JoshuaA

It's been a while since I've done a trip report but here we go. Another road trip which for me meant I would hit 200 creds! WOO.
 
Where do we start? A French park with an inverted Vekoma boomerang cos why not.
 

We left Dover on a meh British weather Saturday arriving in Dunkirk the Sunday morning. Before heading to the park we went into Calais for a meander as this is where we were staying. Apparently asking for a pain au chocolat is difficult even though it's how we both say it. Language barriers are great.

Calais had this

And this. Cos culture is nice

Much nicer than the first thing you essentially see at the park.

Bagatelle was an odd park. I don't know if I liked it or not. They had two coasters made by a company no one knows off cos they basically only made these two coasters.

A bright orange torture device (that wasn't awful)

A one adult per boat log flume which shows you the border around the park with local basketball courts.

A pirate themed area aka a pirate boat, orange ferris wheel and a chain with a no entry sticker on to stop you leaving the park border.

An actually okay rapids with moments of decent theming.

An Autopia type ride but with a really good layout. Best ride here.

A brand new air race with themed surrounding buildings on lovely fresh tarmac

A normal sized log flume with stupidly fast lift

One of these but allowing adults to ride

And the 2nd of the 2 random coaster manufactures coasters.
 
They also have; a monorail which leaves the park and shows you goats, a spinning wild mouse which was horrific, a single seater tea cups ride for kids, an awful simulator and I'm sure some more awful stuff.
 
Didn't take many photos as the park entertained me so much I ended up watching the F1. So definitely visit. This put me on 198 creds. Yay.
 
We did however have a nice evening in Calais

I had alcohol

There was this

This stunning building

And we played a few games of pool at the hotel with you guessed it...

Alcohol. Woop.
 
I will try and do the rest of the trip when I get time but it might take a while

Second attempt at this  damn my phone!
 
Well as the title states, I recently took a trip oooop North with @Roodieto visit the famous pleasure beach.  Having never been that far up the country in my life I was a tad anxious as I don't go too far from home generally - however, stepping out of my comfort zone was worth it.
 

 
The sunset on the drive up was pretty lush so I took a fairly standard photo 
 
We stayed over at The Big Blue Hotel which was really nice and meant that we didn't have to travel in the morning as the pleasure beach is next door - the staff there are really friendly and helped out with a few questions we had.
 
As it was half term when we visited and was a tad busy we decided to get the VIP speedy passes - unlike Merlin these things are more affordable at £45 - but because we stayed at their hotel we got them half price - definitely worth it as we were only there for one day.
There are some rides not included in the speedy pass - Steeplechase, Skyforce, Wild Mouse (possibly others) and you only get one go on Grand National with it.
 
We kicked off the day on Blue Flyer which is a cute little coaster and neither myself nor Roodie had ever ridden a woodie before so it was a gentle introduction - although I thought my knee caps were going to smash as its a bit of a squeeze.
 
After that we headed to their dinky log flume (I forget the name) "yeah that looks tame" - wow I got drenched - a rather sizeable wave decided to pay me a visit as we splashed down so that was nice - thankfully it was hot so I dried off quick 
 
Over the course of the day my ride count was as follows -
 
Log flume X 1 Valhalla X 5 Wild mouse X 1 Steeplechase X 1 Blue flyer X 1 Big Dipper X 2 Infusion X 1 Nick streak X 2 Big one X 1 Wallace and Gromit X 1 Avalanche X 1 Sky force X 1 Alice's wonderland X 1 Derby racer X 1 Grand National X 1  
Big Dipper
This is such an iconic ride at BPB and I was excited about riding it - first go on this thing and my butt was flying off the seat so much which was fun although I randomly began screaming which I have a habit of doing on rides I'm not familiar with - love this ride - the first drop is pretty good and I love the tight turns on it and the whole layout 
 
Nickolodeon Streak
This one surprised me as I thought it was going to be really tame considering it is in the Nickolodeon land area of the park - apart from a rather noticeable jolt at the top of the lift hill I loved it - the hills, the layout, the fact that embarrassingly I screamed .  The seats are so comfy - like mini sofas with a lap bar.  Not keen on the colour of the ride but then orange has never been my colour 
 
Steeplechase
Well....firstly I was worried about how I would get on the flaming horse (I once got stuck on a horse on a carousel which was awkward).  Managed to get my leg over ok then we got strapped in and I'm thinking "hmm what's to stop me falling off" - this was all before the ride even started.  And blimey when it started I screamed and continued to do so for pretty much the duration of the ride - every corner we went round the screams got louder- I don't have a great sense of balance and was convinced I was going to come a cropper.  The ride itself is pretty cool and I would love to try the other tracks as we only did one ride on it - as we came back into the station I got a few funny looks but was more worried that I'd done my throat damage from my sqwaking.
 
Avalanche
Prior to visiting, this, along with The Big One were the 2 coasters I was a tad concerned about - The Big One because of the height and Avalanche because - IT HAS NO TRACK!  So I'm thinking "well what if this thing rolls over and and my life ends mangled on the floor" - NOT that I overthink things.  Stood and watched it for a bit but that annoying laughing man thing (what is that?!!) was beginning to grate so we headed up the exit to ride.
Despite screaming the entire time I actually loved this thing - it's so twisty and actually moves a lot swifter than it looks.  My onride photo captured the terror on my face- actually I've never had such a look of fear on a coaster picture before - so I bought it.....

 
The Big One
Ok so I hate heights - I can't even go on The London Eye because the one and only time I did go on it I had a bad panic attack.  I'm only ok with Stealth because I've ridden it so many times but I don't notice the height much on that thing because if you blink you miss it.
I remember when this thing opened and watching a news article on it thinking "noooope" but back then I was a huge wuss.
After taking an anxiety tablet and waiting for it to kick in I decided to just do it - Roodie has a much worse fear if heights than me so I went on my own.  Was actually fairly chilled on the lift hill going up though I was in the middle of the train so was focusing on the persons head in front of me - was feeling quite chuffed with myself until it went down the first drop - I screamed and some very fruity language emerged from my mouth.  I've watched POVs of this thing but that drop when you are on it is high...and steep.  Then I randomly screamed in other places - not because I was scared but because heck that thing is rough!  The ride length is decent and the track layout is pretty good but the roughness was a bit much at times.  I'm glad I rode it and I would ride it again if I ever go back but after that first drop its a bit anti-climactic. It's crazy to think this thing opened the same year as Nemesis though I shouldn't compare the 2 - I know which one has aged better 
This is my ride pic which makes me look like I was chilled...which I wasnt 
 

 
Infusion
THIS has to be the worst pain I have ever encountered on a coaster - and I don't mind a bit of roughness (I've ridden Saw 9 times in the space of an hour before).
They should have kept with its original name of Traumatizer because I felt like I had some sort of brain trauma after that experience.  We sat at the front and I dread to think how horrific it must be on the back row.  From when the ride left the lift hill to when it hit the brake run both myself and Roodie were screaming "owwww" "ouch" with the odd swear word chucked in on particularly horrific moments. I can only describe the experience as akin to having my head repeatedly bashed against a brick wall - in fact, I have had my head smashed against a brick wall and I can honestly say it was more pleasant than this thing.
Ive read about Vekoma SLCs being rough but jeez I didn't think a coaster could be THAT rough.  They could really do with having mini air bags at the side of the restraints to cushion people's heads - I might pitch that idea to them.
Its not all bad though - the good points of this coaster are that its a nice shade of blue - I also like the water features surrounding it which, to be fair you don't notice whilst riding because you're too busy having your brain bashed.
Our on ride photo is very deceiving - it almost looks like we are enjoying the experience but when the pic was taken we were both mid-"OWW"
 

"what sort of cheese was that?"
 
Wild Mouse
While queuing for this I was informed that it's mean to be pretty scary - ummm how? It just looks like a very small standard wild mouse - but no - this thing is a wooden wild mouse and the structure wobbles a tad which is fab for putting anxiety at ease! There were kids riding it, couldn't hear much screaming so I wasn't concerned.  How wrong was I?  As we headed up the lift hill I thought "well this ain't bad" then that quickly changed.  I don't think I've ever screamed so much on a ride as that one - I've also never been more terrified on a coaster than wild mouse.  Looks are so deceiving with this one - it's a small layout but it's full of very tight turns, drops, air time and (if you're me) seeing your life flash before your eyes.  I kept thinking this coaster is old and I genuinely thought the car was going to fly off the tracks.
Where Infusion was the most painful coaster I've ridden, Wild Mouse is certainly the scariest - in terms of not feeling safe (you only have a seatbelt aswell) - of course it's safe but jeez it scared me so much that it is one of only a couple of rides I've done that I don't think I could re-ride.  The plus of our ride was the noises coming out of my mouth which got some funny looks and possibly entertained people queuing for all of 2 minutes.
I think IF I ever rode this again I would need a few anxiety tablets as my nerves were shot to bits after. Yeah maybe I'm a wuss!
 
Grand National
So upon arriving at Grand National there is a sign that warns that it can be intense. Ok no problem - this is a ride I've wanted to try for a long time. I can handle a bit of roughness.
 I wanted to love this ride...but I didn't.  Now it may be that we rode it just after the hell that is Infusion so my head hadnt properly recovered and I had one epic headache brewing.  We sat at the front and headed up the lift hill - after the first drop that was it - I never thought it possible for my head to rattle quite so much on a ride that just has a lap bar but I felt like a nodding dog in a car doing 120mph.
The layout is good, the fact you are racing the other train is good but it was a bit too much for my head to take.
I would love to ride this again when my head is normal (well normal for me!) because I'm sure my brewing headache didn't help the situation.  This is another iconic ride at the pleasure beach and was very popular so I think it needs another chance before I can properly judge it
 
Thats the coasters covered - The only one we didn't do was Revolution but as it goes backwards that's probably good that we swerved it as I don't do particularly well on things that go the wrong way!
 
Wallace & Gromit ride I really enjoyed and they sell some interesting items in the gift shop - cheese stick of  rock anyone?!  
 
Alice in Wonderland ride was ok for what it is - not something I would personally queue for though.
 
Derby Racers is adorable and thankfully I didn't get stuck getting off the horse at the end 
 
Skyforce is ok - the indoor queue but was hotter than a sauna though so I wasn't able to pay lots of attention to the instructional video.  This thing surprised me because it actually goes higher than it looks - I did managed about 75% of one spin on it but freaked out - also it's hard work trying to manoeuvre so I gave up after a while - it's a nice ride but on really busy days it must be horrific to queue for due to its low throughput.
 

 
I saved my fave ride for last - VALHALLA!
 

 
I have so much love for Valhalla - we ended up riding it 5 times.
The theming outside the ride is brilliant and I love the fact that you can't see any of the actual ride so you have no idea what to expect (unless you've seen a POV which I hadn't).
Its hard to believe this ride has been at the park since 2000 because it is so impressive and unlike Tidal Wave which opened the same year offers so much more and shows just how good a water ride can be (just to add I've only so far done UK water rides so I'm sure there are better ones elsewhere in the world).
Ive always found water rides fascinating - and back before I conquered my fear of coasters and anything really thrilling, Tidal Wave was my fave ride at Thorpe and I would ride it on my own while my sister went off to go on the coasters.
 
I know Valhalla and Tidal Wave are very different rides (and I enjoy both) but for me I love Valhalla for the theming, the audio, the length of the ride, the drops - everything.  Tidal Wave you go up, you come down and you get drenched which is fab on hot days.  Of course Valhalla will get you wet - soaked even (front row left hand side especially) but for the experience it's worth it.
We didn't bother with ponchos as it was a warm day.  I was drenched - my feet were soggy but unlike rides like Storm Surge where your feet get crazy wet for what I think is a naff ride (putting it mildly) I didn't mind so much after Valhalla - later on in the evening the waft from my damp trainers was not pretty but that was the only down side.
 
I love the effects used in the ride - though has anyone noticed that the ice room has a hint of a vinegar aroma about it? ?
 
This is our ORP from the 4th of 5 rides we did on it - and where I got the most drenched
 

 
Summary (well done if you've got this far!)
 
The park was bigger than I thought it would be even though the coaster seem to be on top of each other (if that makes sense)
The staff are really friendly as are people up North in general - seriously if some of those people came to where I live they'd think every Southerner is a miserable git.
 
It was great finally being able to ride some wooden coasters (and face my fear going on The Big One)
Being away from home is hard for me at times with my anxiety but I coped fine with it and next big trip is further away
 
There are some rides we didn't get the time to go on and other rides I would love to do again.  Construction for ICON is coming along nicely and it would be fab to go back when it opens.
 
All in all a great day - we did Alton Towers the following day as it is en route back home so we took the chance to have a quick snooze on the RMT...as you do 
 

 
Choo choo
 
Thanks for reading - this is the first blog entry I've done in ages so apologies if it is waffly - I'm on the caffeine and can't sleep!
 
Next blog will be in Sept/Oct after visiting Efteling and Phantasialand with @Roodie -I'll try to make the next one less waffly ?

