JoshuaA

Yeah Tomb Blaster sucks now, I really hope its the next victim of Chessington's vicious assault to refurbish/retheme/replace every aging ride at the park.

Pretty lucky to be honest, but the two that stick out to me the most are: Gemini- This one was by far the most odd. Gemini's MCBR really is easy to forget about, so when we halted to a stop on the emergency brakes it shocked me. I'm not sure why the ride stopped, as it was only on one train per side (it was a dead day). But it was amusing, its MCBR is also fairly tall too. Luckily got a free ride access pass from this, which gave me another ride on Maverick. Stampida- It was December, and I remember this ride stopping on the lift hill. It was a heavily rainy day in Salou, and before boarding the train it was chucking it down. The 30 minutes on the lift hill was dreadful, the coaster afterwards was nearly as bad. Thats not the even the worst part, I was in PortAventura! Bad enough by itself.

Europa, ich liebe dich. Looks lush man, the original was cheesey fun, but this looks soo good. Madame Freudenreich, Kolumbusjolle, Eurosat, this, damn man. Europa Park know how to refurb/redo their rides for sure.

Good point, though Piraten and Junior Inverts are not innovative ideas. Mack truly innovated with their Powersplash. The technology involved in splash element of the ride is really unique and innovative. Sure you can copy layouts, look at Anaconda at Golden Reef City, but taking such a unique idea and adding nothing new is such a insult. Even worse it doesn't even have a turntable, it offers less than the Powersplash. Intamin just saw Pulsar and copy and pasted it. Even the trains are somewhat similar. To make matters worse the track isn't even Intamin's, its more of a imitation of RMC'S. Lightning Rod was a mistake, though RMC are still very new in the game. And in the next few years, these raptors are popping up like flies. I'm sure a launch would be tried on one or two. They have more than you think. Remember RMC have/had three upcoming raptors next year. Jersey Devil, the clone in the middle of nowhere, and Kentucky Kingdom's confirmed raptor. They also have the two Skyline Skywarps behind their belt, which again is single rail RMC track. Also one of the models on displays in the Hot Racers video was obviously meant for West Coast Racers. This means Intamin was in competition against premier, and lost. My point is that Intamin contract a lot of other companies to build their rides. RMC do a lot of the heavy lifting themselves, hence the price being pretty cheap. RMC at one point in time did the heavy lifting for Intamin. Also who is buying these raptors? Mostly Six Flags, and smaller independent parks. I doubt Intamin could be as cheap as RMC, like under 10 million. Remember they are premium, but the raptors are low throughput rides for parks that want a CHEAP coaster. I disagree. Intamin really have a mixed reputation IMO. For example I see Cedar Fair not buying any intamin products for a LONG LONG time. Because of the countless problems. Dragster's downtime, Maverick's false promised throughput, Shoot the Rapids's incident, Perlious Plunge's death, Windseeker's problems, I305 being too intense for the GP and still not very popular to this day, Xcelerator's incident, Dragster's incident, Dragster's throughput being less than promised, Millie's throughput being less than promised. ECT. Six Flags don't really seem interested either, well, because premier and RMC do it cheaper. WCR probably came to cost, premier probably was the cheaper option. Six Flags also have their own issues with Intamin. All three of the intamin mega coasters named superman has claimed a life. So yeah, Intamin's reputation isn't really that positive as you suggest. Merlin don't really seem that keen as well (Thirteen being the last main ride to my knowledge) most of their major coasters recently have been B&M. Sure they were involved in DBGT, but that is more of a negative than a positive. With that, that is 3 major park chains not wanting to work with you. They are getting better with some of their models, I do not deny that. But when you're infamous for building rides that aren't reliable and building clones of rides that are built by one of the most reliable companies, I do think they will fall flat on their face. When I think Intamin coasters, I think downtime at the cost of innovation. Seaworld I guess are still building them, but then again what ISN'T seaworld building atm lol?

