interior though we'll probably never know exactly how it happened.

Was it damaged or destroyed?

I thought officially it was closed for Festive Zoo days, but had been open most dates?

Personally I'm praying Creaky Cafe was the only victim, if Bubbleworks was hit we'd probably have to wait till winter 2014 before it was seen to. I'm not at all surprised the culprit appears to be the grotto, fairylight fires are all-too common at Christmas and the trees go up like candles. Edit Well this snippet from the daily mail sounds more hopeful: "London Fire Brigade Station Manager Craig Carter, who was at the scene, said: 'The fire damaged a large part of a restaurant within the park, and crews worked very hard to bring it under control. " I'm sure if portions of rides needed to tended to he'd have mentioned that.

Isn't the bare-minimum they have to do to the ride replace the seat harnesses anyway? If it was fine to operate all the previous years it kept breaking down what's a few more?

I'm going to play it safe and not form any sort of opinion till we get a look at what they're actually doing, I think the best case scenario would be a near duplicate polished version of RMT but with a Scorpion character mascot. Hoping for anything more just feels naive.

I'd be really surprised if no other part of the park is linked to the hotel's Aztec theme, otherwise it'll look really detached from the rest of the complex. Maybe the zoo, the Capybara's are south american right?

Wait, so is it half and half or is the entire hotel becoming Azteca? If so I wonder is that means either (or both) Runaway train and Market Square are going to link with the new theme.

I'm surprised by that also, on my list of attractions needing a facelift Market Square didn't even make the cut.

I'd be really interested to see those pictures if you could share please?

Oh dear, I knew it would be bad but I thought at least they'd have put real effort into the festive part considering the mess in the zoo and the almost non-existent ride options. They've always been good for the little details at Halloween in the past so you'd think some trees and garlands would be manageable for them.

What is the rumoured new name?

I'm a little surprised at all the works that seem to be going on that we don't know the specifics of. Considering the long list of large projects we are aware of. I'm guessing (hoping) that the majority of work on RMT, RR and Dragon Falls has been completed off site and needs little more than installation, otherwise it seems like they're taking on more then they can hope to complete. 2014 could be...interesting.

Yeah you can't just make a comment like that and not go into further detail....it's cruel.

I'd postpone it till March if I were you, in previous years a zoo day has had a lot to offer but this year they're going to be really quite dismal.

So on the bright side....zero queue time for you.

The sort of people that would purchase the premium package, they're either beyond awesome or the very worst sort of people in the country. It'll be fascinating to discover which.

I'm guessing mostly air.

Stick at it and some day I'm sure you'll manage to risk your life in such a way as to be a threat other people as well.

Did anybody happen to get any photos of the re-vamped HPH?

Even when I get the car that has no speakers I love Safari Skyway.

I'm pretty sure it would have been due to rain/wind.

When I made that post I'd just come in from a dog walk and I could hear trick-or-treaters making their way through the village, their nights were just beginning and Chessington's was already over. It did seem quite naff.