To me, Symbolica was the biggest new European attraction for 2017 for theme parks. It's not exactly a difficult feat to achieve, with little of note actually happening this year. But I found the prospect of Efteling, a park known for creating highly detailed and love dark rides, investing their biggest sum in a ride ever, much more exciting than Port Aventura sticking Ferrari Land at the edge of their park and adding a taller and faster Stealth to their line up.
 
It's difficult to review a dark ride without giving spoilers, but I'm going to try my best to not spoil anything. Knowing as little about Symbolica will, of course, be advantageous if you come to ride it - though if spoilers are really your thing, just check out Efteling's YouTube...
 
For some context, the storyline of Symbolica is simple - you're have a feast with the King, but Pardoes, the King's jester, has other ideas and takes you on a behind the scenes tour of the 'Palace of Fantasy'. The pre show sets this story up brilliantly, is easily understood in any language, includes 2 incredible animatronics and a real piece of magic which bought a huge smile to my face.
 
After the pre show, you make your way down the cellars of the palace towards the station. Symbolica has 3 slightly different routes you can take (themed as 'tours' - Music, Knights and Treasure), and you choose these after the pre show but before you board. After doing all 3, they're all of equal standard, and don't differ THAT much, but each one has its own special little feature.
 
The ride itself is trackless, with 2 rows of 3. You go around the palace, exploring several different rooms, whilst Pardoes makes an appearance and does some magical stuff. Each scene is very Efteling, in that it's just whimsical, magical and doesn't quite make sense (in a good way!). Most importantly to me though, there are no dead spots and no wasted moments. Each transition between scenes is themed and makes sense. Each scene is themed 360 degrees. Everything flows in its own weird sort of way. This was a huge issue I had with all other Efteling dark rides (and indeed many dark rides in general) - they either have dead spots where nothing happens, other there's some part of the rooms which are unthemed and make no sense with what's going on. Symbolica, in that sense, is perfect to me.
 
An interesting feature is that the front row has 2 touchscreens. These screens allow the front row to choose their language (it doesn't affect any audio, it's just a message at the start and end of ride), make some of the animatronics do 'things' during the ride, and make your vehicle 'dance' during the finale. It's an interesting idea, but doesn't quite work - I found it more of a distraction during the ride, and it never really added much. Also, it leaves the back row a bit left out - why they couldn't have one screen per row confuses me.
 
So yeah, in short - Symbolica really is a fab attraction. It's clear to see where the 35 million euro budget went, it looks and feels great, it's interesting and immersive to be in and, most importantly, it is fun. Efteling are onto a winner of an attraction, and definitely worth a trip!

Hello again, long time no see. It's been a quick six month break since I've been on here, since my 'emotional' breakdown a few months back. In that time, my love for rollercoasters has been reinvigorated without the related cynicism that forums can sometimes create. I thought I'd do a blog of somewhat of what I've been up to. 
 
April 2017 - France/Germany road trip
 
Three months ago, (where has the time gone), myself along with Peaj, Dan and Fred went on a six park trip across Western Europe parks. The aim was for everyone to grab the odd new B&M, Intamin and new parks galore. For all of us, the only new park was Movie Park Germany. I have to admit our trip was oddly planned, we somehow missed all the new rides that were due to open in May, however I think in spite of this, we had a wonderful time. So to start off we went to Parc Asterix. I think of this is a very under-rated place. The rides are fun, enjoyable, interestingly themed and very re-rideable. The obvious highlight is Oz'Iris which, five years after my first ride is still an incredible ride. We managed a back row and front row ride and each was enjoyable. It managed to toe the line between modern and old school B&M and the custom layout works really well with the nearby theming.

Tonnerre de Zeus has had some queue line work too but seemed rougher then I remember, presumably its starting to age and might need a little bit of work done. I was impressed with the parks newer additions such as the disk which features fire effects and the way the ride is designed into the lake. I love Goudurix. This may be controversial but it's an intense, raw experience which many newer rides could learn lessons from. Sure its still rated one of the worst rollercoasters in the world but I don't think it deserves the hatred it received.
 
Park 2 was Nigloland, a park celebrating its 30th anniversary. This park has a lot of Mack rides, in fact it almost comes across as a mini Europa Park. This was my biggest surprise of the trip frankly, it's a fantastic park that retains its family history and the obvious pride in the place is something you just don't get with company parks. The obvious star of Nigloland is Alpina-Blitz, an absolutely sublime rollercoaster and by a country mile my favourite ride of the trip. One of my favourite aspects of it is the little Mack touches, the way the ride has such forceful air time in the Blue Fire type trains, the little walkway that extends over the track in the station to allow disabled access, the way it borrows the best bits from Piraten (Djurs Sommerland) and improving on them massively. As I've got older, I don't re-ride rides more then 2/3 times but Alpina Blitz, we got ten rides out of. It is worth the trip to here alone.


Other rides in Nigloland aren't 'quite' up the standard of Blitz, but they don't need to be. Euro-Sat has a little brother here for example and whilst not quite as good or as long, is a nice surprise. The log flume, I found very strange. It runs about nine boats in total and contains only one drop in a very short layout. Strange. I loved the powered coaster, I forced the others to ride a further two times. A few rides there were a bit dodgy such as the Jungle Cruise rip off or the Jurassic Park walkthrough which were a waste of time really, but in the context of the park are good fillers. The new drop tower which sticks out like a saw thumb was pretty terrifying if only for the sheer size of the tower. The drop had nothing on our Detonator, however its height was intimidating.

 
Park 3 - Holiday Park
 
The original intention was to visit Walygator for Monster and Anaconda. However when that decided to open three weeks later, we quickly diverted to Holiday Park in Germany. It's been eleven years since I last visited and I originally didn't really like Expedition Ge Force finding it over-rated and disappointing. My opinion on this has morphed slightly, however I think EGF is now severely outclassed by Shambhala, Alpina Blitz and Piraten. The ride was running one train and because of intamin related problems, it took ages to load. The restraints bite hard into taller people meaning the air time hills become more and more painful as it goes on. I'm 6 foot and was on the edge of pain. It was more enjoyable then I remembered but there's just no way that the ride is number one.

 
The new star of Holiday Park is Sky Scream. I liked it a lot. I'd been on Superman at Discovery Kingdom and it is pretty much exactly the same albeit, the theme is very different. Horror theme just doesn't work on this kind of rollercoaster, especially in glorious sunshine. Holiday Park suffers from a lack of family rollercoasters. It has two thrill machines and then everything else is slightly below par. An average omni-mover, a pretty good rapids and a stupidly wet log flume don't really make up for the lack of family support rides. The drop tower being themed to a teenager tv show was odd.
 
Phantasialand
 
Everyone knows this park is awesome, that goes without saying. I love the Baron hour extra ride time for guests at the end of the day, I love the hotel, I adore how cheap the ride photos and food are at at the park. I hate Winjas. The news of a launched flyer is welcome news. Kind of glad it isn't B&M as well. 

Fantastic views of Mamba from the hotel room
 
Movie Park
 
This place is weird. You can tell that it's had a change in direction with one half of the park being movie themed and the rest rides just chucked at pathways. The highlight by far was Van Helsing which isn't just a good ride, is a stand out Gerstlauer wild mouse. Some really forceful hair pins and great dips in a ride that really showcases the best of the company. It's theme was pretty decent too, although admittedly the head peeking out of the ceiling on the exit platform was more comedic then scary. The rest of the park is pretty poor though. Star Trek was desperately needed but not ready to open on our visit. The Vekoma SLC was Dan's first of this type, well deserving of a front row seat. Wasn't that bad but after Oz'Iris and Black Mamba, it doesn't come across well. The only photo I have of the day is Oswald at Disneyland Paris so that will have to do.

 
And finally Efteling 
 
When I was younger and in my theme park teenage years, there were three parks that I always wanted to visit because they sounded more magical then theme parky. They were Liseberg, Tivoli Gardens and Efteling. And I was finally ticking this off my list. The park was busy and queues for the big rides topped an hour. My obvious interest was Baron 1898 which I'll talk about later. Firstly, Flying Dutchman. What a great concept let down solely by the middling rollercoaster bit. The theming of Efteling is second to none and the atmosphere of the indoor bit is fantastic. I was slightly thrown off by the lift hill where I thought an obvious backwards bit was going to happen but didn't. Next, Volga Rock a rather extravagant Vekoma rollercoaster which I really enjoyed. My memory is hazy because of the sheer oddness of the trip. The fairy dark ride is fabulous. I was taken back by the sheer scale of the ride, the attention to detail of the sets is incredible. The Venom Madhouse requires you to know Dutch and well, we don't. Music was great though. Joris en de Draak, the parks racing woodies were both running one trains and to be honest, I didn't think it had anything on Wodan. I don't get the appeal of racing coasters to be honest, the rides motions get completely ignored by wanting to see where the other train has gone. And I hate losing.

And finally, Baron. I thought this was a wonderful take on the dive machine concept. I like my rides to involve the people passing by so the little bell emanating from the lift hill when a train is about to descend is the kind of detail I love to see. The show rooms on this don't rely on a knowledge on the Dutch language enabling anyone to understand the story. The drop is rather nifty and whilst shorter then Oblivion has a similar impact. The zero g is good.The air time hill is terrible. There isn't a single bit of sensation as the train rises and falls over the track and fills like its there to increase ride length only. The ride also has a problem with capacity. It only has three trains and even with that there is massive stacking. Oblivion with its seven trains (in its heyday anyway) runs rings around Baron. In spite of this, 1898 is thematically far more interesting and engaging then Oblivion. The power of dive machines to grab attention is second to none. 

 
And with that the trip was over. Some of the top parks in Europe are only a couple of hours away from the UK so there really is no excuse not to go.
 
Next up was Thorpe Park which was absolutely dead. Where was everyone? This was my first time on Derren Brown and I have to say it was relatively enjoyable. It suffers from the Merlin problem that acting = shouting at guests and ordering them around. I loved the train concept and even fell for the bit where a tube train is thundering down the tunnel. We were lucky that there was no queue and we got batched in straight away. It's not worth a long queue but it is interesting that the ride length of Derren Brown is probably longer then every other ride at Thorpe put together.
This is Samurai which I haven't ridden for about three years.
 
Next up was Disneyland Paris where we were by chance around for the reopening of Space Mountain as the shameless cash in, Hyperspace Mountain. I didn't like this one bit and the main problem is the clashing of themes. Star Wars on the Californian version is fine, that has a rather charmless theme as it is. The Jules Verne mixed with X-Wings and Death Stars doesn't work at all. Sadly this ride will be a lot more popular with visitors, equalling longer queues, meaning the original version from 1995, may now never return. On the plus side, the new trains are excellent albeit, slightly more restrictive then the old ones.

 
Other new features for the 25th include a new parade (which was a massive upgrade from the old one), a new firework show (which is a massive downgrade from Dreams) and new day time shows celebrating the magic of DLP.

I forgot to mention Europa Park, but lets face it that place is just insanely incredible. It was the quietest I've ever seen it with being able to stay on Blue Fire three times in a row or walk on front row Wodan. New area Ireland is fine, the rather odd choice of theming a rockin' tug around a Titanic life boat is an interesting choice for a ride..
 

 
Blue Fire remains as incredible as always, surely one of the best rides ever built. It's on its 9th season but you couldn't tell it as it has not aged one iota. The drops with that level of smoothness make it one of the most consistent rides out there.
 
I apologise for this blogs length and well done if you even got half way. It's been a breezy six months and I'm so glad that my passion for theme parks have been reinvigorated. Nothing is like our hobby, the sheer escapism and joy from theme parks is unrivalled. And to end this length trip report, here's Scenic Railway at Margate which gave me chills.
 

It's not often that I tend to have the persuasion and determination to visit theme parks outside of Britain, primarily due to the costs, travel and venturing into the unknown when visiting another country. But Liseberg is different. Liseberg drew my attention more than any other European theme park for 2017 because further research into what the place offered and the ease of travelling there entirely on public transport and not hiring a car got me seriously interested. Of course, Helix was the draw factor for me more than anything because I have found it almost impossible to find a single negative review about the ride since it's debut back in 2014. For too long Nemesis and Shambhala have both always been my top coasters and nothing since has ever managed to come close to them... until now!

This review will consist of my experience of the park over 2 days earlier last week, flying out on Friday 12th May until Monday 15th May and I will be detailing every little detail I noted, so please understand this is going to be a very long and precise review of travelling there, the park itself and it's attractions it has to offer. If you like to read quick and to-the-point reviews, this is not for you! The aim of this review is to familiarise readers who are considering visiting the park for the first time everything they should know and expect, especially considering a new dive coaster will be opening here in 2018 which is guaranteed to draw quite a few Brits to visit.

So let's start at the beginning and that's transport and travel to the park, including costs:

1) TRANSPORT TO & FROM THE PARK

From what I understand, there are three airports in or around London which fly directly to Gothenburg Landvetter airport which are Ryanair from Stanstead, British Airways from Heathrow and Norwegian Air from Gatwick. I flew with Norwegian Air since Gatwick was the closest airport from my address (Pompey) and even though I admit the flights are cheaper with Ryanair from Stanstead, I was not willing to travel half way across the south to get on a plane, so Norwegian Air was my choice. My outgoing flight from Gatwick was at 19:35 which cost me about £30 single each way (8 weeks in advance booking, no reserved seat).

