Spider

Definitely made with an argument to tell, and therefore selective with the evidence it shows, but it's a well told argument. Most of the film is narrated by ex-trainers, and although most of them seem pretty ashamed at what they used to do, others still clearly love the animals so much, and don't want to believe that it isn't right to keep animals like these in captivity. There's really two issues that the film explores - firstly the idea of whether it's safe for trainers to be in the water with the whales, and secondly whether the whales should be in captivity. I'm not super concerned about the former (it doesn't seem so different to something like extreme sports to me - a calculated risk), but in terms of the latter the film is very persuasive. There's footage of a mother whale screaming (which she apparently did all night) after her baby was sold to another park. Another where a whale is shown to just flow lifelessly for hours at a time. I rented it from lovefilm. I'd expect it to turn up on tv soon, but I wouldn't wait!

The scariest ride I can remember is G-Force at Drayton Manor. That chain lift around the loop is horrific, but made worse by the lap bar restraints. I have never felt so vividly like I was going to fall out of a ride! And there's nothing to hold on to either! I went on it again, though, I just chose the back row, where you are pulled round the top of the loop much quicker. Still horrible though.

So I watched this tonight and was wondering whether everyone else has seen it? For those that don't know, it's a documentary about Seaworld's killer whales and all the trainer incidents that have happened in recent years. It's a VERY harrowing watch (there's a scene showing a trainer who narrowly escapes a killer whale who is repeatedly pulling him to the bottom of the pool that is utterly terrifying), but I think an essential one for anyone 'into' the theme park world. I went to Seaworld's a few times, and I have to say I feel a little guilty about it, and much as I'd love to go on Manta, I'm not sure that I could go to the park anymore. Not preaching, I just think the film makes a very powerful case for a catalogue of cover ups and cruelty that is hard to ignore. Anyway, if you haven't seen it I urge you to seek it out, if you have then if love to know how it effected you!

I think Squirrel Nutty closes at regular time even if the park opens later sadly.

True, but I'm sure it will be pretty intense, just not in the massive height/loads of inversions kind of way. By all accounts, Forbidden Journey is pretty spooky for younger kids, and The Mummy could just about be described as a 'family' attraction. Universal's definition of family is definetely higher than most companies.

Gringotts is an indoor coaster/dark ride. I guess something like Revenge of the Mummy, but with a much bigger scale and effects that are 10 or 15 years advanced. It looks and sounds amazIng. The Hogwarts express is a transit system. However, the train windows are going to be really HD screens so it will look like you're travelling through the English countryside. There's also a story involved (different in each direction of travel) so its not strictly just transport. It's significant because it allows the Potter fans to start in London, and get the Hogwarts Expess to Hogsmeade, just like Harry does in the book. And it's great for Universal because it means there's not going to be many people who don't pay the extra for a park hopper. It's all going to be amazing by the looks of it, and I'm no massive Potter fan.

I'm well aware the target market are at school. That's why Chessington need to build some stuff that will appeal to people who aren't at school during the week. Some quality projects would bring in guests who don't necessarily have young kids in tow.

Chessington don't need to build higher for a considerable time. There's so many big projects they could do without height - rapids ride, decent dark ride, launch coaster etc. Could spend years doing these and then worry about height. We need to get over the view in this country that only a big coaster counts as a big project. As for not being allowed to attract more guests. A difficult one, but I'd suggest that they have plenty more capacity still. Haven't been for a long time but isn't the park nowadays dead during the week? Improve quality and the guests will come back.

But I think it's the visual element of the IP that they're interested in. Whatever the politics of acquiring this property is (and I feel sure that at some point someone must have realised they'd made a very expensive mistake but ploughed on regardless), it can't be denied that the environment of Avatar is pretty stunning. If that's all the land is then it will still be amazing. A boat ride through that environment would be amazing - a bit like Jurassic Park River Adventure but with mythical creatures instead of dinosaurs. The Soarin ride sounds naff, but will still probably be impressive, unless they decide that people are bothered about running into all the characters from the film (Sam Worthington...woo!).