Double post, but I wanted to rant about these models as I really dislike the showing from Intamin. I'm gonna give opinions on each model: UltraSplash: If Mack sue, I would not blame them. This is basically just a Powersplash with track that is basically a knock off RMC's single rail track. This model is by far the worst and I hope it flops. If Intamin get a sale for this one, I hope Mack take them to court and then some. Giga Splash: Okay unlike the others its somewhat original. Though Intamin have one of the WORST track records with waters rides like this. Shoot The Rapids, Perlious Plunge, Pilgrims Plunge (no incidents, but unreliable), Drenched, why should people build a Giga Splash over the more reliable Mack Supersplash? So yeah, a fair model, but I don't see parks being keen to buy (especially Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks). I think its the best of the bunch though, and it actually brings something to the industry. Vertical LSM Coaster; Nothing too offensive, I do not think they can beat Premier though. Sky Rocket II's have such a good price point and I'm unsure if Intamin can match it. Even if they can, would they be as reliable? I do not think they will be. Hot Racer: RMC do not do launches yet. Though I see them in the very near future, and this model looks cool, though I do think it will cost more than the RMC equivalent, which will mean it will not be as desirable. Remember RMC do a LOT of things without any sub contractors. Intamin even contracted RMC to build some of their previous rides (El Toro, T Express). Also RMC have a lot more experience with the single-rail track. I really hope Intamin go back to being innovative one day, most of these are following trends instead of starting them. Which is what made Intamin so good imo.

Props to Tulleys for doing cool things over the lockdown. The drive thru farm shop was brilliant, and this sounds pretty cool too.

So I went today, and here is some thoughts. Security getting in was well done. It was more thorough, though took about 10-15 minutes to get in. Not bad. Honestly the park certainly draws some nasty teenagers, this became evident today in Inferno's queue. A bunch of girls were trying to get through the queue (their friend 'reserved' a point in the queue), the couple in front asked them to stop this and the man put his arm out to stop them getting through. And it escalated into a mini fight with the teen spitting at the poor guy. Luckily it was dealt with afterwards, though it certainly displayed the type of young people this park attracts. To be fair I don't know what the park really can do, it really is unpleasant but what can they do? Say no to anyone who says 'Fam' coming in? In other news the new drink refills is a good idea, but also kinda poorly executed. The one near Rush had like 4 options. Most of them were completely not on there, though the one in the dome seemed to have a lot MORE to choose from. The cups also kinda seem of poor design, to make matters worse nobody really monitors them. So you could just get a regular cup and drink if you want, I was unsure whether I had the refills for the rest of the season? Just for today only? Things really were not clear. And I'm sure cheating the system would be easy. Cedar point executed this idea a LOT better, though hopefully it will improve and evolve in future seasons. Coaster wise Inferno is back as my favourite after a back row ride. Colossus is back as my least favourite, the restraints being the main reason. Not even headbanging, the ride has a nasty habit of digging into my thighs. To the point where it basically murdered my thigh. Saw is fun but goes down every 5 minutes. Stealth has been lowkey reliable this season and has the best ops. Overall a good day. A bit rocky though.

Maybe? Just don't get me wrong I am interested, but not because its good. Because at this point Saw is kinda funny as the story really should of ended at 3. And for those who don't want the movies spoiled: Making more makes me kinda laugh. And cry at the same time.

Are Intamin the new Golden Horse LOL? I'm sure parks will trust them over Mack to build their water rides, it isn't like any of their large scale water rides have failed hard in the past..

I wouldn't say Merlin have completely lost their touch, The Smiler was kind of a weird name for a major thrill coaster. Merlin are MILES better than Six Flags for comparison. Imagine if every ride at their parks was called Goliath, The Joker, Batman The Ride, Superman, Crazanity, and Wonder Woman.. If you think Merlin are bad, Six Flags will give you a heart attack.

