KingNemesis

Guys isn't this getting a bit off topic? If you want to discuss the state of Chessington, you should really be using the Chessington topic. Your somewhat tainting this topic which should be used to discuss Bubbleworks and it's future

NEW LOGO CHANGE NEWS! Now incorporates both, Old and new logo! Huzzah!

Usually if you have a Standard Annual Pass you have to pay £5. Although unsure if this has been confirmed for this year

Gets extremely overplayed... Was such a beautiful track until it was everywhere...

Guilty! I need to do my Top 10 at some point. I'll do it tonight and update this post.

I disagree. like I said above the name adds intrigue whilst also giving you a vague idea of the plot. In essence it's a perfect name without being pretentious and calling it something like "The Mystery of the Mines"

Woah Woah Woah there friends! Put down your pitchforks! Extinguish your flaming torches and disband that mob! That title is what we call in the industry as "clickbait". A very clever way of getting people into a boring article with something shocking at face value, Now where as most people include an image of female speed bumps to get peoples attention, I thought I would offer a thought provoking question... How do you solve a problem like enthusiasts? We are a great burden / privilege to theme parks. We think we know best, If a park does something right, we commend them and cheer them on! However, this is the real world and quite a lot of the time choices made by other people are wrong! Horribly Horribly Wrong! *Cough Cough* Where was I... Ah yes... This thought of how do we solve this problem became more prominent after the recent news of certain enthusiasts behaving atrociously at the Bubbleworks Goodbye Party. Enthusiasts shouting at staff to be on the last ride before it closes forever. Now at first glance this just seems like some people wanting the bragging rights, "Guess who was the last on Bubbleworks!" sort of how we do it for ride openings, (3rd Public train of The Smiler and first public train of Galactica... Just saying ) But unlike ride openings, we don't have to put in effort to be the last to ride something, just turn up last and on you go rather than ride openings where those committed enough will be at the park before the staff, run to the ride as soon as the gates open and be prepared to live with the blood on your hands from those who stood before you! However, there is a more personal connection to being the last on something, people who have grown up with Bubbleworks will have a very strong bond with the attraction, it still doesn't accuse the behavior but that behavior comes as a side effect of passion... And we are not the only ones! Take football fans, we constantly hear of fights starting against team fans due to one beating another, and again I don't condone these actions but this again comes out of passion, they obviously want the team they support to win and unfortunately when they don't they behave in unusual ways as some don't really know how to react. So what is my point? Enthusiasts want to be the last to complete there special bond with the ride, the be the last to share a memory with something so special to them. Now a morbid warning... the closing of a ride is a bit like the passing of a family member or relative. (Where am I going with this...) Some people feel more comforted being there in that persons last moment as that then means that there last moment with them was the last moment they had with that person. As weird as it may sound with rides, some people don't feel as connected if there last ride was a month before it closed, as it would have given a lot more memories out after you. It's pretty petty... but it's human nature. Conclusion: How do you solve a problem like enthusiasts? You don't as they are what make theme parks great, and terrible and... what was my point again?

I think it has purely been changed from a story point of view. The Altonville Mine Tours sets the story, rather than entering something called "SKIN SNATCHERS!" Wasn't exactly subtle. Your going on a mine tour to explore the area that belonged / belongs to the Snatchers, Sounds like something you would expect to see in the real world. Ghost Tours, Ghost Hunts, all tempt you in with the promise of maybe seeing something, it sells, it adds intrigue. People unaware of the previous name may be tempted more by the mystery. However, on this tour... you might of wished you weren't

The lift simulators could be turned into a small 360 degree film at the end. That tech can move how it wants so doesn't have to represent a lift. Being at the size of the mouse, the introduction of the Gruffalo could happen as the Gruffalo is moving to the mouse, footsteps shaking the ground we stand on.

Built up hype for closing the factory... 15 minutes later... 20 second live video

I wouldn't call it fast either... Depends on the weight of the boat

What do you mean! I prefer Zufari to Kilimanjaro Safaris I mean... that ending <3 To stay somewhat on topic. As today is the last day chessington better prove to us that this was not just a cash grab... I mean it blatantly was with all the BTS tours and auctioning going on but if they give it a good send off I might somewhat forgive them...

Ah Scruffy Dog. Someone should have named the Big Top that instead

Very much looking forward to riding this next year! Think it will be a very interesting ride. Hope it's more like Mystic Manor and not Ratatouille (I extremely enjoyed Ratatouille but slightly too many screens for my liking however the balance of screen to theming is one of the better ones I've seen.

It's not been confirmed but a month or so ago someone on facebook reported a survey asking about the name of a new boat ride at a UK theme park that will be a slow moving boat ride (believe it was the British Dark Rides Project who reported and have been posting a lot of images of the pre imperial days) (Can't post the image but if you go to there facebook page it is there) Now that doesn't confirm it but that other UK theme parks are retheming / building a new water ride.

I personally think the ride system is completely shot... The amount of times I've been stuck in the transfer room... It wouldn't surprise me.