I'm not sure if you're aware or not but it#s quite well publicised that the plan for Animal Kingdom was always to include fictional animals (hence the dragon on the logo). Have to say, these plans look bloody impressive, and if they manage to recreate it as it looks it will be an amazing land (although I'm a bit confused as to how you can create massive floating rock islands in a theme park...!). The flying ride looks and sounds a bit uninspiring to be honest. The technology is already, by the sounds of it, done better at IoA, and the IP is nowhere NEAR interesting enough to disguise the fact that, from what I understand, this is the same tech as 'Soarin', a now rather dates ride system. Boat rides are always awesome, and if the theme is carried through the ride as well as that concept pic suggests then it will surely be one of the best in the world (though as it's current Disney I'm sure there'll be lots of visible ceilings and broken animatronics). Also, these plans have made me much less worried about the Avatar IP. I feel sure that Disney realise that none of the characters from the film are what people remember about it, so I fully expect the focus to be on the environment rather than trying to make reference to the film. Compare this to many IPs where obviously there is a set of well-loved characters that are expected to make an appearance. Will Sam Worthington's character even feature? I wouldn't be surprised at all if the human characters are barely involved. I think the way the land is designed means it can be enjoyed as just a very beautiful and mythical natural environment, regardless of whether you've seen/like the film..But then I think most sensible fans knew that would be the case. The realities of the American parks now is that to get the kind of funding they're using, they have to have some brand recognition. It's a shame, but to me it doesn't look as though it will detract from the area itself. Oh, and also, tl:dr, yeah yeah. Sounds like a very exciting time to WDW coming up - DHS sounds as though it's going to be getting a LOT of investment. What a shame that they let the four parks stagnate for so long - every single one of them needs some serious investment.

Yeah, this development looks amazing, and given Disney's track record so far with the trackless dark rides (probably some sort of pun in there...) it will undoubtedly be impressive. However, I can't help feeling this is a case of putting all the eggs in one basket, when what the park needs is more stuff to do. The point of redeveloping WDS, from the management point of view, would be to make DPR a 2 day destination. At the moment, anyone with a working knowledge of the Disney Magic Kingdom style parks could easily have a good stab at both parks in one day without missing too much. What WDS needs, therefore, is more attractions. Unlike DCA, from what I can tell, there's nothing really wrong with anything already there, there just isn't that much of it. One extra ride, no matter how good it is, is not going to change this. I can't wait to ride the Ratatouille dark ride, but for the park I can't help feeling it would have made more sense to have cloned a few rides from around the world (that most Europeans are unlikely to have ridden) and start increasing the hours needed to 'do;' WDS,

For such a small park, Thorpe have a surprising amount of potential sites for future major developments without the need to build new islands. A quick scan of the map shows that there is potential space in Canada Creek as well as the as yet unfilled island. There's also Rumba Rapids area and a the arena/X/Storm Surge/Ranger County area that could certainly be put to better use (especially as half of that valuable land is either unused or SBNO). There's also a case to be made for Neptune's Kingdom being a potential space for better development. Now considering that people are only able to come up with 2 or 3 sites for future coasters at Alton Towers, a park which dwarfs TP in size, I'd say it's encouraging to see that TP still has potential to expand. This is also without taking into account the fact that in 2 or 3 major projects time, Thorpe will surely come to the point that other parks have where they will have to start removing things. Does anyone really see Colossus operating another 12 years time? I'm not sure.

The thing that makes this a bit more complicated, though, is the fact that if you join the Smiler queue in the morning you miss out on the first hour or two of the day when everything is at its quietest. When we went, the other major coasters remained near walk-on till at least 11, and with some of them till later. Supposing you arrive at 9:30am, the Smiler queue might be 2 hours, whilst it might be 3 hours around midday. But, the extra queue times on the other rides compared to if you'd rode them in the morning (do Thirteen and Rita, then straight to Air and Nemesis on Skyride and you can probably get all done in an hour, with potential repeat rides on some), means you're actually saving more time by queuing longer for The Smiler. If that makes sense! It's a tricky one!

