RetroIsBest

I have to be honest I wasn't too impressed with the so called sale prices this time round considering in the past I paid around £230 for 3 children and 1 disabled pass, these will now cost me upwards of £360. The fact that the renewal prices only lasted until the sale offer kicked in makes it even worse. As far as I'm concerned the lower renewal price should be discounted par for the course considering the fact that most of us have had to pay extra anyway for premium passes with regards to parking as the exclusion dates don't tend to bother us that much, same with fright nights as they normally let us have one day free/discounted entry anyway. Also it seems like too many people buy passes now and I find the parks are reaching full capacity very quickly which just has a knock on effect with regards to queue times. If it is true that even a premium pass doesn't include free Legoland parking that just rubs salt into the wound. Dissapointing Merlin, I appreciate that over time you will have to put your prices up but for me you are making your passes less and less appealing to those that have been loyal customers down the years.

Was thinking of taking the kids here but after the reviews I think best not to. Freezing cold and Billy Bob Thornton as Santa? No thanks.

I believe Peeking Heights was Chessingtons only ferris wheel as before that was installed that area contained Samurai before its Thorpe move. Trying to think back quite far as before Samurai you had Magic Carpet there.

Was there yesterday and they had quite a few mechanics and the like working on it pretty much the whole day so they finally must of sorted it. It did seem like they had added new support beams to it as well, either that or they had given them a new lick of paint. Stood out like a sore thumb.

Finally got to take my lot yesterday, was a lovely hot day and unfortunately caught the sun just a little bit. Now onto my and the kiddies view of the place. Firstly due to the actual size of the area I wouldn't call it a land as such, more a Angry Birds walkthrough as it really doesn't cover much of the park within its borders. The dodgems were pretty good and a lot better than Chessies but the actual ride time you get on them is pretty short. The Detonator retheme? Lazy,lazy,lazy. Really no effort made there whatsoever but on the plus side they still retain the original countdown. The 4d show was pretty good, nice new seats and a generally nice tidy up job in the auditorium itself. The effects were also pretty good even though I was unable to stay for the whole show as the moving chairs terrified my 2 year old son so I had to exit stage left post haste to relieve his screaming. I have to say I found the actual 3d film itself quite disappointing and not very in your face or as impressive as the far superior Muppets 4d or many of the other far better U.S based 4d rides. Finally the theming itself. Firstly the 3d theming is great, does the job and looks the part. Now I know a lot of people on here were very critical of the 2d theming during the construction of the land but in the flesh it really doesn't look that bad. It looked a lot better than it does in pictures so on that basis I think it is more than adequate. So from me I would give the area about a 6.5/10 overall. Totally agree though with the poster who said that pay to play game at the entrance looks out of place and spoils the overall look of that section. Now the kids view. My youngest range from 7 to 2 and they all liked it but without being too over excited. My 4 year old liked it the best but once we had done all the rides they could go on bar the dodgems they didn't want to go on them again. They seemed more excited that they sold Angry Birds cookies and had one of those speed reflex light things near Detonator which they had great fun with. So from the kids perspective I think it would be a 7/10 but don't feel they would be in a hurry to go in the near future. As an additional note, Slammer was still down but had workers on it pretty much the whole day and we noticed that on Loggers Leap they now have a special boat which fits smaller children onto it so some of mine that were slightly below what the new high restrictions that were put in a few years back were actually able to ride it. They said they only have 1 at the moment but it seems a good idea especially with Thorpe trying to revert back to a more family friendly park. My eldest and her boyfriend who took them on even said the special boat seemed to pick up more speed then the usual ones as well.

I would rename Rita for a start, it just makes me think of Coronation Street. I would rename it Teresa, and paint the track green. My tour de force though would be a brand new dark(forest) ride which would be a mix of Bubbleworks and the old Wicked Witches Haunt. It would be set within an old French manor house where they make desserts for well known companies such as Sara Lee etc. The first section would be the main part of the house itself, WWH style which would reveal that the original lord of the manor was a big fat gutbucket and ended up succumbing to morbid obesity and fell into a vat of pudding. Due to his extreme size he could not swim to safety and drowned. His spirit along with his old servants now haunts the manor. The second section would be the underground factory where the desserts are made and would be more a Bubbleworks type ride. I was toying with a few names but finally decided on Black Forest Chateaux, being that many years ago the Dark Forest was actually known locally as the Black Forest but had been changed in recent times due to possible legal action on the grounds of racism. Rainbow Forest was the alternative choice at the time but they decided on Dark Forest at the last minute.

Unfortunately I won't be revealing our opinion of ABL, was approaching the Clacket Lane services on the M25 on the way there when our engine decided to give up!! We nearly got taken out on the slip road along with my kids but luckily the Highways Agency could see us on their cameras and came to tow us into the services. Unfortunately Clacket World wasn't up to Thorpes standard, either for myself or the kids.

Will be checking that one out as well, would be of great use for me if true as my wife is currently with child so can't go on any of the rides so would help with me getting on others with the other little ones.

I shall be visiting Thorpe tomorrow with my kiddiewinks so will let you know how it went when we get back, both from my viewpoint and theirs. That way you are getting a nice rounded opinion as you will be getting one from the target audience as well! Am looking forward to it as I haven't been to Thorpe for a while now.

1. Nemesis- Top class theming, the blood river never gets old, full on ride and so much better than Inferno. Only downside I have is the awful noise it makes as it makes its way up the chain lift at the start and the noisy general ride experience but given its age I'll let that go! 2.Oblivion: I used to be terrified of this ride but it is now probably my second favourite ride at Alton. Another good theme, smooth ride. Only negative its over too quick. 3. The Swarm- Was extremely impressed by the theming and is generally a good ride. The only wing rider I have been on so can't really make any comparisons with others. 4. Nemesis Inferno- One of the better rides at Thorpe but falls in 4th due to being the poorer relation to its bigger brother at Alton. Does ride smoother but less intense than original Nemesis. 5. Air- Was great the first time you went on it but subsequent rides not so much. Too slow and poorly themed. Love the station music though, very relaxing. On a side note my favourite non U.K B&M has to be Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa. Just fell in love with that one, could ride it all day.

Have to agree with the Get Set Go comment, yes it still looks loads better than the worn Squirrel Nutty but for me the bug is the CBeebies blobs on the back. Being a father of several small children I am subjected to CBeebies on a regular basis and those that have seen the blobs will know that they are actually animated to be a wobbly lava lamp type of blob and not egg shaped as they all seem to be on the back of the carriages. To be honest I don't think I have ever seen an egg shaped one on the channel ever. If they were having them on the ride then make them the same random shapes that they are on the tv rather than going with a shape that just looks wrong. Also by making them egg shaped it leaves a rather unsightly gap between the blobs and the main nutshell part where as if they had been more the shape they should be it would of left less of a gap and looked a lot more rounded overall.

I did read that it had breakdown issues but wasn't aware it was quite as bad as it clearly is. I never got to ride one myself so suggested it more to the fact I hadn't been on one and the U.K didn't have one. The first time I saw it was on channel 5s' Scream Extreme and thought it looked pretty good. If it is as bad as is being said then its probably not a good idea, especially going by what has happened to Slammer.

I would like to see Thorpe build a giant inverted boomerang coaster, something along the lines of Deja Vu that used to be at Six Flags, loved that green paintjob as well. As far as I know the U.K doesn't have one so they could market it on a U.K first if they needed a gimmick.

Yes it was similar to that but was at a fairground by the looks of it as it was at night and had some great fairground lighting on it which make it look extra special. I believe they are the smaller Top Spin 2 models which do this and not the larger original.