Once arriving at Gothenburg, follow the signs to the airport bus service called Flygbussarna which runs every 20 minutes right outside the entrance to the terminal and takes you directly to the city itself which is about a 25 minute drive. Price-wise, at the time of writing this review, tickets are 185 SEK, which equals to about £14 return approximately. There are 4 stops along the way, each getting closer and closer to the centre where the terminus train station is located. Since I was staying in a hotel just 10 minutes away from the park, I only needed to get the second stop, the first one being directly outside the park's entrance and the Gothic Towers.

So as you can see, it is perfectly manageable to get into the city through the use of public transport without the need to hire a car. A recommendation I make is try and get a flight to the airport which is not scheduled to land after 23:00, because the last bus service is at 00:50am and if there is any delay in your flight, you could risk missing the last one and having to spend about £34 at least with a taxi to get to the city instead, so bear that in mind.

Now that's out the way, now onto the park itself:

2) PARK ATMOSPHERE AND THEMING
 
If you were to ask me to compare the park to any other I know, I would find it very difficult because it's unlike any other theme park I have been to. The first and most obvious difference is that it's located right in the centre of a city with motorways, skyscraper buildings, housing and museums surrounding it everywhere. In some ways, similar to Alton Towers, it has a unique feel to it all because seeing a theme park in the middle of a large city/open countryside is the last thing you would expect!

Once inside, if you go through the main (north) entrance, you are greeted immediately by a long walkway surrounded by small buildings with gift shops, restaurants, ticket booths and in my case, market stalls (it was their green weekend where the whole of the plaza area and theatre was dominated by fresh plants and flowers). To the right you can see the dominating tower of AtmosFear and the Ferris wheel overshadowing you as walk along the pathway getting ever closer to the centre of the park. Through these alleyways, music played which mostly consisted of chart music, both modern and retro, giving the place a good and clam atmosphere for guests.

Presentation wise, this is something I will keep mentioning in the review further down, but the park have done a great job at keeping all the buildings, pathways, lighting and signage looking clean and well-maintained at all times which has really put a lot of our parks here in the UK to shame. Instead of having rotting roofs, mouldy walls and broken lights, it was great to see all the smaller details looked after such as all the lightbulbs for the street lighting working with none that have blown or the roofs and walls of the buildings looking like they have just been cleaned overnight and don't have mould or overgrown weeds everywhere and there was no trace of litter anywhere. Being used to the state of our parks today, this was a pleasant surprise for me, regardless of how small it might be.
 

 
So overall, it might not be the Swedish version of Main Street or Towers Street, but initial impressions of the atmosphere and theming are good so far with everything being maintained and cleaned on a regular basis (from my perspective anyway).

3) FOOD & DRINK & PRICES

Now being a tourist attraction in the middle of Sweden's biggest city, I was expecting much like every other theme park on the planet for the prices of food and drink to be high and it absolutely was. Being used to getting the 20% discount on all food and drink at Merlin's parks for many years, I had forgotten how expensive theme park food can be and some of the prices did seem too high for me. For instance, if you get their Max burger meal deal at one of the many stalls in the park, that will set you back about 89 SEK which is about £8 roughly. A cup of coffee (cappuccino) was about 45 SEK (£4) and a bottle of water about 19 SEK (£1.75), so in comparison to the food prices here in the UK, you are looking at about an average price increase of about 10-15%.

Despite however the prices for their food and drink being quite high, I will say that you definitely get a filling meal for what you pay for. On the second day for lunch, I went to the sandwich shop and had just a full salami and brie baguette which was about 65 SEK (£6.10) and it was pretty large and filled properly and was enough to keep me full until late that evening. So bear in mind even though you might be paying more for an average meal at Liseberg, you are getting bigger average portions as a result in comparison to other theme parks, so that might make up the extra cost for you.

Another great thing about the food and drink at Liseberg is the variety they provide. Here in the UK it's your typical burger stalls, pizza, pasta, donuts and hot dogs. Whilst Liseberg did offer all this, they also offer as mentioned above some alternative choices, such as the baguette shop, seafood, stir fry, Italian, Mediterranean and Austrian food just to name a few. So regardless of your preference, they are sure to have something to suite your taste and the variety offered was great.

4) OPERATIONS & RELIABILITY
 
The first thing that jumped out to me was how efficient the park was at running all of their rides. The staff were loading and dispatching guests as fast as they can on all coasters, one simple check of the restraint was all that done and the guests I noticed don't tend to carry a lot of bags with them when riding, so essentially, this massively sped up the process and reduced the amount of faff some guests can create to a minimum. Lisebergbanan for instance is a great example because not only were they running all trains on the track despite a 10 minute queue all day (take note, Thorpe Park), but the dispatch procedure was quick and simple - gates opening whilst guests were leaving the train, baggage taken onto the trains down by your legs so it doesn't fall out, one quick check of the handle bars with two staff on each side of the train, a simple thumbs up and they're good to go. All of this can take as little as 20 seconds and the queues as a result were moving especially fast, giving you the opportunity to manage more later in the day. If only our parks could run all their rides this efficiently, there wouldn't be the need for Fastrack most days anymore!

As for reliability, I don't know if I was extremely lucky, but I did not encounter a single break down or stoppage across the entire park on both days I visited. Not one. Every single ride was open, at full capacity and ready for guests, regardless of whether there was a queue or not. Perhaps our rides keep breaking down a lot because of the paranoia surrounding what happened with The Smiler where any little thing out of place involves calling an engineer over the rectify it now, but Liseberg could be a lot more relaxed over it or simply because their rides are purely more reliable machines. Part of me reckons it could be to do with the great amount of maintenance and work done to the rides every year which might have something to do with it, which will be mentioned in a moment.

5) PRESENTATION

This was perhaps one of the most surprising things for me about all of the rides at Liseberg - everything looked as though it was brand new. Things such as mould and rust on the coaster tracks was gone, or the queue lines being clean with almost no wear marks, or the trains on Helix looking spotlessly shiny and polished with no marks anywhere, or all of the lights working fine on Mechanica at night. Simply put, everything had a great presentation and didn't look like it was neglected and left to rot. This is what the standard should be at all theme parks - to keep your rides looking spotless and new as long as possible. You know something is wrong when Lisebergbanan, a 30-year old coaster looks better than The Smiler at just 4 years old...... pretty embarrassing if you ask me!
 
Other smaller details visible across the park and its rides such as the queue line fencing everywhere being freshly painted, to all the queue TV screens working, to all the signage looking untouched & clean and the vegetation trimmed back so it's not overgrown on the rides are what I appreciate a lot with theme parks and it's great to see details as small and noticeable as this being looked after on a frequent basis. We need an attitude like this across all our UK parks where presentation is key because from a customer's perspective, it is.

6) THE RIDES

And now onto the best part - my opinion of their 7 signature rides, including Loke being their new one (spoilers - it's awesome!). Here I'll rank them in the order I found to be best in ascending order and I'll being with AeroSpin:

• AeroSpin (6.5 / 10)
I wouldn't say this is a bad ride or anything as it definitely wasn't, but I just found it to be a little short and uncomfortable for what it offered. The seats are exactly the same ones you have on Saw and Smiler with the addition of a seatbelt (believe me, it was comforting to have that there for me!), so it wasn't the most comfortable seat for me since I find the restraint to crush my shoulders too much when inverting, and boy, it certainly did it to me on this.

When you spin in the air, the two mini wings you control are moderately easy to control and are smooth to tilt with your arms, although you might need to put a bit of effort into them as it can strain your arms a bit if you flip too much or too fast during your flight. Depending on the speed of the wind which you are flying in, getting yourself to spin upside down and tilt can really be hit or miss. My first ride I managed 46 flips and then the second only 16. If the wind speed is minimal, you are really going to have to put some effort into getting your plane to spin upside down and the best way to do this is to flip the wings quickly and in perfect sync with the tilt of your seat. If you can manage nice and smooth tilts, this will be easy enough for you to manage. But if you take quick and small tilts with the wings, you barely make it over the top unfortunately.

When flipping upside down, the first time actually scared me because once I got my wings into position to enable me to flip 46 times, it really goes fast and can make you feel quite dizzy very quickly. Plus, considering you are about 100ft above the ground or 200ft if you include the mountain it's on, flipping that fast feeling as though you are not in control did scare me, especially when the spins got faster and faster and you are sitting in isolation next to nobody else.

The problem I had most with it was the restraints used and as a result, I had bruise marks on my shoulders after riding it the second time (my own fault) since all the pressure can rest directly onto them if you are held upside down for too long. Also, the ride seemed very short too at only around 1 minute in the air and that's it. Wished it lasted a bit longer, especially considering it would cost the rider 3 tokens if they didn't have the wristband.

So whilst it's great fun for the views, the soundtrack by IMAscore and multiple flips you can manage, I just found it too uncomfortable and short for my liking unfortunately.
 

 
• AtmosFear (7 / 10)
If there is any type of ride at a theme park I am still scared of to this day, it's a drop tower, and AtmosFear really was a struggle for me to get on the first time. Being the tallest in Europe, I almost chickened out on this as a result. But the way I saw it before riding is it cannot be any worse than Detonator which has the most horrible free-fall experience I know on any ride out there and considering I managed Hurakan Condor back in 2013 (yeah, the first ride didn't end well), this surely cannot be any worse. Thankfully, I was right.

The restraints are almost identical to the seats used on Stealth and Rita with the exception of the shoulder bars being a firm nylon material instead of the padded metal bars used on the coasters. As a result, I could close the restraint using the adjustable fastener to a perfect fit against my chest making sure I was securely strapped into me seat with no give anywhere. When you begin to rise, there's a mist at the top of the building you pass through before you are outside slowly rising to the top.

It takes a while to get up there which was a great opportunity to get some amazing views up there. The best viewing point is northwards in the direction of the Liseberg wheel when the river down the the harbour goes. Once at the top, there is no countdown or hint at when you are going to drop, so the first time you ride this, it could come as a shock to you.

When released, the initial release does have the proper free-fall feeling for a split second, but unfortunately, despite picking up more and more speed as you fall down, it doesn't get worse and instead, it feels as though the drop has been tamed to quickly due to the brakes reaching up the first 50% of the tower. I would say the first third of the tower you fall down is forceful, but after that, it doesn't feel as bad in all honesty, so the worst bit is the initial release but once you fall, it doesn't feel too bad.

I still rate this higher than AeroSpin for the fact it offers better views at the top, travels much faster and doesn't have uncomfortable seats. It might be the most forceless drop tower I've been on yet, but it's still great fun to go on, especially any sunset. In addition, due to the height, this is the first drop tower that has made my ears pop once you've fallen from the top to the bottom in just 3 seconds. That should give you an idea how fast and tall this really is!
 


• Mechanica (7.5 / 10)
Initial impressions of this ride from looking at videos of it online were Samurai meets Slammer, and after riding it, that opinion is pretty accurate!

The overall theme and look to this ride I loved. The queue line with all the carpentry tools and equipment and molten metal in the barrels, to the great soundtrack (also by IMAscore) and the overall look of the ride's support and pods really looked visually attractive. I'd go as far to say at night, this is one of the best looking themed flat rides I know with all the orange lights and flames lighting up the structure and seats in the dark.

Now as for the ride experience itself, the seats and restraints are far more comfortable compared to the ones used on Samurai (different manufacturers I know, but it reminded me too much of Samurai) and didn't crush your thighs or chest once closed. Plus, there's a good amount of gap between each of the 5 seats on the pods, making moving your arms a lot easier this time. The restraints when closed do not mould against your body unlike Samurai, they instead fix into place on the closest notch they can lock onto. So in my case, there was a bit of give between my stomach and the restraint, which made it easier for me to breathe and adjust thankfully.

Now onto the ride experience itself, the shocking thing for me was how differently the pods tilt in comparison to Samurai. These pods on Mechanica tilt a lot easier and in effect, you are tilting and flipping much faster and more violently as a result. Some may see this as a disadvantage as it makes the ride quite violent, but I didn't mind and thought it made the experience better.

The gondola spins quite slowly when it rotates both directions, but this was enough to not make you feel dizzy or to pin you against the side of the restraint either. Instead, it was slow enough to offer you some really good airtime when the arm flips you all the way over, especially if you get the right pod at the right time where you can be plummeting straight to the ground looking straight down whilst feeling weightless. Really good moments and a long ride too!

The only downside I can say about this is even though the pods flip you a lot more than Samurai's, the structure in my experience seemed to shake a little too much from side to side, probably due to the counterweight at the top being too light and as a result, my head lightly bashed from side to side a bit a couple of times. It's not like Colossus which violently tries to shake your brain out of your skull level, but instead, it's more Dragon Khan levels of head bashing instead. So if you are trying this, I recommend you rest your head against the right side of the restraint or to get a seat closer to the inside to reduce the amount of force on your head. Apart from that, great flat ride and looks very pretty!
 


