CharlieN

^Timber should be on 9 and Lumber should be on 1@Saw-Swarm-Smile

Preach. I don’t think I’ve ever ridden a smooth Gerstlaur. Even The Smiler in opening year had a rattle. I don’t enjoy rollercoasters where you have to think about how to ride - in order to escape with only minor injuries. Sit forward, people tell me, increase your neck strength, others say - na, I’d rather sit back and let the ride take me where it wants, which is the purpose of roller coasters after all. Saw’s poor layout (for my element preferences), ridiculous roughness and undesirable theme mean I will never like it. Sorry fanboys.

Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Flying Fish (5) I'm A Celebrity (4) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (2) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW - The Ride (5) Stealth (5) Storm In A Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (8) Vortex (5) X (5) Zodiac (5) Timber + Lumber -

Neil Oliver’s run out of coastline and made this video for us: Its atmospheric without telling us anything... as you could have guessed.

I didn’t even get time to try and defend Colossus. Oh well, to death with DBGT. Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) DBGTROTD (2) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Flying Fish (5) I'm A Celebrity (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (4) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (6) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW - The Ride (5) Stealth (6) Storm In A Teacup (5) Storm Surge (4) The Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (5) Vortex (5) X (7) Zodiac (5) X + DBGT -

Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) Colossus (3) DBGTROTD (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Flying Fish (5) I'm A Celebrity (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (7) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW - The Ride (4) Stealth (6) Storm In A Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (5) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (5) Vortex (5) X (5) Zodiac (5) Colossus + Saw -

^ Well yes, but from that limited viewpoint it looks stunning. Imposing yet not ugly.

I’ve really given up caring about Thorpe Park. Recent development history means that I have no optimism that Merlin will create something really special. Is there even a development plan at the moment? It feels like every development completely combats what the last one tried to do. “Thrill Capital” marketing results in the family ride Storm Surge. “Island Like No Other” marketing results in a gory horror overlay of a popular family roller coaster. Are all of Merlin’s ‘magic makers’ really just headless chickens? Why does a flash in the pan idea seem to override any sustainable long term development? Do they not have a clear vision of what they want the park to look and feel like 10 years from now? It’s the most frustrating feeling when the park you’ve grown up loving and feel that’s got so much potential doesn’t have a clear direction - or any direction at all. Can someone swap home parks with me please?

^^What? I never knew. Don’t tell me your trying to suggest that... Jart... isn’t..... I can’t even think these blasphemous thoughts. This has totally changed everything.

Really? I thought it was massively overrated. Hela lacked any development or layers. The plot was non-apparent and I felt like the humour was really forced. It felt so different in tone to the 2 prequals - even the way Hemsworth played Thor seemed to be totally different. Certainly not the worst Marvel film, but I can name at least 8 better and 4 funnier. Also must be said that I entered the cinema with such high expectations due to my love of Taika Waititi... In other news, I watched Chinatown a few weeks ago. This film stunned me. I began watching with very little prior knowledge but the artful direction, soundtrack and performance by Jack Nicholson were all enough to make it my favourite film of all time. It’s even led me to get into a bit of a film noir obsessed phase... such a great genre.

You could even throw in Vialand and Viasea to your Istanbul escapade...

Isn’t there going to be a flash (Lewa adventure) clone coming to Land of Legends in Turkey next year? I would have no problem with that clone if it was true.

Here’s this year’s map then. Due to my inexperience of the event I can’t really tell how different the layout is to previous years, but is it? The Observation tower is new isn’t it?

Absolute shambolic year for me in terms of UK theme parks: Thorpe Park: 3 Chessington: 1 Adventure Island:1 And of course a trip to winter Wonderland in December. However, I did get to fulfill my teenage dreams and visit a certain theme park in Germany: Europa Park: 2!!

Haha, I was about to nominate Blue Fire for the most disappointing launch. I thoroughly enjoyed Blue Fire, but the launch was one of the weakest bits of the ride in my opinion. Saying that, I do like starting launches indoors.