There is a few core reasons to why I think Thorpe has reached its current state. Heavy expansion, and then, nothing at all. Thorpe had a rapid expansion/investment rate up until about 2012. They received the cream of the crop when it came to investments. Merlin at some point seemed to be more keen in investing in Thorpe over Alton even. Ever since 2013 the park has seen to take a backseat, and their last proper investment was the nail in the coffin (DBGT). The Ghost Train basically ruined all hope of Thorpe ever regaining its status as a worthy rival to Alton Towers for the best park in the UK. It also ruined all hope of any good investment anytime soon. Merlin have no reason to pump money into Thorpe anymore. Lack of a resort. Thorpe Park is barely a resort. It barely has a hotel, and honestly it offers the least out of the 4 UK Merlin Parks when it comes to non theme park stuff. Look at Alton, they offer 2 hotels, Enchanted village, the roller coaster restaurant that is open past park hours, a water park, golf, a ropes course, and entertainment in their hotels. Thorpe Shark is absolutely pathetic in comparison. Chessington and Legoland also have much better accommodation. I bet those hotels are cash cows too, why invest in a park with one small budget hotel when you can invest in a park that is a full resort (Alton Towers) No image. Thorpe Park is like a middle age person going through a identity crisis. It doesn't know who it is, who its target audience is, and it shows.

Blackpool do have tighter security, though honestly searching people's bags is not going eliminate anti social behaviour. Even having a detector does not eliminate any risk. People aren't going to stop being anti social or mouthy after a bag check, and if they can't bring a knife, they'll punch with their fists. If a person has bad intent, there is not much a park can do to 100% stop anything happening besides having security everywhere (which for most parks just is not practical). This is a case where someone who visited had bad intent. That individual's actions were wrong. The park are not to blame IMO, incidents like these are rare and Thorpe Park does already have decent security. Blame the people who commit the actions.

Looks absolute lush. TPW reported recently that the park is running is very well post *sensitive information* This could be down to them loading trains in full. Also apparently dispatches are pretty usual Europa style (fast). Can't wait to get back to Europa, the new dark ride in Scandanavia as well as Pirates is enough reason I guess. I'm glad the park is running good even after: *just in case someone gets offended

Pluk summed up what I think. The main thing that went wrong here is the person who did indeed bring the knife in the park. I am sure this could of happened at most parks. Thorpe actually have a fairly decent system in place. Some parks in mainland europe you can just walk into without even a search.. It is very easy to sit here in hindsight and list everything that the park has and hasn't done, though before this happened I swear nobody was complaining about security/searching at the park? Nasty things happen everywhere all the time. Theme parks are not exempt from this. ^^^ This There is many things Thorpe do wrong, but I find some of this hate thrown at them for this to be a bit uncalled for.

I think the way forward is metal detectors. This is implemented in the US parks like Cedar Point or Great America. If there is multiple, and it is set up efficient then the queue won't be as bad. I know a lot of parks in Europe don't have to implement them, but Thorpe Park being near London and having an audience which is what it is. I think metal detectors would be a no brainer for next season. Honestly I would not blame the park, it is rare to see such a thing at any park. So this happening will certainly change how Merlin handle security in the future.

Triggered by the post above me***** How dare they they use that word. I'm so offended. Gonna cry now, thanks TPW! Kentucky Kingdom recently just had their 2021 plans leaked. They are probably getting a Raptor of some kind (if it not delayed). This will make the park have a brilliant top three. Three absolute airtime machines+two good woodies.

Some thoughts from today: Temperature check was well done and fast. Getting in was swift. Operations on Stealth and Inferno were brilliant. Stealth in particular did not seem to go down once, and had a fast moving queue all day. The dispatches were shockingly good. Operations on Quantum were dreadful. I understand all the procedures make loading slower, but it was doing a cycle every blue moon. And the cycle the ride was running was tamer than usual. Underwhelming for what is usually a gem. Samurai did indeed have stricter restrictions with refusal with loading. I actually was in the queue at one point and the offending groups in the front of the queue did not move back as asked (despite us in the back moving back so they could). This caused a pretty major delay and the queue just got larger. I actually left this queue out of frustration (its a good thing, but it can cause collateral damage to the other people in the queue who are following the rules..) Detonator had pretty neat ops. The ride operator was having a great time playing around with the countdown (or not using it at all), this made a great ride even more suspenseful. Also fairly fast ops. Colossus's queue and the ride itself needs a deep clean and landscaping. Though that is not new. Queue times are wildly inaccurate. I understand this probably can't be helped. But if you are going, what is a '70' minute queue might be 20, what might be a '5' queue might be a hour. Don't trust the queue boards completely, okay usually they are not 100% accurate. But with the current situation, they can be wildly off base and nowhere near the actual queue. Food honestly is very limited, which again can't be helped. But if you're gonna eat, I recommend just not eating on park. Its a lot of hassle. Overall a good day Stealth X3 Inferno X1 Colossus X1 Zodiac X2 Quantum X1 Detonator X1 Rumba X1