• Lisebergbanan (8 / 10)
This was the first ride I went on in the park on my first day as I wanted to leave Helix until later and experience it properly for the first time with a queue instead of walking straight on. I must say, despite it being 30 years old, it kicked one hell of a punch for a family coaster, to the point where I begin to wonder how on earth can they get away with a height restriction this low for it?!

The train seats and restraints are very similar to Olympia Looping and Thunder Looper with just a lap bar in place and no divider in between the two seats, leaving you're entire upper body vulnerable to moving from side to side. It was comfortable enough and the seats were quite low down, so there wasn't any thought of losing your bags placed in-between you legs on the floor.

Once dispatched and getting to the top of the lift hill, the first helix down the hill and over the garden area is a lot, lot faster than any video online YouTube will show you. I had the very back of the train the first time on this and immediately after going down the first drop, I was shocked by how fast this thing goes when the train is full! It really is quite intense for a family coaster and you even get some great airtime at the back too!

Once the first bit is over and you go down and under Uppswinget three times, this is where it really gets fun as you are going what feels like almost 60mph under the tunnels several times over and over again and due to the design of the trains, you're upper body can shake side to side a fair bit when going down the drops and again, this is a family coaster? It seems very fast and intense to be one for me!
 
After that, there's one last small helix around the tree and an airtime hill added before you enter the brakes and I must warn any new riders, if you ever rode the Black Hole when it was at Alton Towers, if you remember the brakes at the end of that, you'll know exactly what these ones are like! They are really very violent and sudden brakes which can lurch you forward in the break run and when you re-enter the station, so my suggestion is when you see the yellow sign saying "Broms" on it, hold the handle bar in front of you and brace you arms ready for impact to stop yourself lurching forwards.

Overall, for a family coaster, this was incredibly surprising for me as it goes a lot faster than it looks, it's long, the restraints are minimal and it has a classic feel to it which reminds me of Nemesis, so it get's a big thumbs up from me.
 


• Balder (8.5 / 10)
Their wooden coaster Balder was another great coaster which reminded me a lot of Megafobia at Oakwood. The trains were comfortable with both a seatbelt and a lap bar restraint holding you in and thankfully unlike Gwazi and Stampida, this was lovely and smooth and didn't feel horribly jerky or rough anywhere on the train.

The lift hill is surprisingly steep for a wooden coaster and for seats like these ones with no back rests, it felt almost as if I was going to fall out backwards if it wasn't for the restraint. When you consider the small space this is located in, it makes sense to have it this steep.

Now onto the ride itself, the back of the train is by far the best place to sit. The number of times you are whipped over all the dozens of airtime hills on this thing is huge and from beginning to end, there is not a single moment to relax or take a breather since the hills get sharper and tighter making up for the loss in height and speed towards the end of the ride.

The addition of the tunnels also made the experience great as one of them was small enough to create a head chopper effect!

It's easy to see why many people regard this as the best wooden coaster they know and it certainly is. The face it's so smooth with airtime after airtime after airtime made this incredibly fun to ride, coupled with the length of the ride makes this a great wooden coaster. For me, it's not quite as good as Megafobia, but it comes close!
 


• Loke (New for 2017) - (9 / 10)
I've always found flat rides which swing like Vortex and Rush to be fun to a certain point until they become repetitive and boring, so I wasn't building any huge expectations for this ride despite the advertising and delayed opening it received. But when seeing it in-person, oh my word, this thing is bloody massive!

Never ever ridden Maelstrom at Drayton Manor before so this was my first Intamin Gyroswing and what made this ride very special for me besides from the size, speed and theming was the design of the restraints and seats. They are very comfy to sit in and they are very similar to the ones you get on The Swarm. Just imagine Swarm's restraints but without the foam vest holding your chest. That's Loke's seats in a nutshell. The thin metal bars which are there to lower the restraint across your waist were widely spaced and positioned quite far back, so when you fasten the restraint using a seatbelt similar to Stealth/Rita, there is nothing in the field of view from where you are sitting. This in effect made you feel extremely vulnerable and reminded me a lot like Rush with just a lap bar holding you in, only this time, the seats are much comfier and aren't deep this time. Heck, they're similar seats to Nemesis to give you an idea, so imagine Nemesis' seats with just a lap bar. That's the best way I can describe them.

Once the floor lowers and the thumping bass from the soundtrack filling the ride starts up, it begins to swing higher and higher very quickly and the speed of the spinning gondola is not too fast to make you feel dizzy, it's just about right and it also gives you the chance to get multiple angles whilst in the air at maximum height too.

Once it picks up speed and reaches it's full height, it doesn't matter which direction or angle you are at, this ride is epic! The sheer speed you are travelling when it swings downwards is faster than Rush and the weightlessness feeling you get when falling back down again is forceful and offers some brilliant views when you're looking straight down. Plus, the close proximity between you and Balder makes this even better. When looking down, you are either staring directly over Balder's structure and the people below, or the nearby river directly over the water. In total, you get about 8-9 full swings before it begins to slow down and lower again.

It's quite a claim to make, but I consider this to be the best flat ride ever built that I have ridden. The size and speed of this monster is what sells it and the comfort and lack thereof of restraints holding you in makes you feel incredibly vulnerable and doesn't distract you when swinging. In addition, the paint work and theming of this ride looks very nice during the day and night and the soundtrack played with the thumping bass from the speakers really build up a huge anticipation when waiting.

Thorpe Park or Alton Towers seriously need one of these rides at their parks with the same restraints, capacity, height and speed, because this beats the living hell out of Vortex and Rush combined in my opinion. It truly is a superb flat ride and is my favourite one out there right now as a result!
 


• Helix (9.5 / 10)
And yes, as expected, Helix is my number one ride at the park and indeed as mentioned at the beginning of the review, my new personal favourite coaster. Never before have I been left speechless by a coaster after trying it the first time and Helix was the first to deliver. What a magnificent coaster Liseberg have here. 26 rides later in 2 days and it's still brilliant every time.

From the beginning of the experience to entering the queue line, you are instantly transported from the dull innards of the dome to a futuristic, modern and cool looking maze of stairs, platforms and metal walls and mechanics lying around everywhere in the queue line, all lit up in bright neon green lights on the walls, flooring, rock work and ceiling. This coupled with the soundtrack which was blasting though about 30 Bose speakers in all of the queue line in perfect synchronisation gave me goosebumps the first time entering this area. It sounds and looks visually impressive in the queue and the maze of stairs and platforms getting you ever closer to the station builds up some huge anticipation and excitement.

Whilst queueing, you can see various windows looking through the walls of the station and underneath, you are able to see a sneak of the brakes, wheels and trains passing over the track entering the station ready for the next batch of people to board the train. In addition, once directly underneath the platform, you can see how the platform gates work with the mechanics underneath the flooring where every minute or so, the bars move in perfect synchronisation which in effect opens and closes the gates. Nice thing to see whilst waiting (not that there was much of a queue!) as I've always wondered how they work.

When the queue got bigger during the day, I eventually stopped to watch the TV screens and noticed you can download an app on your smartphone which is a game for the ride where you in synchronisation with other guests can play these mini games to gain points and whichever player every 15 minutes get the highest score, they get a free Fastpass for Helix presumably. I tried multiple times to win but only managed to get as high as number 4 on the leaderboard, mostly due to the fact the app was all in Swedish with no English option making me guess how you play each game by improvising.

Once you go up the stairs into the station, you are free to choose any row of seats you want and you are not allocated them by a member of staff. I was so glad this was the case as I wanted front row on my first ride, which I did. The trains themselves look stunning, especially when it gets dark. The fact all the seats underneath are lit up in green and the front of all three trains and along both sides have these very bright white lights made it looks visually stunning at night as it whizzed round the track. Plus, they looked nice and fresh with a shiny gloss finish added, making them look as though they are still brand new.

The seats themselves are extremely comfortable to sit in. The lap bar that lowers down is nice and tight and moulds perfectly to your body. There are also grooves on either side if the bar allowing you to rest you arms on when grabbing the handles and the design of the back rest made it comfortable to rest my shoulders into. Plus, despite it being a floored train, the seats are high enough for your legs to dangle allowing you to move them freely as you wish. The difference these restraints make to this ride in comparison to a traditional shoulder restraint are huge and make everything so much more fun.

Now onto the ride experience itself, the experience offered is unparalleled to anything else I know. The experience is so smooth from beginning to end, the two launches are lovely and smooth too with no extreme forces exerted on you body and each and every element assembles beautifully together. This is a ride where it gets more and more extreme as you go round as each inversion become tighter, the speed of the trains get faster, the drops become larger and the twists and turns become more and more forceful.

The airtime on this thing can be shocking if you get the two very back seats and it's obvious to me now why there's a minimum height restriction of 1.5m for these seats. The airtime over the hill straight after the second launch and top hat at the back of the train is so strong and forceful that it pins your thighs to the restraint almost painfully for a brief second. It's that good!

The interaction the track has with it's surroundings is mastered perfectly and you can tell the designers of this ride have really thought this through and been clever at making the most of the surroundings they have. The fact it snugs so closely to the ground at various points makes the experience really quite intense, especially the helix just before the second launch which throws you straight into your seat thanks to the extreme forces.

One of the concerns I had been hearing from a few people was this ride was not fast enough and didn't have forces that were extreme enough. In my experience, the speed of this ride is perfectly fine and is fast enough for me to enjoy going on again and again and surprisingly, despite this having 7 inversions, I didn't feel sick or dizzy at all when riding it several times in a row unlike Colossus, Smiler and even Nemesis. Helix even reminded me a lot of Nemesis as it constantly has speed and force from beginning to end and never seems to slow down, and this certainly matched Nemesis in terms of the pacing.

If I were to find any criticism of Helix, that would be the lack of on-board speakers used in the trains because the grills have been installed but no audio is played through them. If they can add music similar to Blue Fire from what I've seen, this could make the experience even more exciting for guests. And another criticism I have is when you leave the station into the first inversion, I find the train vibrates a bit too much where you can feel and even hear it. That is literally all I can think of!
 


I would usually supply lots of images of it in action, but I thought making a video would be better, so here it is:
 

So to finalise my review of Liseberg and, if you are visiting for the first time and considering it, do it. The park has great opening times during summer between 11am -10/11pm at the weekends, all the other rides like Kallerado (better river rapids ride than Alton's one), FlumeRide, Hanghai are lots of fun and the atmosphere is very friendly and relaxed. For me, Helix alone is worth the journey and it will be a firm favourite if you ever get the chance to ride it, so make sure when you visit, you ride it.

I myself have have an awesome time visiting both Gothenburg city & Liseberg, and this park is certainly one to keep your eyes on for the future since every year they are currently relentlessly installing more and more exciting and great rides, which reminds me a lot of Thorpe's days in the mid-2000's. In particular, Valkyria looks to be an excellent dive coaster when planned to be opened in April 2018, which is a great reason to visit again. It's very likely I will be visiting this park on a frequent/yearly basis now as they have some truly kick-ass rides for a park that is not on the scale of other European theme parks, so my next visit will likely be April/May 2018.

Here's a full record of all the 230+ photos and videos I took whilst I was there if you're interested in having a look:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3MFeYFbViDuREFNOV9rRDdUNVE

Liseberg - (8 / 10)

So if you have seen me around the forums, you'll probably know I have a slight obsession with Europa Park.
Today I'll be going over my sexual fetish over this theme park, and just why I love this place.
Get your drugs and your overpriced coffee ready, and enjoy!

Operations:
Europa Park is pretty **** with its operations.
3 trains on a B&M, 3 on a GCI, 4-5ish on Euromir/Bluefire, and insanely quick dispatches.
Like, 1 train operations is the way to go!
Even worse, I didn't witness a single breakdown in my 3 days there..
Like I didn't even get to go to guest services to complain.

Theming:
Okay sarcasm aside, Europa Park is quite well known for its insanely good theming.
The park really go above and beyond with theming.
Things like themed toliets, or that satellite thing-y near Euro-Mir really show how much effort goes into theming their rides
Now in terms of standouts, the French, Greek, and Arthur areas all standout for me, but quite honestly, the whole park is beautiful.

The rides.. Yes, its a theme park:
So as well as Europa's flawless theming and operations, their ride collection is also obviously quite strong.
Standouts for me are obviously Blue Fire, Wodan, and Arthur, but their is so many little gems around the park that are worth mentioning.
Even some of the cookie cutter rides you see at every park standout at Europa- like Fjord Rafting, which is nicely themed and a near flawless rapids that left me lovely and wet..
Others worth noting is their Mine Train- which has a super awesome diamond cave section, and The Arena Of Football, which is a super fun twist on the super standard bumper cars.

Shows:
Shows in Theme Parks are something that are IMO criminally underated.
Shows can really break up a day, and who doesn't like a bit of live entertainment?
The Standout to me had to be their Ice Show, which was incredibly fun and campy.
Also some male eye candy in there.. Not gonna lie.

