TPJames

Phantasialand x1 Toverland x1 Hansa Park x1 Parc Asterix x1 Jardin d’Acclamation x1 Walibi Holland x1 Duinrell x1 Drievliet x1 Efteling x1 Adventure Island x1 Tusenfryd x1 Djurs Sommerland x1 Tivoli Friheden x1 Linnanmaki x1 Sarkaniemmi x1 Plopsaland x1 Bellewaerde x1 I think that’s everything

New top 10 coasters after a few trips to new parks including hansa park today Cant decide between taron and taiga. Taron has the theming, the launch, the overall experience whereas taiga’s second half of the layout is just absolutely incredible. Too close of a decision to call so ranked joint 1st. Also three RMCs in my top 10, that’s crazy. I’ve been converted 😱 Taron/Taiga - Zadra Wildfire Shambhala Untamed Der Schwur des Kärnan Lech Lost gravity Helix

I'm not entirely sure how easy it would be to build a whole railway line from Ringsheim to Europa Park, however knowing the Mack family, anything is possible

Safeco manufactured the Airmaxx 360 smashing jump, they also manufacture the jumping frogs. However there have been no issues as far as I'm aware with the Jump & Smile. I'm shocked that no amendments were made to the ride after the girl died on it in Australia and I'm surprised a British showman purchased the ride without checking with Health & Safety standards. Surely they knew purchasing the ride that someone had just been killed on it and further safety measures need to be put into place? I can't see this staying in the UK to be honest, I imagine it will be purchased by somewhere further afield e.g. Russia, Czech republic. However, if it does continue to tour in the UK, I certainly won't be going on it after 2 similar accidents within the rides lifetime.

No new coasters this year unfortunately.

1. Taron 2. Wildfire 3. Shambhala 4. Helix 5. Joris en de draak 6. Blue Fire 7. Wodan 8. Baron 1898 9. Balder 10. Silver Star

12th September is the date of the press event. Apparently they are hoping to have part of the area open before this date on a soft opening, especially Eurosat. That's just rumours though, however it seems possible that it will be open for your trip!

A couple of weeks ago, I visited Europa Park for this season's winter event: "Winterzauber 2017/2018". Stayed in the Bell Rock Hotel and had an absolutely fantastic time, with all rides and attractions being open bar the log flume, Poseidon, Atlantica super splash, fjord river rafting, eurosat and Universe of Energy. It was great to see the park decorated for Winter and it looked absolutely beautiful at night, although it was also lovely to experience the park during the day time and enjoy the theming of each of the lands, particularly Ireland which I set foot into for the first time. We also got to enjoy the many special additions for the park's winter season such as Big wheel Bellevue(which looks stunning at night), magic ice, snow tobogganing, luna magica, winter starlight parade and the globe theatre Christmas musical as well as many more. We had an absolutely amazing time and I would highly recommend a trip to this park during winter(and also a stay in the bell rock hotel!). Please check out my Vlog if you have time and if you enjoyed it, please leave a like or subscribe to my channel!

The one we have at Winter wonderland is manufactured by Sartori and the other common models of Smashing jump are usually manufactured by Fabbri and I have never heard of any accidents regarding smashing jumps made by these manufacturers. The one in this article is manufactured by Safeco. We currently have a Safeco one touring in the UK called "Airmaxx 360" and it really runs like utter crap. This model(airmaxx 360) also used to travel in Australia before it came over to the UK and in Australia there was an accident where a boy got killed as he was too small to ride yet allowed on anyway and he fell out of the attraction which was a devastating incident. Yeah, so we do have a smashing jump at winter wonderland, however its a different manufacturer and sometimes I think this can make a large difference as to the way a ride is run.

The pricing of Legendia always confused me, its 10 quid for a days entry with unlimited rides or £20 for an annual pass... Like what!?(it's great though as it's so cheap)

After a return visit to Phantasialand in August for the celebration day and riding Taron in the dark, Shambhala has finally been knocked off the top spot. Taron in the dark at 10pm at night is something absolutely exceptional, it is completely out of this world; it is so incredibly fast, there is so much airtime and the lighting around Klugheim and the rock work makes for an even more exciting experience. It is bloody incredible! After visiting Efteling in August also, two new creds have made their way into my top 10, with one of them taking 3rd place! Here is my updated top 10 list: 1. Taron 2. Shambhala 3. Joris En De Draak(absolutely mental cred, it is brilliant and even more crazy than Wodan at Europa!) 4. Wodan 5. Blue Fire 6. Baron 1898 7. Silver Star 8. Arthur 9. Black Mamba 10. The Swarm I will do a top 10 parks after re-visiting Europa Park for the winter season next week.

Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) DBGTROTD (3) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Flying Fish (5) I'm A Celebrity (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW - The Ride (5) Stealth (6) Storm In A Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (5) Vortex (5) X (5) Zodiac (5) The Swarm + Dbgtrotd -

Wodan, Silver Star and Blue Fire have all been confirmed to be open for this years winter season, weather dependant, to make up for Eurosat+Universe of energy refurbishments. Wodan will operate in 0+, blue fire in 3+ and the temperature needed for silver star to run is unknown(likely around 5 degrees).

820,000minutes=569 days. Therefore we are looking at approximately 30th May 2019 opening... Having said that, Phantasialand don't tend to give out opening dates of their attractions, especially not this far in advance, therefore we are potentially looking at a Photoshopped fake image created by someone/or alternatively the park trying to trick people.

Same layout as last year except a couple of rides have slightly changed positions but overall layout is essentially the same. Major new rides: View Tower, Airmaxx 360 loop fighter, Breakdance, Top scan(flying circus). I know the event will be great once again this year and the atmosphere will be brilliant but I can't help but be disappointed with the lack of new rides. It is a massive shame that Dr. Archibald had to pull out last minute, as that would have been this year's new "staple" attraction for the funfair section of the event. In my opinion having 3 spinning coasters, 4 sets of dodgems, 2 waltzers and 2 star flyers is pretty unnecessary and those positions could have been used for a better variety of rides or alternatively entertainment venues/food stalls etc.

Hollenblitz definitely isn't coming, neither is the Thriller rollercoaster(the pinfari) or Buwalda's Spinning Coaster(purple track and yellow supports). The confirmed coasters to be returning(already returned as they are pulled on already!) are Ice Mountain, Wild Maus XXL(With VR) and Olympia Looping. New to the coaster line up this year is Manning's new Spinning Mouse, branded as "Santa's Coaster" and this coaster will be taking Buwalda's Spinning Coaster old position. Euro Coaster is also due to return but hasn't pulled on yet so not sure if this will turn up. This leaves Thriller's plot empty and means that a new attraction of some sort will be sitting in its position this year(this attraction is unknown at the moment-could be a rollercoaster, flat ride, funhouse, bar, food hall etc.). I am personally holding out for either Ahrend's Drifting Coaster, or alternatively the Pyscho Mansion Ghost House which is currently constructed at Fantasy Island(until the 5th November) and owned by the Mellor's group who own the star flyer and Ice Mountain. Other confirmed new rides this year include Break Dance, Top scan and Airmaxx 360 loop fighter. Nothing else new except for a couple of new bars is known yet so it will certainly be very interesting to see what else pulls on and if anything else new turns up for this year(Dr Archibald VR dark ride experience is also heavily rumoured).

Well I am planning to be +1 to the visitor count when the new wing coaster opens next year. Am I right in thinking that the new entrance, wing coaster and boat ride(+park expansion) are all planned to be ready for 2018? I am planning on combining this park with a trip to plopsa, phantasialand, holiday park etc. next year and I wouldn't want to be visiting when the wing coaster is open but the other areas are only half complete!

Probs gonna be moved to Camelot. They love their SBNO rides there

Haven't updated this since 2015 so I thought I would update it as there are a few changes! I really want to create a Top 20, as there's some rides in Tivoli Gardens, Blackpool pleasure Beach etc. which I think deserve credit however don't make it into my top 10. Parks on my bucket list include a return visit to Phantasialand, Liseberg, Hansa Park, Holiday Park, Efteling, Energylandia and Legendia and also Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. I really hope to get out to these at some point in the next few years and obviously that will shift my top 10/top 20 a lot when I hopefully get to ride a lot of new creds! 10. Olympia Looping. 9. Furius Baco. 8. The Swarm. 7. Silver Star. 6. Arthur. 5. Black Mamba. 4. Blue Fire. 3. Wodan. 2. Taron. 1. Shambhala!

To be honest, I think that the name "Icon" is actually quite catchy and I personally think that the name works quite well with the nature of the coaster. What I don't understand though is the theme, it's just weird and it's actually hard to tell what they're going for considering the fact they've put a Japanese symbol in the middle of the logo. Apparently the Japenese symbol in the letter O means "speed" but that just raises more questions than it answers... 78km/h!? That's literally 48mph... I honestly don't think I've ever seen a launch coaster slower than it. And seeing as the whole coaster is being marketed for its "speed" and "raw power"(as it says in the article), I would have though that the launches might be at least a bit pacier? Anyway to summarise, I like the layout, I prefer the colour scheme(now that it's not bright green anymore), I quite like the name(but I think the theme is a bit random to say the least) and I just hope that video is incorrect as if this coaster gets a bit speedier, I think that it could really be good fun to ride. Will certainly be one of the top coasters in the UK if they pull it all together nicely(and they are working with Mack so I'm pretty certain that this will turn out well).