Good, glad the park have started teasing 2018’s additions - no matter how underwhelming they will be. I assume this will be something regarding the Walking Dead IP, probability just making Living Nightmare a permanent addition to the park. And Thorpe, was 2017 a blast? Because the park seemed more meh this year than any other years that I’ve been attending.

Read the definition which preambled my argument again. “As communicated by others” Therefore, I’m not judging the atmosphere, simply establishing a sense of it from vlogs, reviews and personal conversations I’ve had with people. And the sense I get from the park (as communicated to by others) is unfriendly and rushed. If it isn’t then my vibes are wrong, but it’s not nonsense. Anyway, back on topic, I would like to go to Phantasialand, because their attraction line up looks tremendous - and god I’d love to ride Taron. Both the quality and quantity of rides mean that I’ll probably visit within the next 5 years. So I will give the place a go and I’ll try to enter the park open minded and limit my judgement.

The definition of Vibe is the “atmosphere of a place as communicated by others”. As vibe only refers to atmosphere, my prior comment did not take into account ride quality, theming or any other factors. Therefore there is nothing wrong with it as a comment. The atmosphere of Phantasialand that has been communicated to me is a rushed, busy, unfriendly one. This is also how I view Thorpe Park. Therefore I get Thorpe Park vibes of Phantasialand.

I’ve never been to Phantasia so I have absolutely no right to have an opinion on it - but from various vlogs and reviews I never really get why it is so raved about. The theming looks good but personally the chosen themes don’t really appeal as they don’t have a sense of grandeur/charm - which to me is what makes Europa so good. The Park always appears busy and rushed - and due to the clientele and staffing issues I always get Thorpe Park vibes from the place. I would definitely like to visit as the rides look very special - Taron being the stand out. The selection of rides is widely considered better than both that of Europa or Efteling. However, it’s the tranquility and beauty of the latter 2 parks which is why I’ve always dreamed of visiting them. I managed to do Europa in April and hopefully Efteling very soon! I’ve really got to push Europa Park tho, it surpassed my expectations and even my ride-hating-dad had a brilliant time. You won’t regret visiting if you do... (As I say, I’ve never been to Phantasia, so you should really just ignore everything I’ve said about the place!)

I must recommend Europa Park, yes it’s the only mainland European park I’ve done, but god is it tremendous. Outdoes every theme park in the UK by a country mile. And it seems fitting to go to a park that celebrates Europe on your first European trip too!

I've just seen an image of an advertising board for the dragon falls revamp located somewhere in Chessie. It refers to the ride as Tiger Rock, as opposed to tiger falls. Did the plans refer to it as tiger rock or is that a recent name change?

I've never felt sick personally, but I do have a friend who gets quite faint after certain rides. This has happened twice. The first time was after the rock rage (ski jump) at Winter Wonderland. I believe it was the erratic change of direction and aggression that meant that my friend was so ill (and the fact that WW was dead so we were on for three cycles!). My friend then had to sit down on a bench for 20 minutes, during which he probably drunk 5 bottles of water. He told me that he felt like he was going to faint (which he does do, frequently.) Another notable time where he had motion sickness was after Zodiac at Thorpe park - although it was the repetitiveness of this ride that meant my friend felt faint. To me, how the contrasting ride experiences achieved an equal level of sickness is interesting. It was the force and aggression of Ski Jump, but the passive repetitiveness of Zodiac. I've always found that peculiar - particularly as roller coasters, drop towers or even car journeys don't make him feel sick at all.

Oh I think it will. TWD is a massive IP which is of a greater relevance than any of Thorpe's current mazes. For the last few years the park have created one new non IP maze as that year's pull - so a large IP themed one would surely do more than that!? 2015: random clown maze - managed to pull guests in. 2016: random train maze - managed to pull guests in. 2017: a relevant 'global phenomenon' themed maze - Erm I think it will manage to pull guests in alright.

Thanks for the reply Mega-lite. I'm assuming it's just a machine for the express car parking money? (I hope so, the less Chessie staff interaction, the better.)