They tried to do a CoS and have an outside Barker scene but was in the wrong place as if a group was quick through the first section then he just palmed you off, There was about 2 actors most times and sometimes I walked through it without a single scare... Sometimes never saw an actor... Did it about 3-4 times and had a crap experience everytime. The right idea was there but felt very rushed and half arsed.

A scare maze doesn't have to be indoors, it's just easier for theming purposes and suits oor british weather better

Neither would I, but If it's taking the same route, I'd be worried they would do the same, it's easy enough to do with the theme I guess... Kind of a reason why you have to wear one too, like MC.

Forgot to take photos on Saturday but the entrance queue looks pretty nice, Old fashioned speakers around the queue and a Mine Cart (Looks like something out of the RMT queue, probably is) on the grass to the left of the tunnel. Expecting a Town scene much like the Carriage scene at the start of Molly Crowe. As for inside the maze, I'm expecting scare actors to be wearing prosthetic masks made up of patched up skin from different people (that's what I'm taking from the story). The question is, will this be like Molly Crowe? Cover up your face so they don't know what you look like as you may have skin they want until the end where there is a big finale scene? I can imagine a scene where the lights go out and then a gang of stitched up townsfolk appear with scalpels and tools and you have to leg it out, like Molly Crowe. I wonder if my idea will be used in Sub Species this year, Enter you name on an iPad and when your in the intro room, you name appears on the bidding board with odds. Very cheap yet immerses guests into the experience

I would quite like to see something replace it, definitely not a ride, but something like a high ropes course, with a plaza underneath would suit the parks Thrill seeker vibe well or a scaled down Extraordinary golf to suit the family market. The problem I have always had with Thorpe is one, the space, it just feels too populated. Two, the target audience, Thorpe is very confused with what it wants to be, It seems to dip in and out of the idea of being a family friendly park, The addition of angry birds land was very confusing for me and it still was keeping detonator, quite a scary drop tower for those who are fans of the flinging birds. Thorpe has the issue of packing too much variety in such a small space, The second you step into the "Family" area, you straight back out to two thrill rides. Towers benefits from the size as it can separate family from thrill quite well. The problem I think a plaza has is that in the parks current split personality, the Staines massive wouldn't appreciate a Plaza and would just be full of moody millennials smoking and complaining there is no ride as that's all they want. The family audience would then step straight into the cloud of smoke and be put off instantly EDIT: However, I can also see raining spit coming from the high ropes course...

I'm not denying those facts, however... I was aiming the generic upselling to people who are just generically complaining about upselling, it's something that just happens. I would love better atmospheres, better queues and better experiences but at the end of the day that won't reduce the queue time, If 1,000 people enter the queue as it is and 1,000 enter a nicer atmospheric queue, there will still be 1,000 people in the queue. They may not mind queuing as much if they had queue line interaction but it would still be the same amount of people in the line. At the end of the day people pay for fastrack because regardless of how nice the queue is, it's a queue... I have never heard a member of the public say "Oh doesn't Ride X have a nice queue (Not Thorpe's X)" or "Quick, lets get in the queue for Ride X, you get to see the ride really well!" People want to get to the front and on the ride as quick as possible and some are prepared to pay for that privilege. If no one was interested in it, it would be scrapped. There are always going to be people who buy fastrack, for example those visiting from far and wide for one day and once a season are not going to get on everything if the rides are on an hour plus so may choose to buy fastrack to ensure there rides. I personally would never buy fastrack and yes, much like everyone I'm not a fan of it but I can see why people buy it and I can see why Merlin push it so much, to make a profit. Which is, surprisingly what a company wants to see, regardless of organisation and sector. There are other parks that Merlin own that do fastrack a lot lot worse...

Fine, probably should have rephrased, a lot of people won't queue these big queues, unlike some who will just grit there teeth and step in line. The comment in regards to large queues due to fastrack, depends how it's done and who's running the show on the fastrack queue. Thorpe is awful for overselling fastrack and letting every fastracker on instantly as soon as they get to the front, however Towers are a bit more sensible and don't tend to see as much overselling of Fastrack and usually remains pretty on top of. I have never seen huge fastrack queues at Towers, However I swear every time I visit Thorpe, fastrack is bigger than the normal queues.

I don't think it's a bad thing... A lot of people don't want to queue these big queues and it only does it when there is a big queue. I think it's great that you can just stand by a ride and purchase fastrack, the issue is balancing out the fastrack and making sure that if 1000 are bought through the app that comes off the parks fastrack allocation for the day. If not it could cause chaos... Another thing... People moan constantly about upselling. Here is a newsflash, everywhere does upselling... It's what makes a company money, very little of the entry gate price go into actual profit, especially with a large majority not paying full price and using annual passes. That's where the money is... You see it everywhere outside of parks too... Coffee chains asking you to purchase a cake, Fast food chains asking if you want a side of Onion Rings etc. At least with the app you don't get pressing selling, you can just think "No, I don't want fastrack" and swipe away the notification rather than a staff member going "Go on! You know you want to!" (Not that towers do much fastrack pressure selling, that's usually the photo booths job)

Oh sorry, not really read this thread much and missed the start of the article. Since the last comment was about Flamingo Land I assumed it was for that! My mistake!