Overall:
all in all- Europa Park remains a flawlessly ran park that also looks beautiful.
As well as this, they also have a strong lineup of rides like Arthur, Blue Fire, and Wodan.
The park is easily one of the best parks in the world.
Anyway thanks for reading.. here's a orgasmic picture of Euro-Mir taken by a sexy friend of mine..
(his name is josh)

So if you have seen me around the forums, you'll probably know I have a slight obsession with Europa Park.
Today I'll be going over my sexual fetish over this theme park, and just why I love this place.
Get your drugs and your overpriced coffee ready, and enjoy!

Operations:
Europa Park is pretty **** with its operations.
3 trains on a B&M, 3 on a GCI, 4-5ish on Euromir/Bluefire, and insanely quick dispatches.
Like, 1 train operations is the way to go!
Even worse, I didn't witness a single breakdown in my 3 days there..
Like I didn't even get to go to guest services to complain.

Theming:
Okay sarcasm aside, Europa Park is quite well known for its insanely good theming.
The park really go above and beyond with theming.
Things like themed toliets, or that satellite thing-y near Euro-Mir really show how much effort goes into theming their rides
Now in terms of standouts, the French, Greek, and Arthur areas all standout for me, but quite honestly, the whole park is beautiful.

The rides.. Yes, its a theme park:
So as well as Europa's flawless theming and operations, their ride collection is also obviously quite strong.
Standouts for me are obviously Blue Fire, Wodan, and Arthur, but their is so many little gems around the park that are worth mentioning.
Even some of the cookie cutter rides you see at every park standout at Europa- like Fjord Rafting, which is nicely themed and a near flawless rapids that left me lovely and wet..
Others worth noting is their Mine Train- which has a super awesome diamond cave section, and The Arena Of Football, which is a super fun twist on the super standard bumper cars.

Shows:
Shows in Theme Parks are something that are IMO criminally underated.
Shows can really break up a day, and who doesn't like a bit of live entertainment?
The Standout to me had to be their Ice Show, which was incredibly fun and campy.
Also some male eye candy in there.. Not gonna lie.

Overall:
all in all- Europa Park remains a flawlessly ran park that also looks beautiful.
As well as this, they also have a strong lineup of rides like Arthur, Blue Fire, and Wodan.
The park is easily one of the best parks in the world.
Anyway thanks for reading.. here's a orgasmic picture of Euro-Mir taken by a sexy friend of mine..
(his name is josh)

I'm not one for creating huge blogs so...
 
Just got back from my second visit to Europa having been five years ago, and think I enjoyed it even more. This is truly a wonderful place and hope to be back sooner than five years.

As you'd expect, all rides working, no breakdowns, high capacity, friendly staff, good food (and too much choice).
 
Got on many rides and the longest queue was 25 mins for Matterhorn Blitz, everything else around the 10-15 mins mark. Sunday park open till 7:30 and Tuesday on our second day open until 9:00.
 
Was fantastic to twice see engineers working on animatronics, proving they truly do keep everything going, unlike some places we all know a bit too well 
 
I really recommend visiting the Silver Lake Saloon for dinner if anyone visits the park and stays nearby. Great food and great surroundings. Just a few pics...

I know it’s been a silly amount of time since I started this, let's wrap it up. The wait has been because sadly my old laptop has died, taking my photos with it until I work out how to rescue them, so shiny new laptop is good for me and means I can finally write this, but a text only end to this is less good for you, dear reader...
 
My only other experience of a Mack spinner is Sierra Sidewinder at Knotts, which is such a pathetic sucky excuse for coaster I wasn't expecting anything from Euro Mir, but it's ace! The lifthill of forever gives some good fun rave times, the first half of the coaster section with the slow spinning I found strangely unnerving because of the height and feeling of hanging over the edge of the track, and the second half so unexpectedly intense it shocked me. I love spinners in general, and this is one of the best. 9/10.
 
The other big old coaster I was less of a fan of, it's just so uncomfortable in there. Euro Sat I can only assume is themed to replicate the inside of an oven, the slow climb steadily reaching into hotter and hotter air until just when I thought I could take it no more it slams you through its manoeuvres relentlessly until it smashes to an end on brakes, which feel like a lump of concrete has been left on the tracks. I don't know at what temperature steel melts, but I was fully expecting the track to fold away from underneath me like plasticine at any moment. I can appreciate the craziness, but it's just a little too chaotic for me. 7/10
 
Then we come to the two newest coasters at the back of the park in Blue Fire and Woodan, and they both blew me away. Woodan is rough enough to know it's wood, smooth enough to be enjoyable for everyone. It flies though the course throwing little nuggets of airtime at you over and over, doing nothing too extreme to offend, but never being dull for a moment. It is perfectly executed from the first step into the queueline until it slides back into the station. Except maybe that adverse camber turn into the lifthill - that freaked me the hell out. Blue Fire I'd probably rate as the best in the park. My first Mack launch, and they clearly should be everywhere. The launch smooth and powerful with the train seeming to crackle down the track and the layout fantastic; probably the best series of inversions on any coaster anywhere, especially the last one where the train seems to disappear from beneath you mid inversion. And it's all made so enjoyable by the comfort and freedom of the restraints. Both a solid 10/10.
 
The place is so huge I could write for pages and pages (I know, I already have!), even on just the outstanding bits, which are many. But I won’t, so just to cover a few bits which stand out in my memory…
- Arthur (or '**** ***** *****, the ride' as we called it owing to the slightly lively lyrics for a children's ride) is an odd one. We really enjoyed it and the theming is well done, but as an advert for the ride from Mack it seems to be a bit of a shocker with loads of downtime, seats out of action all over the place and a locker room of faff which just does not work. The queue was always slow, long, hot and tiresome, which obviously stands out a mile in a park so obsessed with efficiency. It’s decent enough when you’re on it though. They’ve also taken the two best kiddie rides from Holiday Park with the drop towers and bouncy roundabout thing, which is a nice support selection.
- Pirates of Somewhere other than the Caribbean was a blast, really well done, and the second visit to the Wicked Witches clamshells of my youth were vastly superior to the previous encounter on this trip, even if a hanging is a bit strong! Other than that though I think the other dark rides slightly let the park down, with the already mentioned Cassandra, the dinosaur ride being dull and tired, the shooter very forgettable, and the Bench Christmas thing sitting uncomfortably close to embarrassing even if it does just about manage a little hint of charming.
- You can really see and feel the quality in the upkeep and theming of Europa on rides with direct UK comparisons; the teacups glide fast and effortlessly, the pirate ship looks like it was built yesterday, the seastorm boats in a room of effects. It’s all like new.
 
- The rest of everything is pretty much all fantastic; I'm particularly fond of a bobsled and this ones great, the logflume/coaster diamond mine interaction, unexpected things to stumble upon like the crown jewels thing, the food being so authentic to the areas, food loop, beer everywhere, stunning extravagant shows, happy enthusiastic staff, wonderful hotel facilities open to all. I could go on for ever more.

 
Everyone said 2 days wouldn't be enough. They were right. I'm not sure two weeks would be enough, I don't think I could ever get enough. Nowhere is without its faults, but Europa has instantly become my favorite theme park in the world. I feel like I've visited at the right time too; the two newest coasters really round off a hell of a collection, and unfortunately I'm not particularly interested in project V. So for now I've had my fix. As we sat with our cocktails under the dancing fountains of Bell Rock on our last night we decided that we most certainly will be back...
 

 
 
TLDR - The message is Go to Europa Park!
 
 
 

The dreaded closed season. A time when the ride games return, the silly season occurs with people making the same jokes about Colossus being repainted or Rumba being rethemed. Just be glad the Intamin aquatrax joke hasn't reared its ugly head. I like to think of closed season as a time of opportunity, a start of planning trips for 2017 and I thought I'd just put together a few blogs to maybe, inspire.
 
Denmark.
A road trip around Denmark is surprisingly easy. Start your trip in Copenhagen which features Tivoli Gardens and easy access to the rest of Denmark follows. Along the way you can discover the fantastic Djurs Sommerland, the original Legoland and Farup Sommerland. If you so desire, visit Bakken which is easily my least favourite park in the whole of Europe.
 
Djors Summerland 
 
A park with two of my absolute favourite Intamin rollercoasters, this relatively small park in Denmark is a must visit. Along the way discover a topple-tower, a Gerstlauer bobsled and with a new rollercoaster in 2017, it's sure worth a visit.
 
Piraten

This fantastic Intamin mega-lite is a wonderful example of how you don't need to top 250 feet to be a decent rollercoaster. This air-time machine is genuinely one of Europes best rollercoasters. It warms up too an irresistible level the more it runs and must be ridden.
 
Juvelen

I have a lot of love for Juvelen. It was an absolute surprise on my visit From its twisty layout and head-choppers to the unexpected force of its second launch, it's a wonderful example of how a family rollercoaster can deliver so much more then just another thrill ride.
 
Tivoli Gardens
 
The thing with the Gardens is emphasis on wide open spaces and the beautiful scenery. Admittedly I visited in torrential rain but this doesn't dampen spirits.
 
Dæmonen

This tiny B&M is shoe-horned into the gardens and yet still packs a punch. Featuring three inversions, it is also one of B&M's shortest. It looks beautiful at night and with it's two train operation, queues are kept to a minimum. A sure-fire favourite.
 
Farop Sommerland
Towards the end of our trip, the final park was Farup which features a Gerstlauer launch coaster which despite some jerky moments, was a hit. The wooden rollercoaster Falken was also a hit, despite its slight oddness.
 
Lynet

 
Falken

 
I heartily recommend a trip to Denmark. Not only do you get some fantastic rollercoasters, you visit a culturally rich country with beautiful scenery (and beautiful men and women) as well as a country that truly caters for everyone. Whilst a trip here can be expensive, planning ahead and accordingly can really save you money. 
 
Thanks for taking a look, next time, the very exciting Italy.

Hi one and all, I am just a lurker here really so you probably haven't seen me around before.  I've recently returned from a trip I took to Phantasialand and have alot to share.   It doesn't take much to make an impression to me, and I feel like the impression Phantasialand makes is incomparable.     I hope, that it pretty quickly displays why it's my favourite park in the world.   I'm not one for just concrete and thrills. The immersion this place delivers is un matched by anything I've experienced or seen.   Everything feels so genuine and real.   I'm gonna stop blabbing on and let the pictures do the talking for a bit.          
  The park is breath taking. Unlike my home nations parks which seem to be descending steeply into decline, phantasia is maintained and propelled fantastically, with the recent addition of taron.   The ride itself is very mediocre. The ride has some insane ejector, but that's it.   It is one of the most unique steel's I've ridden, only comparable to woodies for me.   I love Phantasialand because they openly admit they embody their rides into areas. They design the ride with the area in mind, not the other way round.    There's no way the park would work if they worked the same way everyone else does. Their back to front attitude leads to some seriously immersive and breath taking theming.   The reason why I love this park so much is because each area takes you 1000's of miles across the planet within the space of metres, and it does it convincingly too.   This is my favourite theme park in the world, simply because it removes you from just that. It makes you a time & space traveller, like no where else can.   ]
thanks for reading (PS, my photo's don't do it justice. YOU HAVE TO VISIT!)

So to start the blog off, here's a joke
The Conservative Party
Anyway its sadly nearly Halloween, meaning the parks close for off season! 
So I guess its back to rocking back and forward in my room til march..

So I've reviewed a few events over Halloween, so I'm going to do some awards to recap my Halloween Season!
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/812-alton-towers-scarefest-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/808-screamland-margate-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/804-thorpe-park-fright-nights-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/803-tulleys-farm-shocktoberfest-2016-review/
Anyway.. BRING ON THE AWARDS
 
Best Theming/Costume Design
Honourable Mentions- Dead And Breakfast, The Cellar, Altonville Mine Tours
Winner- The Final Cut
What haven't I said about The Final Cut?
The theming is fab throughout, and the Sci-Fi costumes felt very well done.
Especially if you're a film buff like me, its fun seeing all the references to classic Sci-Fi Movies.
 
Most Improved Maze
Honourable Mentions- The Colony
Winner- The Big Top
The Big Top last year was admittedly a plane crash. At first even I didn't want to admit it.
The maze just did not work, the open spaces made scares a tad awkward, and it felt half-finished as well.
This year the maze seems like a whole different attraction, with some changes the maze now sits as one of the best in Thorpe's offering.
The maze itself feels much more frenetic, with the intense strobe section, to the well themed rooms towards the end.
 
Worst Maze
Dishonourable Mentions- Bloody Mirror, The Cabin In The Woods, Hellements, Donald Trump's House Of Horrors
Winner/Loser- Platform 15
After doing some run throughs of it recently, I've came to the conclusion this is the worst of the year..
Whats the point of having a long attraction if nothing happens for 90% of it?
It just drags on, and unlike The Colony for example there's not much to see for most of it..
The ending tunnel takes the cake for being the worst scene, its long, and you'll probably not see a actor!
The theming is OK, but a lot of the attraction is just nothing.. Nothing..
 