I could put hours of thought into this, but roughly it would look something like: 1. Tokyo Disney - for DisneySea, which looks utterly stunning. Suppose the only worry would be the crowds, apparently Japanese think nothing of queuing for 4 hours or more! 2. PortAventura - seems like the European park that everyone must do. I think I will get there soon. 3. Disneyland/DCA - yeah, another Disney park. The fact it is the original means it potentially holds something pretty special. Plus, it has a load of stuff that I haven't done in either Paris or Orlando (Indiana Jones, Carsland, etc.) 4. Miribilandia - because of reports here 5. Efteling - looks like a lovely place to visit 6. Oakwood - Two coasters I really want to do 7. Lotte World - One that no one has mentioned. In South Korea, mostly indoors. It just looks like a really interesting park to visit. 8. Busch Gardens Williamsburg - Because the Tampa version is amazing. I could easily fill out the list with some of the big US parks, but frankly I find it hard to distinguish between them all. So the last two would just be a couple of American coaster parks with the best offerings. Magic Mountain? Cedar Point? The one where Kingda Ka is? Marc9, are you actually in the process of planning a California trip? If so, I'm jealous, amazed and looking forward to hearing about it! Is it going to be a full on park tour of the West Coast, or more of a holiday to that area that might allow a couple of days with Mickey & Co.?

Nemesis by a mile. Still the best coaster I've ridden, it is outrageously forceful. The first drop were you pick up speed from seemingly nowhere, all the inversions, th way it interacts with the landscape. It is unlikely to ever be bettered. Smiler is a great ride but it lacks the love and detail in its placement and is not a world clad experience overall.

These top spins have had years of heavy use so it's not surprising to see this happening. Much as I'm not a massiv fan of them, I can't see how they can replace it with anything else, that whole area is designed around the spectator opportunities of a top spin, the shape of the pit is top spin shaped. I think the area would lose something with any other ride.

In my younger and more vunerable years I went to some event at Thorpe Park with Razorlight playing. We stood around for about an hour and a half at the front of the fence in front of the stage (it was in the middle of Colossus' final helix), then some producers came out, picked a load of attractive girls and let them in the area in front of us which was higher, so I saw absolutely nothing. Oh, and Razorlight were, of course, rubbish. And they kept queuejumping in front of me on all the rides! So I think these events are rubbish! But seriously, these are really not for me at all. If I had even the remotest interest in an artist playing I wouldn't want to see them at a theme park, if I wasn't interested in the artists why would I bother going to the park on that day when it will be busier?

What do people think about the Fastpass plus thing. I'm really in two minds about it, and I can't decide if it's a massive leap forward or simply another trend that will last a while then fade. I think Disney deserve some credit for keeping their Fastpasses free (are they the only company in the world to do this now?), and this is quite a clever way of giving advantage to those who stay on Disney property (and, to be fair, why shouldn't they get an advantage?) without making it an all out upcharge. I also think it's much fairer allocating the same amount of fastpasses to everyone - the people whining and bitching the most are those who know how to get loads of fastpasses throughout the day, which is fine, but also means you're skipping lots of queues at the expense of other people. I think having a set number of fastpasses is a better idea, and once you've had your allocation you're stuck in the main queue with everyone. Frankly, though, I wish they would do away with the system in general. I'm sure most people here realise that it's always been a bit of a con - the time you save in one queue is simply spread to another ride where you have to wait longer. I'm not totally against Fastpass plus if it also reduces the total number of fastpasses being given out, as ultimately shorter standby queues are better for everyone,even if they can't get on a couple of rides a day in 5 minutes.

