Martin Doyle
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Posts posted by Martin Doyle
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As exciting at this may sound, this is Britain we are talking about...the land of the nimby and the kingdom of the Karen.
London Resort has more or less killed my optimism of a major new park being built in this country. I do hope I'm wrong though as a Universal in this country would be beyond a dream come true.
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If it were up to me, EVERY coaster that goes fast/high would make the riders go through metal detectors in the same way Velocicoaster/Hulk/Rocket at Universal do. Because you can NOT trust this modern generation to use common sense and not take their phones out trying to take selfies and POVs of coasters that have a million on YouTube already. I have personally had a phone smash me in the head on Untamed whilst riding in the back and had some close shaves on Toutatis back in May. How nobody on the ground has been injured yet at Pleasure Beach by a phone/wallet falling from Big One is beyond me too. So yes, given my way it would be metal detection across the board and NOTHING boarding the ride with you
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Being serious for a moment though. I sense most of the negativity towards the name is because of it being similar sounding to Hyperion at Energylandia
Lets be real though, what percentage of the people walking through the gate at Thorpe on any given day actually have heard of even Energylandia let alone Hyperion??
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I cant wait for the next coaster AFTER Hyperia
Zadro the long awaited RMC!!
- Matt 236, George W and coasterverse
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17 minutes ago, Coaster said:
Thorpe Park's new maze for 2023 has seemingly taken some inspiration from the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who.
The similarities are as follows:
1. Both 'villains' are called The Toymaker
2. Both operate out of a similar-looking toy emporium
Whilst the DW 60th anniversary has not aired yet, The Toymaker as a character originated in the 60s, and filming took place for the 60th anniversary special back in May/June last year; meaning that the DW story was likely written and planned well ahead of Thorpe Park.
Interested to hear theories on this. Has it taken inspiration, or purely a coincidence?
Plot twist. Coaster Jamie is parm pap!! He makes his return after so long!!
- Coaster, coasterverse and Matt 236
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I think the youtube videos we are all excited for is Jack Silkstone's walk throughs of each maze where he is getting hounded by like 10 actors at all time for the duration of the maze near enough. I am sure those videos ABSOLUTELY represent the treatment that us commoners get....when we actually pay the 10 quid!!
- coasterverse and MattyMoo
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I also reckon an "anniversary/nostalgia" themed Fright Nights would be quite a cool concept if only for one year!! That as a theme would very much make sense to both veterans who have been to the event since near the start aswell as newbies!!
Unless Stitches features a chainsaw wielding teddy bear, would I be right in assuming this will be the first FN to NOT have a maze that utilises chainsaw scares?? (Not including the 2020 event)
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*remembers Walking Dead the ride apparently never happening
GET YOUR BETS ON BIG TOP RETURNING FOLKS! 😆😆
*but yeah being serious, I just cant see them bringing back Big Top or any decent past maze for that matter
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*remembers Steel Vengeance,Velocicoaster and Iron Gwazi exist
I think I will politely agree to disagree on this one!! :p
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1 hour ago, MattyMoo said:
Hilarious scenes reported at Towers today of RAP queues being longer than the main queue on the Smiler for example. I give up.
Or the mile long queue at guest services to get the damned thing to begin with. "I cant queue".....or something.
Problem now is that Merlin have backed themself into a corner with how they have handled Rap the last few years. They have allowed anyone and their dog to get it which has resulted in people who frankly do not need it taking the *censor* out of the system which has led to ridiculous Rap waits which in turn is hurting those who GENUINELY need it. Those who genuinely CAN NOT queue. The amount of times I've been to towers in particular and seen the rap queue for Oblivion heading right back to the arcade with those in wheelchairs AND those with kids with severe special needs who are clearly stressed with waiting at the hands of those who see it as "free fastrack" is nothing short of an outrage.
The issue now is that if Merlin actually did try to strip these people who are too lazy to queue like everyone else who are abusing the system, these people will probably write to the newspapers and rant on social media about Merlin being saying "not disabled enough" which will lead to a PR nightmare for them.
So they are between the devil and the deep. Either carry on with the shambles we see at the parks today OR risk a bunch of Karen's crying to the papers and social media. Either way they have backed themself into a corner.
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Why dont they just go the whole hog if this is the case and name it Intimidator 236??!!