"Meerkat Manor and the African Aviary will be closed during 2017. This area will be re-developed to prepare for an exciting new animal attraction opening in 2018". Taken from Paultons Park website: https://paultonspark.co.uk/ride-maintenance Another exciting development to look forward to for 2018 across the European theme park Sector!

Hey all, I will be at the Paultons Park recruitment morning this Saturday(28th) and was wondering if anyone could help me out. Firstly, I will be getting the train to Southampton train station and I was wondering how reliable AND frequent the X7 bus is to the park?(I know there is a timetable online however we know it is always the case that buses don't tend to stick to the timetable provided). Secondly, I was wondering (roughly) what sort of wages they usually offer, seeing as I will need to cover travel costs too etc. I know I can find this out on the day however it would be good to have a rough idea beforehand. I will be looking to work seasonally(holidays/weekends) and in retail for the first year or so, then hopefully move across to the rides department(as I am aspiring to become some sort of rollercoaster engineer/designer in the future so any experience is useful!). Does anyone know what sort of "Rotas" in terms of days/hours they offer for a seasonal position? As mentioned above, any help would be greatly appreciated. If you've worked at Paultons before please let me know, it's my favourite park in the UK that's why I'm trying to get involved opposed to applying to something like Thorpe Park, which is nearer to me, however I admire Paultons far greater so it will really be great to start getting involved in the industry if I am offered a job. Many thanks in advance, James.

1. Do Merlin have good foresight? No. 2. I genuinely find the glimmer of hope in some of you pretty hilarious. The chances of this thing re-opening are abysmal let alone it getting this brand spanking new refurbishment with a rock work and mountain facade. Lets take a look at the evidence for a minute: 2016- Loggers was SBNO the whole year due to being too expensive to run/maintain etc. no work done on it whatsoever. 2017- Loggers will be SBNO, the chances of any work taking place on it are absolutely minimal. 2018- Well who knows? The ride may open in its current deteriorating state or alternatively they'll just scrap it altogether. I don't know where these ideas of rebuilding tunnels etc are coming from because face it- its not gonna happen! I don't have any plans of visiting Thorpe probably ever again or at least for a long time however if you ask me, the rides most likely going to be scrapped because they clearly can't be bothered to either pay the bills to run and maintain it in the first place let alone refurbish it. It will most likely make way for a new Gimmick IP to try and temporarily get a few guests in before being removed a few of years later, for example "I'm a celebrity" or DGBT- because after all, that's the way Merlin operate, so don't get your hopes up- things aren't gonna change round here anytime soon.