Most Original Concept/Theme
Honourable Mentions- Coven Of 13, The Final Cut
Winner- The Paradise Foundation
I love originality in scare attractions, it really sets a attraction apart from the rest, which is what The Paradise Foundation did!
The Paradise Foundation is a gore infested theatrical journey through a controversial surgical clinic.
Basically the idea is that the rich pay for the 'bliss' treatment, which involves the poor being surgically operated on to give there happiness for the rich.
The maze throughout has a lot of gore, including disgustingly disfigured costumes that actors wear.
The maze overall is something quite different to anything else I've done this Halloween.
 
 
Most Intense Maze
Honourable Mentions- The Paradise Foundation, Altonville Mine Tours, Chop Shop
Winner- Sub Species: The End Games 
Sub Species breaks the boundaries of what actors can do in a maze.
I was split up throughout, faced sections of the maze on my own, and was constantly manhandled and pushed by actors.
The maze has a intense crawling scene, periods of complete darkness, and had me on edge throughout.
 
Best Roaming Actors And Atmosphere
Winner- Tulleys Farm Shocktoberfest
The Atmosphere at Tulleys is unmatchable, with a range of brilliant roamers and two music stages, its really brilliant!
 
Best Scare/Halloween Event
Winner- Screamland Margate
This award was very tough to decide.
But I've decided Screamland was my favourite event of the season.
The great atmosphere, the four brilliant mazes, and the heavy load of creativity in the mazes is something special.
 
Anyway thanks for reading me ramble in this blog!
Have a spoopy halloween frens and fellow geeks
What events have you been to this Halloween?

So to start the blog off, here's a joke
The Conservative Party
Anyway its sadly nearly Halloween, meaning the parks close for off season! 
So I guess its back to rocking back and forward in my room til march..

So I've reviewed a few events over Halloween, so I'm going to do some awards to recap my Halloween Season!
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/812-alton-towers-scarefest-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/808-screamland-margate-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/804-thorpe-park-fright-nights-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/803-tulleys-farm-shocktoberfest-2016-review/
Anyway.. BRING ON THE AWARDS
 
Best Theming/Costume Design
Honourable Mentions- Dead And Breakfast, The Cellar, Altonville Mine Tours
Winner- The Final Cut
What haven't I said about The Final Cut?
The theming is fab throughout, and the Sci-Fi costumes felt very well done.
Especially if you're a film buff like me, its fun seeing all the references to classic Sci-Fi Movies.
 
Most Improved Maze
Honourable Mentions- The Colony
Winner- The Big Top
The Big Top last year was admittedly a plane crash. At first even I didn't want to admit it.
The maze just did not work, the open spaces made scares a tad awkward, and it felt half-finished as well.
This year the maze seems like a whole different attraction, with some changes the maze now sits as one of the best in Thorpe's offering.
The maze itself feels much more frenetic, with the intense strobe section, to the well themed rooms towards the end.
 
Worst Maze
Dishonourable Mentions- Bloody Mirror, The Cabin In The Woods, Hellements, Donald Trump's House Of Horrors
Winner/Loser- Platform 15
After doing some run throughs of it recently, I've came to the conclusion this is the worst of the year..
Whats the point of having a long attraction if nothing happens for 90% of it?
It just drags on, and unlike The Colony for example there's not much to see for most of it..
The ending tunnel takes the cake for being the worst scene, its long, and you'll probably not see a actor!
The theming is OK, but a lot of the attraction is just nothing.. Nothing..
 
Most Original Concept/Theme
Honourable Mentions- Coven Of 13, The Final Cut
Winner- The Paradise Foundation
I love originality in scare attractions, it really sets a attraction apart from the rest, which is what The Paradise Foundation did!
The Paradise Foundation is a gore infested theatrical journey through a controversial surgical clinic.
Basically the idea is that the rich pay for the 'bliss' treatment, which involves the poor being surgically operated on to give there happiness for the rich.
The maze throughout has a lot of gore, including disgustingly disfigured costumes that actors wear.
The maze overall is something quite different to anything else I've done this Halloween.
 
 
Most Intense Maze
Honourable Mentions- The Paradise Foundation, Altonville Mine Tours, Chop Shop
Winner- Sub Species: The End Games 
Sub Species breaks the boundaries of what actors can do in a maze.
I was split up throughout, faced sections of the maze on my own, and was constantly manhandled and pushed by actors.
The maze has a intense crawling scene, periods of complete darkness, and had me on edge throughout.
 
Best Roaming Actors And Atmosphere
Winner- Tulleys Farm Shocktoberfest
The Atmosphere at Tulleys is unmatchable, with a range of brilliant roamers and two music stages, its really brilliant!
 
Best Scare/Halloween Event
Winner- Screamland Margate
This award was very tough to decide.
But I've decided Screamland was my favourite event of the season.
The great atmosphere, the four brilliant mazes, and the heavy load of creativity in the mazes is something special.
 
Anyway thanks for reading me ramble in this blog!
Have a spoopy halloween frens and fellow geeks
What events have you been to this Halloween?

So to start the blog off, here's a joke
The Conservative Party
Anyway its sadly nearly Halloween, meaning the parks close for off season! 
So I guess its back to rocking back and forward in my room til march..

So I've reviewed a few events over Halloween, so I'm going to do some awards to recap my Halloween Season!
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/812-alton-towers-scarefest-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/808-screamland-margate-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/804-thorpe-park-fright-nights-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/803-tulleys-farm-shocktoberfest-2016-review/
Anyway.. BRING ON THE AWARDS
 
Best Theming/Costume Design
Honourable Mentions- Dead And Breakfast, The Cellar, Altonville Mine Tours
Winner- The Final Cut
What haven't I said about The Final Cut?
The theming is fab throughout, and the Sci-Fi costumes felt very well done.
Especially if you're a film buff like me, its fun seeing all the references to classic Sci-Fi Movies.
 
Most Improved Maze
Honourable Mentions- The Colony
Winner- The Big Top
The Big Top last year was admittedly a plane crash. At first even I didn't want to admit it.
The maze just did not work, the open spaces made scares a tad awkward, and it felt half-finished as well.
This year the maze seems like a whole different attraction, with some changes the maze now sits as one of the best in Thorpe's offering.
The maze itself feels much more frenetic, with the intense strobe section, to the well themed rooms towards the end.
 
Worst Maze
Dishonourable Mentions- Bloody Mirror, The Cabin In The Woods, Hellements, Donald Trump's House Of Horrors
Winner/Loser- Platform 15
After doing some run throughs of it recently, I've came to the conclusion this is the worst of the year..
Whats the point of having a long attraction if nothing happens for 90% of it?
It just drags on, and unlike The Colony for example there's not much to see for most of it..
The ending tunnel takes the cake for being the worst scene, its long, and you'll probably not see a actor!
The theming is OK, but a lot of the attraction is just nothing.. Nothing..
 
Most Original Concept/Theme
Honourable Mentions- Coven Of 13, The Final Cut
Winner- The Paradise Foundation
I love originality in scare attractions, it really sets a attraction apart from the rest, which is what The Paradise Foundation did!
The Paradise Foundation is a gore infested theatrical journey through a controversial surgical clinic.
Basically the idea is that the rich pay for the 'bliss' treatment, which involves the poor being surgically operated on to give there happiness for the rich.
The maze throughout has a lot of gore, including disgustingly disfigured costumes that actors wear.
The maze overall is something quite different to anything else I've done this Halloween.
 
 
Most Intense Maze
Honourable Mentions- The Paradise Foundation, Altonville Mine Tours, Chop Shop
Winner- Sub Species: The End Games 
Sub Species breaks the boundaries of what actors can do in a maze.
I was split up throughout, faced sections of the maze on my own, and was constantly manhandled and pushed by actors.
The maze has a intense crawling scene, periods of complete darkness, and had me on edge throughout.
 
Best Roaming Actors And Atmosphere
Winner- Tulleys Farm Shocktoberfest
The Atmosphere at Tulleys is unmatchable, with a range of brilliant roamers and two music stages, its really brilliant!
 
Best Scare/Halloween Event
Winner- Screamland Margate
This award was very tough to decide.
But I've decided Screamland was my favourite event of the season.
The great atmosphere, the four brilliant mazes, and the heavy load of creativity in the mazes is something special.
 
Anyway thanks for reading me ramble in this blog!
Have a spoopy halloween frens and fellow geeks
What events have you been to this Halloween?

So to start the blog off, here's a joke
The Conservative Party
Anyway its sadly nearly Halloween, meaning the parks close for off season! 
So I guess its back to rocking back and forward in my room til march..

So I've reviewed a few events over Halloween, so I'm going to do some awards to recap my Halloween Season!
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/812-alton-towers-scarefest-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/808-screamland-margate-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/804-thorpe-park-fright-nights-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/803-tulleys-farm-shocktoberfest-2016-review/
Anyway.. BRING ON THE AWARDS
 
Best Theming/Costume Design
Honourable Mentions- Dead And Breakfast, The Cellar, Altonville Mine Tours
Winner- The Final Cut
What haven't I said about The Final Cut?
The theming is fab throughout, and the Sci-Fi costumes felt very well done.
Especially if you're a film buff like me, its fun seeing all the references to classic Sci-Fi Movies.
 
Most Improved Maze
Honourable Mentions- The Colony
Winner- The Big Top
The Big Top last year was admittedly a plane crash. At first even I didn't want to admit it.
The maze just did not work, the open spaces made scares a tad awkward, and it felt half-finished as well.
This year the maze seems like a whole different attraction, with some changes the maze now sits as one of the best in Thorpe's offering.
The maze itself feels much more frenetic, with the intense strobe section, to the well themed rooms towards the end.
 
Worst Maze
Dishonourable Mentions- Bloody Mirror, The Cabin In The Woods, Hellements, Donald Trump's House Of Horrors
Winner/Loser- Platform 15
After doing some run throughs of it recently, I've came to the conclusion this is the worst of the year..
Whats the point of having a long attraction if nothing happens for 90% of it?
It just drags on, and unlike The Colony for example there's not much to see for most of it..
The ending tunnel takes the cake for being the worst scene, its long, and you'll probably not see a actor!
The theming is OK, but a lot of the attraction is just nothing.. Nothing..
 
Most Original Concept/Theme
Honourable Mentions- Coven Of 13, The Final Cut
Winner- The Paradise Foundation
I love originality in scare attractions, it really sets a attraction apart from the rest, which is what The Paradise Foundation did!
The Paradise Foundation is a gore infested theatrical journey through a controversial surgical clinic.
Basically the idea is that the rich pay for the 'bliss' treatment, which involves the poor being surgically operated on to give there happiness for the rich.
The maze throughout has a lot of gore, including disgustingly disfigured costumes that actors wear.
The maze overall is something quite different to anything else I've done this Halloween.
 
 
Most Intense Maze
Honourable Mentions- The Paradise Foundation, Altonville Mine Tours, Chop Shop
Winner- Sub Species: The End Games 
Sub Species breaks the boundaries of what actors can do in a maze.
I was split up throughout, faced sections of the maze on my own, and was constantly manhandled and pushed by actors.
The maze has a intense crawling scene, periods of complete darkness, and had me on edge throughout.
 
Best Roaming Actors And Atmosphere
Winner- Tulleys Farm Shocktoberfest
The Atmosphere at Tulleys is unmatchable, with a range of brilliant roamers and two music stages, its really brilliant!
 
Best Scare/Halloween Event
Winner- Screamland Margate
This award was very tough to decide.
But I've decided Screamland was my favourite event of the season.
The great atmosphere, the four brilliant mazes, and the heavy load of creativity in the mazes is something special.
 
Anyway thanks for reading me ramble in this blog!
Have a spoopy halloween frens and fellow geeks
What events have you been to this Halloween?

So to start the blog off, here's a joke
The Conservative Party
Anyway its sadly nearly Halloween, meaning the parks close for off season! 
So I guess its back to rocking back and forward in my room til march..

So I've reviewed a few events over Halloween, so I'm going to do some awards to recap my Halloween Season!
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/812-alton-towers-scarefest-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/808-screamland-margate-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/804-thorpe-park-fright-nights-2016-review/
http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/803-tulleys-farm-shocktoberfest-2016-review/
Anyway.. BRING ON THE AWARDS
 
Best Theming/Costume Design
Honourable Mentions- Dead And Breakfast, The Cellar, Altonville Mine Tours
Winner- The Final Cut
What haven't I said about The Final Cut?
The theming is fab throughout, and the Sci-Fi costumes felt very well done.
Especially if you're a film buff like me, its fun seeing all the references to classic Sci-Fi Movies.
 
Most Improved Maze
Honourable Mentions- The Colony
Winner- The Big Top
The Big Top last year was admittedly a plane crash. At first even I didn't want to admit it.
The maze just did not work, the open spaces made scares a tad awkward, and it felt half-finished as well.
This year the maze seems like a whole different attraction, with some changes the maze now sits as one of the best in Thorpe's offering.
The maze itself feels much more frenetic, with the intense strobe section, to the well themed rooms towards the end.
 