This is a question to satisfy my curiosity. Has a drop tower ever failed to break at the bottom? I find them terrifying just because of the possibility of crashing into the ground, whereas on a coaster the track will prevent that happening. I'm sure there's lots of brake failure safety systems in place?

Detonator felt much more forceful to me. And had the cool countdown at the top. To be fair, I only I'd the seated version, I think that was the only side running. So apocalypse probably has more to offer in terms I ride experiences, but on this like for like comparison I'd say detonator is the better ride.

Concept is a good word and one I should have used to explain myself better! Did anyone else notice a slight shudder at the top of the vertical lift? It happened both times I went on it, almost as if the chain is really struggling to carry the 16 person train. Pretty scary!

I think you might be confused here - I'm not only talking about the look of the ride, but the theme in general. Actually, I disagree with you anyway, since although the Marmaliser looks cool, if the money spent on it was to the detriment of the rest of the ride then it wasn't worth it. The station building is hideous, an inside it's even worse. You can see what they're going for, a kind of clinical feel - but ultimately it's a bare station painted white with four yellow light fixtures hanging above the train - not very interesting at all. It's nothing like saying the valley on Nemesis, since that's the ride area (In which case the comparison would be The Smiler's bare concrete pit). A better comparison would be Nemesis' station (which is the theming centrepiece). It's not as good as the Marmaliser, but it's also not there at the cost of anything else! I was actually more referring to the theme of the ride in terms of it's 'correctional procedure' idea. The Marmaliser is cool, but as I said in my original post, I was very disappointed that, despite this quite well advertised and grandiose theme, the end of the ride consisted of "you have been corrected" painted on a wall.

Right, so managed to get two rides on The Smiler on my AT trip, it's time for thoughts. Firstly, it's great to see a coaster in the UK creating this kind of buzz. I have never experienced anything like it in my time as a theme park enthusiast - and the long queues and general excitement surrounding the ride seem to be harking back to the days of Nemesis and Oblivion. Obviously no one wants to stand in a three hour queue, but it's always nice to see coasters creating such excitement. Secondly, I did something I swore I'd never do - bought me and partner a fastpass for the ride. At £6 they were expensive - but it's not paying for the ride but rather the what you can do with the time you otherwise would have spent in the queue - since we were both exhausted it was nice to have those three hours free to go back to hotel and relax - therefore worth every penny. I'm morally opposed to the system but I;ve done it once now. Actually I wish I hadn't bothered because the single rider queue was surprisingly short - and much as I love my partner, being next to her on the ride was, in the end, not worth £12!! Anyway, the ride itself. Frankly, I think it's something of a disappointment. I see this being very popular for a long time, but I also think it's a massive missed opportunity. The theme promises so much, and AT had the opportunity to create something truly mindbending in the indoor section, but instead theres a mist spray and an inline. Other than the Marmaliser (which looks awesome), the theme is very weak. Pretty much everything is just painted - so disappointing that the end of the ride is just "you have been corrected" painted on the wall opposite the unload platform. I also, shock horror, find myself agreeing with Robb Alvey - the second lift hill does massively break up the ride and prevent it feeling like a truly 14 inverting coaster. The first half of the ride is breathtaking. It's entirely dizzying in a way that I haven't ever experienced on a coaster (it's more like something on a flat ride). The ride also moves through its inversions with a kind of twisting elegance that I can't really explain. Whereas with Colossus you can feel it counting through its 10 inversions, The Smiler (especially the first half) seems to have a kind of motion and twisted track layout that simply flings you round and about and upside down in a very unique way. The second half is somewhat disappointing, it repeats many tricks of the first half, but once that dizzied feeling is lost on the vertical hill it doesn't really return. It's also much much rougher, and I can see this being as bad, if not worse, than Saw in a few years time. I think this is a fine addition to AT's coaster collection, and it is going to draw massive crowds for years to come. It has the gimmick and the look to convince the GP that this is a truly special coaster, which in some elements it is, but it is a wasted opportunity too. You have to suspect that there was an element of the ride that didn't come together, whether that be a rolling launch, the much discussed washing machine element or something else entirely. I rode Nemesis a lot on this trip, and it is still the perfect coaster - the way it interacts with the landscape, the sightlines around the area, the ride experience, the theming. The Smiler had the opportunity to match this but in the ends falls somewhat short. I would love to see AT develop the idea of creating coasters with a dark ride section - both Thirteen and The Smiler have attempted it but neither truly achieve what they promise (much as I enjoyed both rides). I think it's an idea that suits AT perfectly, since it relies on theme rather than sheer size alone. I hope SW8 has another stab at it and gets it right.