This . I would let chessington get away with even calling it a "new ride experience"- but no, you're incorrect, it's not a "new ride", the ride hardware is remaining unchanged, therefore as "Bubbleworks" it was a Mack rides dark water ride and as "The Gruffalo" it is still a Mack rides dark water ride. Therefore it may be a new "experience" but to call it a "new ride", well that's just a load of rubbish. This is exactly why I've stopped being a regular poster on this forum to becoming more of a lurker. I used to post very regularly on TPM because I was a massive fan of the Merlin parks and a regular visitor of thorpe park and chessington etc, even visiting Alton, Chessington and Thorpe all back in 2014. I love TPM and am so grateful to be a member as you guys really helped me realise what a theme park truly is. You guys helped me take my first ever theme park trip abroad to Portaventura back in Summer 2014 and I was absolutely stunned(although now I've managed to learn that their operations are completely dire there so I'm no longer as much of a fan), although Shambhala is my favourite ever rollercoaster I've ever been on. TPM provided me with discussions and information about this park and helped me to be able to get abroad and actually be able to have an enjoyable time whilst at the park. This opened up a world of new trips for me, since then I've been lucky enough to go to parks across Europe such as Phantasialand, Tivoli and Europa Park, which are all incredible and I am so incredibly lucky to have visited them. In the future I plan to revisit these as well as new parks such as Energylandia, Efteling and Liseberg. No matter how the generation of theme parks changes or develops in the future these three parks, Phantasialand, Tivoli and Europa have captured me and inspired me, they are all so beautiful and immersive and are such a joy to experience; I really hope to revisit these as soon as possible just to admire how incredible they are and I am truly grateful that I have managed to be able to visit them, with the help of TPM who have managed to help me to make the most of my trips to these wonderful places. However, visiting these places comes at a cost, as visiting these atmospheric and inspiring parks led me to realise what a tragic mess Merlin have made of the parks in the UK. The European Merlin Parks may be slightly better, however I still plan to avoid those similarly how I am avoiding the UK ones; I had the opportunity to visit Heide Park however I declined. I was lucky enough to discover Paultons this year with the opening of the lost Kingdom, and I hope this family run business continues to thrive and prosper and grow bigger and better over the years(a new immersive water ride will do them nicely instead of the fairground style logflume). Paultons is truly the most immersive, well themed experience the UK has to offer and it puts the merlin parks to shame, I believe it potentially is and will be in the future, on par with these European Parks we talk about. As I explained in the last paragraph, visiting these wonderful and creative parks have not only made me want to become involved in the industry in the future however have also "harsh but fair" ly pointed out to be what a disappointing mess Merlin have made of the UK industry. With Merlin it really is one step forward then two, three maybe four or even more steps back. It is such a shame as "The Swarm" at Thorpe Park is probably one of the best step forwards Merlin have ever made. This B&M wingriders is one of my favourite rollercoasters, the area surrounding it is so incredibly themed and you truly feel immersed in your surroundings, not to mention it is also a pretty damn decent cred, it does place in my top 10. Another example of one of the best step forwards Merlin have ever made is "Wild Asia" IMO; this area was a vast improvement to Beanoland, it had a thriving theme and you could immerse yourself in taking on the mighty cobra or taking a flight with the monkeys. It actually fit in with the name Chessington "World of Adventures". The reason I have highlighted this in bold is because I want to highlight how does "Wild Wood" fit into a "World of Adventures"?, does the "Gruffalo" really fit this theme either? The whole point of the existing areas was that you could feel as a child like you were experiencing parts of the world which were hidden and you'd never seen in reality before, such as flying with vampires in Transylvania or meeting the mighty cobra in Wild Asia. Now all we have left is "Wild Wood"- well if I really want to explore a wild wood I can just go down to the local Go-Ape thanks very much, there is nothing interesting or immersive or exciting about it whatsoever! Anyway, so my point is that Merlin are making a huge step back with Chessington however it's probably not even worth thinking about as they've already made so many mistakes no matter how big or small they are e.g leaving dragons falls to rot, ruining tomb blaster etc. and it's not like Thorpe Park and Alton Towers are doing any better too, at Thorpe we have loggers leap rotting, the introduction of two "new"(once again they aren't new, they are second hand) children's rides, Ghost Train, I'm a celebrity, Angry Birds Land all disasters and to be honest I'm tempted to say Saw The ride was a step back for the park too as IMO it's a bit naff but I won't get into that. At alton towers we have the removal of the flume, SBNO of hex, removal of ripsaw and blade, SBNO of Charlie and the chocolate factory. The list goes on and on at all three parks, there are so many tragic steps back that these parks literally have no attraction or draw for me to come anymore. So IMO in the time Merlin have taken over, we've had two absolutely incredible, immersive and iconic themed areas been built but what have they done for the other 8 or so years they've taken over? Pretty much nothing, and if they've done anything, it's actually made the parks a lot worse and even more run-down than doing anything right. Where is the love and care for your customers and experience within your attractions Merlin because I see absolutely no evidence of it whatsoever! It's all about the money, money, money for you and I'm unhappy to spend any money towards your profits for your company anymore. Rant over.. I guess?!

Oh my gosh what a load of toss this is Mainly due to the fact they are calling it a "New Ride For 2017" and a "World's First". I think the fact that the majority of the GP won't realise it's just Bubbleworks with a bunch of new props is the worst bit, because I think if people did realise this then people would be a negative reaction to this announcement rather than a seemingly positive one... It makes me angered that Merlin can get away with things as shoddy as this and across Europe we have areas like Klugheim at Phantasialand being created from imagination and being mastered to perfection. It's such a shame the standard of parks within the UK is so appalling(with the major exception of Paultons who have come a long way) because by European Standards an addition like this would be extremely frowned upon. Yes at the end of the day it may be a nicely themed attraction, but it is merely an excuse to get the GPs attention and also to try and cover up the fact bubbleworks wasn't maintained properly over the years- It also certainly doesn't cover up the fact that the rest of Chessington is falling apart. The UK theme park industry really needs a miracle to happen, Paultons I'm pleased to say is on its way to success with quality theming, immersion and customer experience and I can see this park growing and growing in future years but as for the rest of the UK industry, well, whatever "magic" Merlin has done needs to be reversed because I quite frankly don't see how they've let all of their UK parks into such a poor state and managed to get away with it.