Worst Maze
Dishonourable Mentions- Bloody Mirror, The Cabin In The Woods, Hellements, Donald Trump's House Of Horrors
Winner/Loser- Platform 15
After doing some run throughs of it recently, I've came to the conclusion this is the worst of the year..
Whats the point of having a long attraction if nothing happens for 90% of it?
It just drags on, and unlike The Colony for example there's not much to see for most of it..
The ending tunnel takes the cake for being the worst scene, its long, and you'll probably not see a actor!
The theming is OK, but a lot of the attraction is just nothing.. Nothing..
 
Most Original Concept/Theme
Honourable Mentions- Coven Of 13, The Final Cut
Winner- The Paradise Foundation
I love originality in scare attractions, it really sets a attraction apart from the rest, which is what The Paradise Foundation did!
The Paradise Foundation is a gore infested theatrical journey through a controversial surgical clinic.
Basically the idea is that the rich pay for the 'bliss' treatment, which involves the poor being surgically operated on to give there happiness for the rich.
The maze throughout has a lot of gore, including disgustingly disfigured costumes that actors wear.
The maze overall is something quite different to anything else I've done this Halloween.
 
 
Most Intense Maze
Honourable Mentions- The Paradise Foundation, Altonville Mine Tours, Chop Shop
Winner- Sub Species: The End Games 
Sub Species breaks the boundaries of what actors can do in a maze.
I was split up throughout, faced sections of the maze on my own, and was constantly manhandled and pushed by actors.
The maze has a intense crawling scene, periods of complete darkness, and had me on edge throughout.
 
Best Roaming Actors And Atmosphere
Winner- Tulleys Farm Shocktoberfest
The Atmosphere at Tulleys is unmatchable, with a range of brilliant roamers and two music stages, its really brilliant!
 
Best Scare/Halloween Event
Winner- Screamland Margate
This award was very tough to decide.
But I've decided Screamland was my favourite event of the season.
The great atmosphere, the four brilliant mazes, and the heavy load of creativity in the mazes is something special.
 
Anyway thanks for reading me ramble in this blog!
Have a spoopy halloween frens and fellow geeks
What events have you been to this Halloween?

This Blog Will Contain Spoilers And Sarcasm you've been warned!
So back in 2015 Scarefest really got a kick up the arse!
Scarefest has created some of the best scare attractions in the industry, but back in 2013/2014 the quality of the mazes where really plummeting..
Thankfully last year was one of the best years in Scarefests history, so I was itching to get back!
So after a grueling 4 hour drive, a fun M1 Traffifc jam, and a posh meal at Mcdonalds, I was there!
FYI I can't review House Of Monsters as I'm not a f*cking billionaire, hence why I purchased a meal from scrubby Mcdonalds..
 
Terror of the Towers: What Lies Within
TOTT returns, and it feels a lot toned down from last year.
Last year TOTT was actually quite brilliant, actors where crawling from everywhere..
This year seems to have some scenes cut as well, making the maze not as long as it used to be..
No don't get me wrong even with scenes cut its still pretty long, its well themed, and actors got a lot of scares.
But overall TOTT is starting to get stale, I think a new story/replacement is in dire need, TOTT has long outstayed its welcome TBH-4.5/10

Altonville Mine Tours
Altonville Mine Tours is new for this year, and I gotta say, I was highly impressed.
The beginning involved some talking scenes with some great actors, they really got up in your face, and set the scene for the main maze.
First off the theming was brilliant, the smell pods also seemed to be a little too strong as well!
The attraction also made use of the Haunted Lantern technology, which they handed at the start of the attraction.
The Helmets themselves where a nice novelty, the attraction didn't rely on them, but they where a nice touch.
The scares inside where pretty strong, the masks looked pretty freaky, and the actors where not afraid to manhandle you!
The touching was not as strong as Sub Species, but it was still pretty intense!
My only criticism is that the finale wasn't as strong as it couldn't of been, mainly as the first half is so chaotic!
All in all- Altonville Mine Tours is a strong addition to the lineup-9/10
 
Sub Species: The End Games
Sub Species returns relatively similar to last year, but in Sub Species case, its a GOOD thing!
Sub Species really pushes the boundaries on what actors can do, I was pushed, I was grabbed, I even faced the second half of the maze alone!
The maze section in particular was a highlight, it wasn't ME who was choosing which way to go, it was a actor pushing me that way!
The maze seemed to be actors a-plenty, and at points they even worked together to corner people or separate groups!
The touching was insane, it wasn't a little grab, it was full on push from room to room!
The chainsaw ending is cliché, but it was effective and left our group running!
Sub Species is IMO the best maze in a Merlin park for a while, and the scariest maze I've done this Halloween!
My run through was utter insanity, this is by far one of the best scare attractions I've done this year -10/10
 
Scarezones
Even though the new scarezones are constantly compared to the old ones, I do really like how Alton
are trying to do proper scarezones like they do in the US.
Yes the old ones where better, but there where akin to mini mazes, not proper scarezones TBH.
Freakshow was a vast improvement from last years Nox Infernus, the zone was pretty tight, meaning the actors where pretty interactive.
I liked the circus-y type props around the zone, though the zone felt more fun than scary.
The freaks where more making us laugh more than scaring us, but the zone was still really good fun!
I sadly didn't get to experience Dark Apocalypse, but it looked pretty good!
 
As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't bothered to cough up a fiver for House Of Monsters, but it looked pretty good, and most reviews of it are positive.
 
Conclusion:
Scarefest was a pretty good event this year, most of the mazes where really strong, and the scarezones and family entertainment really do shape up a well rounded event.
 
Anyway, here's some crappy pictures taken by yours truly..

Nemmy 

Selfie in Freakshow 

More Freakshow

 
I'll leave you on this note..
Smile. Always..

 

This Blog Contains Minor Spoilers*
 
Screamland is a upcoming giant in the scare industry, and last year received rave reviews from scare veterans and the GP alike.
I personally have never been to Margate, so my whole night was a complete 'new experience' to me..Yup 
Especially the completely rundown city of Margate, and some "interesting" graffiti on some of the walls..
Anyway the event was a grueling Hour and a half drive, so was it worth it?
In short, yes..
Screamland was one of the best halloween events I've ever experienced, I'm not easily scared, but the event caught me off guard with some of the most
creative scares I've ever seen in a maze.
 
Bloody Mirror

Bloody Mirror was the parks mirror maze with a few actors..
Overall it was the shortest/weakest at the event, but it was fun for what audience it was aiming for.
I was a tad disappointed TBH, but the attraction is more of a good start to the event than anything else -3/10 or 100/10 if you have a big ego 
 
The Paradise Foundation
 
TBH this mazes concept and theme disturbed me before even entering the attraction!
Overall The Paradise Foundation is a well themed, theatrical, and terrifying experience!
First positive would have to be the actors hiding spaces, they really came from everywhere.
The maze itself is very disturbing, with a lot of the actors looking disfigured and the sets full of gore.
I'm not easily grossed out but some of the actors costumes where quite disgusting, in a good way!
My only negative comment I'd say about the attraction is the ending, its a cool concept but not effective as it could of been!
All in all- The Paradise Foundation was a brilliant maze which had our group on edge throughout the experience-9/10
 
The Final Cut Presents..They Came From Outer Space

The Final Cut was what I'd call perfection..
The concept was so brilliant, and so brilliantly executed.
The first half is reminiscent of a theatre, with popcorn being thrown everywhere!
The use of a inflatables was genius with the transition into the movies, and once into the film
The Final Cut goes crazy from that point on!
The maze has plenty of scenes involving Sci-Fi classics which where
both funny and scary in equal measures!
If that wasn't enough awesomeness for you.. I present the ending!
The ending involved a scary alien and a girl with a gun!
The ending was loud, unique, and left our group desperate for the exit-10/10
 
Dead And Breakfast- Murder Hotel

Dead And Breakfast starts right after the awesomeness of The Final Cut, And oh god was the first half brilliant.
Fag Ash Lil had our group in stitches with her fast-witted insults, She even called me a slag!
Once inside your chased by Lil's new man, who has a taste for flesh!
The maze had some beautiful sets, as well as some good theatrical scares making use of the brilliant theming that immerses you in.
Lil's new man seemed to be everywhere, and caused a threat throughout the attraction.
The attraction's finale was also pretty good, and was a good ending to a great maze-9/10
 
Festino's Forgotten Funhouse

I've experienced some great Clown/Circus themed mazes this Halloween, but Festino has to be the best clown maze I've ever experienced.
The creativity on this one was insane.
The hiding spaces for actors where very creative, and at points you see a prop, next minute that prop would start moving to realise its a actor!
The attraction's first half is very trippy and full of unique scares, and the second half was surprisingly theatrical!
To meeting a knife thrower to a Bearded lady was pretty fun!
The ending slightly disappointed me, mainly due to the absence of Pearlywhite!
But three actors with chainsaws held our group hostage in a cage for a few minutes, which made up for it!
The maze itself though was more fun than scary, but the maze's creative scares and scenes make up for that-8/10
 
Atmosphere/Roamer Actors
Overall the roamers where pretty great.
They weren't no Tulleys level, but I had some fun interaction with them.
Though the atmosphere was buzzing-8/10
 
Conclusion:
 
Screamland is a event which I recommend to anyone who likes scare attractions.
The event is nothing short of brilliant, and even though Scenic was unfortunately closed, I still had a blast!
 

(THIS BLOG WILL CONTAIN MILD SPOILERS)
So Fright Nights returns for its fifteenth year!
Overall this year the event was somewhat of a mixed bag.
One thing to note is some of the park-wide theming!
Fright Nights in previous years have not bothered with theming, but this year
they seemed to make some effort which is nice.
 
The Big Top
The Big Top has been completely changed this year, and was way better than last year!
The maze is everything it should have been last year, its fast, its frenetic, and its pretty fun!
The strobe maze in particular was very confusing,  leaving our group doing circles for a while.
Though the maze was a little light on actors at points, and in some sections a bit of light from outside the tent was let in.
The Big Top like other clown mazes may not be the scariest, but they sure are fun and confusing at the same time-7/10
 
Platform 15

Being new for this year, Platform had a lot to live up to.
After going through, the maze was IMO a mixed bag if I'd seen one.
Now the first half was brilliant, the scripted beginning to actors giving some pretty good scares in the open spaces.
Some sections where a little to wide, but actors towards the first half where giving some pretty great scares.
Now the tunnel finale was a different story..  Most of the tunnel was spent doing nothing, making a decent portion of the maze boring..
The finale at the end of the tunnel was a good idea, but it was not effective in the slightest, making  Platform the most anti climatic maze I've seen in a long time.
The attraction's second half needs a massive overhaul IMO, but the first half is still pretty fun-3/10
 
Saw Alive

 
Saw Alive seemed to be crawling with actors on my run through!
The attraction seemed to pack more than enough actors, and the scares where pretty great.
Though the maze is starting to get very stale, and the maze has a crap ton of problems..
Mainly the scares for one, why would a chained up actor be moving freely?
Though the maze still has some great scares-5/10
 
Blair Witch Project

 
 
Blair Witch remains the same state that its been in since 2014.
The attraction packs a lively cast of actors which seemed to be hiding pretty much anywhere!
The finale always packs a punch, and the actors where doing a good job.
Though like Saw Alive its starting to get a little stale as nothings really changed at all-5/10
 
The Cabin In The Woods

Cabin is really a attraction that has seemed to declined since 2015..
Cabin back in 2014 was amazing, it was crawling with actors, some actors jumping out from the ceiling!
On my run through the attraction was not bad, but it weren't great either..
Overall I think the maze has like Saw/Blair became a little stale.
Also the group flow seemed to be a little manic on my run through..
Cabin has always had these problems, but you'd think after three years of operation they would of ironed out these issues-4/10
 
Roamers Actors
Only saw roamers one time sadly.
Overall the EX10 actors where wrecking havoc when we did see them!
Though the amount of roamers was very poor TBH, especially like a event as large as fright nights!
Maybe I've been spoilt with Tulleys's amazing roamers, but I think Thorpe needs some better roaming actors overall-5/10
 
Conclusion:
The event like I said earlier was a massive mixed bag.
Big Top was fun, Cabin/Saw/Blair where all very fun too but a little stale.
Platform being poor due its long drawn out boring ending.
Overall Fright Nights are better than last year IMO, but I still think there is MASSIVE room for improvement..

Beware this review may contain mild spoilers!
 
So Tulleys Shocktoberfest is back!
Overall being located at my local farm Tulleys is a must each year, this year sees two new attractions and a bunch of classics return!
 