That last post gave me a headache. Lets be realistic here, Merlin are not gonna rename minor rides that already have decent names. I bet most foreign tourists scratch their heads at Cbeebies Land too, and to some people The Walking Dead will be a huge question mark. You can't please everyone, there is no singular IP that every person from every corner of the earth is going to know about. The Ghost Train isn't really even about Derren tbf, its got that weird fracking plot. Really don't get your argument and whatever that last post was meant to be if I'm being honest.

Yeah Chessington getting the drop tower as well as the pirate ship honestly is a fair deal for a Merlin Park tbh. If this was Alton/Thorpe, Rameses and Black Buccaneer would of been left SBNO with no future plans, so in a way, I think them receiving replacements for both fairly soon after removal is pretty good. I think anything else they do next year is a bonus, for a smaller park like Chessington, they have been getting pretty decent additions recently.

I heard the park's future additions have been leaked: 2022: Nothing 2023: Remove some theming 2024: Nothing, Again. 2025: New gamestall to replace Slammer 2026: Nothing. 2027: Remove a coaster 2028: Giant murder hornets take over and park is forced to close forever.

Ah okay. I assumed it has been closed for a while. Damn though. Lol just like how Loggers Leap was a "longer term project". No its just lazy, when a independent park in Blackpool is starting to look better than you, you know you've really fu**ed up. It is sub-standard, and should not be the standard going forward for UK parks. Remember people like parks that look good, Phantasialand and Europa are highly regarded for a reason. Even amusement parks make effort to keep their park tidy and professional, both Six Flags parks I have been to are much prettier and well kept than this. It is the same as having your retail store untidy and dirty, just because it doesn't affect you directly. Walking past it is going to leave a weird taste in people's mouths, because people like things that look good.

Man remember when that arcade was open? Like it was tacky, but it didn't look too bad. That now looks dreadful, I am shocked how a mighty chain like Merlin would let something like that happen at one of their parks. Not even a Six Flags park would probably let things get that bad.. On the upside though, maybe this could potentially be a future maze space? I know its next to KFC and all, but I remember it being fair sized? Either way that is shocking, and this picture alone is the reason why Thorpe gets so much flack these days from enthusiasts.

Because all of the other models are don't have too much competition to be fair. Look at their last big model they debuted, Wing Coasters were a success. Because it was a fairly innovative idea, even though Furius Baco exists, B&M made the first good wing coaster lol. With a launch coaster, most smaller-medium parks/Six Flags will opt for the cheaper Premier and when it comes to Cedar Fair really Mack/Intamin makes for a worthy rival for B&M.. Its a market were you have options upon options, with some companies like Premier basically only making launch coasters. Sure a B&M launch would probably be a great ride, but if it just a generic launch coaster. I don't see the market for it.

That is all good, until you realise the selling point of the model. B&M Hypers are well established, they have been in production since 1999. When it comes to gigas, the only competitor is Intamin. Which have a pretty shaky track record only building two, with the most recent one having a lot of issues. You also have to consider who would buy this model? Six Flags have loyalties to Premier and S&S for their launch coasters, Cedar Fair had quite a lot of success with Mack (Copperhead Strike), and even if a company considers building one of these, they have cheaper options (S&S, Premier, Gerstlauer, Vekoma) and companies like Mack build just as smooth if not smoother rides than B&M, also usually very reliable launch coasters. If it is just a vanilla launch coaster model, I do think this will flop.