So, after two days at Alton Towers I thought I'd done all the rides I was going to get, but my very lovely and understanding girlfriend let us go to Drayton Manor on the way home today. It was my first ever trip there (been meaning to go for years), so I have quite a bit to say. Overall, this is an okay park, but it lacks quality all over and needs a signature attraction or two. Actually, I wouldn't mind if it was just a family park, but since half of it is taken up by somewhat underwhelming thrill rides (and it has a price which is approaching Thorpe/Alton), it kind of needs a bit more! That said, it's a nice looking park, and it's tiny size is a bonus as it feels a really nice place to be tucked around three sides of the lake. Also nice to be in a park this quiet - AT was, I suppose technically quiet, but nothing like this. For the few hours we were there we walked on everything. and real walk on - as in the ride was waiting for people to come down the queueline. Nice. The two big coasters, Shockwave and G Force, are both, in fact, pretty tiny. Shockwave was a novelty for me as it's the first stand up I've been on - it adds a slight element of interest but this is in general a very bland coaster - basically three plain inversions in a row, all fun, but nothing memorable. G-Force I actually really enjoyed (I'm a bit of a Maurer Sohne lover). The vertical loop chain lift combined with only a lap bar really put the willies up me and is highly unpleasant, but I have to give it credit for scaring me. The rest of the ride is again short, but a lot of fun. This could have been a really good coaster with a bit more length. Maelstrom is a fantastic flat ride, better than Vortex and a lot of fun. Apocalypse is not as good as Detonator, but I liked the theming. Pirate Adventure is such a disappointing ride - it has a lot of potential with massive sets and a good length, it's just weird going through at such a slow speed with barely anything going on. They need to keep that ride system and put more in there, it could be a real contender for best dark ride in the UK. The shooting thing was fun actually, a lot harder than Duel/Tomb Blaster and all the better for it - also great that things made noises/lights went out etc. when you hit them - adds another level to the masses of green and red lights Duel/TB where you have no idea what's actually going on. Ben 10 is a great kids coaster. The queue is brilliant, and it is one of those mini coasters that has some genuine excitement that kids must lap up. We didn't do Stormforce as the weather was terrible and didn't want to get soaked before a 3 hour drive home, didn't look all that tbh. Splash Canyon was fun but we didn't get wet once apart from sprayers off ride. Does going on Troublesome Trucks count as credit whoring? Thomas Land is beautiful - if I was 5 I would have been in heaven - a great IP really well realised. So yeah, apologies about this rambling semi-trip report. I found this quite a difficult park to categorise. It should be competing with other parks, since it has two big coasters, two decent water rides, a good collection of flats and a couple of dark rides, but it somehow just all feels a bit underwhelming. It;s confusing when it seems to bill itself as a big theme park, with its own hotel and events. Odd. I would be interested in coming back if they could build a genuinely impressive coaster with a clever use of a small footprint. Let's hope that comes next year.

Going tomorrow. As I've said before I won't be devastated if the Smiler is down, but I will be really pissed off if the whole of x sector (especially Oblivion) is closed because of it. By now they need a contingency plan - does a whole area really need to be closed to allow some machinery to drive in and out?