Creepy Cottage

Even though being the smallest attraction at the event, Creepy Cottage is still a strong attraction.
The theming and the eerieness of the attraction is really what makes it, plus a few actors make this attraction a little gem.
Overall a fun start to the event- 6.5/10
 
PANDEMONIUM'S 3D CARNIVAL

Overall very similar to other incarnations of Tulleys yearly clown maze, Pandemonium's was pretty fun.
The maze like Nightshade Circus from last year shared a lot of scenes, but the 3D element towards the end made
the maze even more confusing!
Overall the maze was pretty good, but more funny than scary like usual-7/10
 
Haunted Hayride

So the infamous hayride returns!
The Hayride seemed to have a lot of work done to it this year, with a ton of new scenes!
Overall the Hayride is fairly similar in tone to previous years, the attraction can sway between laughter and utter terror!
The Hayride is just as impressive as usual, though we missed the twerking nuns -7/10
 
 
Hellements

Hellements has always been decently dull for me, but this year it was actually pretty good!
The scares where pretty effective, and the group where pretty desperate to get out!
The effects are fun as always, the fire was as hot as ever, and the wind tunnel was so strong
our hoods nearly fell off!
Overall a improvement from last year-6.5/10
 
Coven Of 13

So Coven was quite a disappointment..
Some of the special effects where good and well executed, but the scares not so much..
The scares where piss-poor, and the maze lacked actors in places..
The maze had some pretty good theming in some places, so I'll give some credit..
I think Coven could be great once actors settle in, But Coven was somewhat poor from Tulleys- 3/10
 
 
The Colony

The Colony was a mixed attraction for me last year, but the actors where surely rocking on preview night!
The Colony last year lacked actors and was quite spread out, but this year the maze seemed to have a lot more actors than previous!
The Maze still has a long length and great theming, but the scares throughout the attraction seemed to come thick and fast!
One scare in particular was a very loud car horn which had me jumping outside my own skin!
 
Overall the attraction is now a highlight of the event, and is well rounded maze which seems to go on forever-9/10
 
The Chop Shop

The Chop Shop returns!
The Maze still has a beautiful facade, and chainsaws galore!
The Pacing is really the thing thats makes the Chop Shop, you'll go from hillbillies teasing you
to being attacked with chainsaws at all angles!
Overall actors seem to constantly re-appear, and the amount of hiding places and shortcuts for actors also make
scares for actors pretty easy!
A very impressive attraction-8.5/10
 
The Cellar

The Cellar is the crown jewel of Tulleys.
It is yearly great, and seems to never get old.
The Cellar is a long, well themed, and very great with scares.
The Maze itself at points seems to flood with actors, some scares being back-to-back!
Overall a classic which always seems to be a highlight of the event every year-8.5/10
 
Roaming Actors:
Tulleys is famous for its great roamers!
This year is no different, the roamers are really something special at Tulleys!
Had a few conversations with some of the roamers, and there really are brilliant-10/10
 
Conclusion:
Tulleys has had a mixed year, some mazes being as good as ever, some being improved, some new additions completely failing.
Overall I think the good outweighs the bad, if you live near the area it is definitely a must visit!
Also to note its only preview night, so there is still time for stuff to change!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Beware this review may contain mild spoilers!
 
So Tulleys Shocktoberfest is back!
Overall being located at my local farm Tulleys is a must each year, this year sees two new attractions and a bunch of classics return!
 
Creepy Cottage

Even though being the smallest attraction at the event, Creepy Cottage is still a strong attraction.
The theming and the eerieness of the attraction is really what makes it, plus a few actors make this attraction a little gem.
Overall a fun start to the event- 6.5/10
 
PANDEMONIUM'S 3D CARNIVAL

Overall very similar to other incarnations of Tulleys yearly clown maze, Pandemonium's was pretty fun.
The maze like Nightshade Circus from last year shared a lot of scenes, but the 3D element towards the end made
the maze even more confusing!
Overall the maze was pretty good, but more funny than scary like usual-7/10
 
Haunted Hayride

So the infamous hayride returns!
The Hayride seemed to have a lot of work done to it this year, with a ton of new scenes!
Overall the Hayride is fairly similar in tone to previous years, the attraction can sway between laughter and utter terror!
The Hayride is just as impressive as usual, though we missed the twerking nuns -7/10
 
 
Hellements

Hellements has always been decently dull for me, but this year it was actually pretty good!
The scares where pretty effective, and the group where pretty desperate to get out!
The effects are fun as always, the fire was as hot as ever, and the wind tunnel was so strong
our hoods nearly fell off!
Overall a improvement from last year-6.5/10
 
Coven Of 13

So Coven was quite a disappointment..
Some of the special effects where good and well executed, but the scares not so much..
The scares where piss-poor, and the maze lacked actors in places..
The maze had some pretty good theming in some places, so I'll give some credit..
I think Coven could be great once actors settle in, But Coven was somewhat poor from Tulleys- 3/10
 
 
The Colony

The Colony was a mixed attraction for me last year, but the actors where surely rocking on preview night!
The Colony last year lacked actors and was quite spread out, but this year the maze seemed to have a lot more actors than previous!
The Maze still has a long length and great theming, but the scares throughout the attraction seemed to come thick and fast!
One scare in particular was a very loud car horn which had me jumping outside my own skin!
 
Overall the attraction is now a highlight of the event, and is well rounded maze which seems to go on forever-9/10
 
The Chop Shop

The Chop Shop returns!
The Maze still has a beautiful facade, and chainsaws galore!
The Pacing is really the thing thats makes the Chop Shop, you'll go from hillbillies teasing you
to being attacked with chainsaws at all angles!
Overall actors seem to constantly re-appear, and the amount of hiding places and shortcuts for actors also make
scares for actors pretty easy!
A very impressive attraction-8.5/10
 
The Cellar

The Cellar is the crown jewel of Tulleys.
It is yearly great, and seems to never get old.
The Cellar is a long, well themed, and very great with scares.
The Maze itself at points seems to flood with actors, some scares being back-to-back!
Overall a classic which always seems to be a highlight of the event every year-8.5/10
 
Roaming Actors:
Tulleys is famous for its great roamers!
This year is no different, the roamers are really something special at Tulleys!
Had a few conversations with some of the roamers, and there really are brilliant-10/10
 
Conclusion:
Tulleys has had a mixed year, some mazes being as good as ever, some being improved, some new additions completely failing.
Overall I think the good outweighs the bad, if you live near the area it is definitely a must visit!
Also to note its only preview night, so there is still time for stuff to change!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Beware this review may contain mild spoilers!
 
So Tulleys Shocktoberfest is back!
Overall being located at my local farm Tulleys is a must each year, this year sees two new attractions and a bunch of classics return!
 
Creepy Cottage

Even though being the smallest attraction at the event, Creepy Cottage is still a strong attraction.
The theming and the eerieness of the attraction is really what makes it, plus a few actors make this attraction a little gem.
Overall a fun start to the event- 6.5/10
 
PANDEMONIUM'S 3D CARNIVAL

Overall very similar to other incarnations of Tulleys yearly clown maze, Pandemonium's was pretty fun.
The maze like Nightshade Circus from last year shared a lot of scenes, but the 3D element towards the end made
the maze even more confusing!
Overall the maze was pretty good, but more funny than scary like usual-7/10
 
Haunted Hayride

So the infamous hayride returns!
The Hayride seemed to have a lot of work done to it this year, with a ton of new scenes!
Overall the Hayride is fairly similar in tone to previous years, the attraction can sway between laughter and utter terror!
The Hayride is just as impressive as usual, though we missed the twerking nuns -7/10
 
 
Hellements

Hellements has always been decently dull for me, but this year it was actually pretty good!
The scares where pretty effective, and the group where pretty desperate to get out!
The effects are fun as always, the fire was as hot as ever, and the wind tunnel was so strong
our hoods nearly fell off!
Overall a improvement from last year-6.5/10
 
Coven Of 13

So Coven was quite a disappointment..
Some of the special effects where good and well executed, but the scares not so much..
The scares where piss-poor, and the maze lacked actors in places..
The maze had some pretty good theming in some places, so I'll give some credit..
I think Coven could be great once actors settle in, But Coven was somewhat poor from Tulleys- 3/10
 
 
The Colony

The Colony was a mixed attraction for me last year, but the actors where surely rocking on preview night!
The Colony last year lacked actors and was quite spread out, but this year the maze seemed to have a lot more actors than previous!
The Maze still has a long length and great theming, but the scares throughout the attraction seemed to come thick and fast!
One scare in particular was a very loud car horn which had me jumping outside my own skin!
 
Overall the attraction is now a highlight of the event, and is well rounded maze which seems to go on forever-9/10
 
The Chop Shop

The Chop Shop returns!
The Maze still has a beautiful facade, and chainsaws galore!
The Pacing is really the thing thats makes the Chop Shop, you'll go from hillbillies teasing you
to being attacked with chainsaws at all angles!
Overall actors seem to constantly re-appear, and the amount of hiding places and shortcuts for actors also make
scares for actors pretty easy!
A very impressive attraction-8.5/10
 
The Cellar

The Cellar is the crown jewel of Tulleys.
It is yearly great, and seems to never get old.
The Cellar is a long, well themed, and very great with scares.
The Maze itself at points seems to flood with actors, some scares being back-to-back!
Overall a classic which always seems to be a highlight of the event every year-8.5/10
 
Roaming Actors:
Tulleys is famous for its great roamers!
This year is no different, the roamers are really something special at Tulleys!
Had a few conversations with some of the roamers, and there really are brilliant-10/10
 
Conclusion:
Tulleys has had a mixed year, some mazes being as good as ever, some being improved, some new additions completely failing.
Overall I think the good outweighs the bad, if you live near the area it is definitely a must visit!
Also to note its only preview night, so there is still time for stuff to change!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

As we know, Walibi Belgium and Holland got new Mack's this year. Both new types of Mack's. 

This is what Belgium asked for.

It's really grand.

Has a spectacular splash

It's really cool


And there's a cool turntable to improve throughputs and just be cool! Queue was cool too!
 
So that's what Walibi get when they ask for a ride (and Mack are the company that choose to do it).
 
Don't know what you want? Then roll up, today is your lucky day as Mack now offers mystery box rides! They'll tease the park over snapchat what they're building and just not think one bit. So what did Holland get from their mystery box?

A loss of gravity. Seems like a great deal.

Mack had some spare yellow and black track pieces floating in their yard and hoped it would all fit together

And even though some of it doesn't look like it should fit together

It all does

Woosh. Now, because Walibi didn't know what they were getting, when they built the exit paths they had to slant these arches, or Mack told them it was necessary. Mystery box fun! 

They also had some shipping containers that were cluttering the yard

And a broken set of these

And the cars are too wide for the track. Mystery box risks you see

Fancy a Mack Mystery Box for your park? Then send a ? and your budget to sales@mackmystery.com

Beware, they may cause you to drink in hope it'll ease the mind confuddling caused.
 
Next week we'll go see some cobras, dinosaurs and critters  
 

I'm gonna start a annual Halloween awards, its gonna be quite a long post so lets start!
Most Awful Maze: Honourable Mentions- The Volt,My Bloody Valentine
Big Top- Big Top is awful. Big Flop starts off in a dull tent with dull black walls with little to no theming.
And even funner 1 actor, IN THE WHOLE TENT. The Second Tent is ok, but with barely any actors in this tents it falls flat it in its face. Third Tent is good, but I had a couple of runs when I've saw no chainsaw. IMO Big Flop is the most disapointing maze this season.
Most Well Themed Maze: Honourable Mentions- Saw Alive, Sub Species
The Colony- The Colony's theming is something to behold, half the time I was drooling over the sets.
The Colony is a example on how do to a long, well themed, attraction.
Best New Attraction: Honourable Mentions- Sub Species,Molly Crowe
Chop Shop- First off Chop Shop has a massive facade, which makes it look really good.
Once inside your presented with guess what? More great theming! After loads of twists and turns through the garage your teased that your about to meet your "brothers". After that the Chop Shop is mad, with 4-6 actors in a big strobe maze all holding chainsaws! It is everything I want in a scare attraction. Theming,scares,and a cool concept.
Best Maze Overall: Sub Species: The End Games-
Sub Species is amazing. You start off with the control room telling you the rules to the games.
What happends next can only be described as mad. You get split up a lot, the maze has loads of different scare tactics and each scene feels varied. It is themed quite a lot too, it is also quite long too. If thats not enough there's two endings, Sub Species has to be experienced to be believed, it is a amazing attraction which is probably one of the UK's best mazes.
Best Scare Event: Tulleys Shocktoberfest-
Tulleys is just a paradise for scare event fans. Tulleys this year has gone above and beyond for me, with some of the theming being top class, and some really great attractions too, With two musical stages, loads of roamers too, it is just a really fun event. I can't really say much else.
Best Roamers: Tulleys The Howl-
Tulleys The Howl had amazing roamers, the whole Lyncanthorpe family were really entertaining.
Also it tied into the whole events theme, which is pretty neat.
Ok to end here is some facts of this Halloween Season!
Sarcastic Coments made about Merlin: 5
Swear words said to actors: 1
Fanny jokes about the squish bag sections: 10
Bad run throughs of Big Top: 2
Bad Times at Tulleys: 0
Bad Times at Thorpe: 2
Hope you Had a Happy Halloween, and its only 12 months untill Halloween 2016!