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7 hours ago, Benin said:
Efteling replacing the often broken water curtain effect on Dutchman with some physical effects/props.
A positive move for Efteling as frankly, on my last two visits the ride was in diabolical condition and in particular this scene. So hopefully this move makes for a more reliable and efficient show section as opposed to being a dark ride full of broken effects*.
*I can get that at Chessington or Pleasure Beach without the need to travel abroad quite frankly
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Post Florida top 10s
Coasters
1. Steel Vengeance
2. Velocicoaster
3. Iron Gwazi
4. Zadra
5. Untamed
6. Taron
7. Mako
8. Millennium Force
9. Hagrid
10. Maverick
Dark rides
1. Tower Of Terror (Florida)
2. Rise Of The Resistance
3. Harry Potter And The Forbidden Journey
4. Amazing Adventures Of Spiderman
5. Harry Potter And The Escape From Gringotts
6. Avatar Flight Of Passage
7. Tower Of Terror (Paris)
8. Symbolica
9. Phantom Manor
10. Pirates Of The Caribbean (Paris)
Water Rides
1. Valhalla (in its prime!! Not even top 10 today)
2. Splash Mountain
3. Chiapas
4. Popeye
5. Dudley Do Rights Ripsaw falls
6. Jurassic Park River Adventure
7. Journey To Atlantis
8. Infinity Falls
9. River Quest
10. Vliegende Hollander
Parks.
1. Cedar Point
2. Universal Orlando
3. Phantasialand
4. WDW (all four combined)
5. Europa Park
6. Energylandia
7. Efteling
8. Seaworld Orlando
9. Liseberg
10. Busch Gardens Tampa
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Been going to the Howl since its first year. Aside from a disastrous visit last year, it has always been amongst the highlights of the scare season.
Squealers Yard and The Shed are two fantastic scare mazes and the set designs of Red (that damn giant wolf), Attic and now Howl Valley High are fantastic. The roaming actors are also highly entertaining to a similar level of their sister event at Tulleys farm!!
Well worth visiting during october!!
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Part of me genuinely always wondered what Derren Brown would say if you bought him to a pub, offered him a good ole drink and asked him his actual thoughts on that ride.
But seriously, the best thing Thorpe/Merlin can do with DBGT at this point is to just say "enough is enough" and throw in the towel.
Once the budget allows, I am fairly certain the space could be used to do either a more reliable and with that cost effective dark ride or some other form of indoor entertainment that would be better received than Ghost Train has been.
I don't think anyone with a shrink of sanity in them would argue the fact that for the money spent on it, DBGT has been nothing short of a disaster. It costs an arm and leg to maintain it and staff it, it hardly ever works fully and from what I can see its reception is mixed AT THE VERY BEST!!
So I'd say its time to put the big White Elephant to sleep and start thinking of what new thing can be done with the space.
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RIP to that absolutely incredible launch!!
Even though Red Forces launch couldnt knock the skin off a rice pudding (meaning weak), I would personally still rather see that launch implemented to Dragster as opposed to ripping out a coaster that is visually iconic not only for Cedar Point but the coaster community as a whole.
This could also be good for the rides reliability as its a monsterous understatement to say Dragsters hydraulic launch is far from reliable.
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Given Doom Town is Shocktobers 1st "10 scare rated" haunt, I am somewhat curious to see how much it differs in style to their 9 scare rated ones.
I still firmly believe the use of touch scares would be a nice thing for Tulleys to potentially explore the possibilities of. Even if it is just with Doom Town and possibly even Hellements.
On the note of ticketing, I am doing the first night of the year with a fastrack 11 ticket and then the finale fireworks night with VIP. So be interesting to see if VIP is worth the additional price for what one gets in relation to next tier ticket down.
As much as I want to be positive about all tickets entitling guests to unlimited haunts, there is a huge alarm going off in my head saying its going to be a nightmare now in regards to the queue management and size of waits on the busier nights. I also feel unlimited somewhat diminishes the VIP value.
Those with standard tickets with no fastrack already was up against the tide in trying to get all the haunts done and now coupled with inevitable longer waits due to the fact people can do the haunts as much as they want to, they have next to zero chance getting a now sizeable 11 attractions done in the one night even with marching between them one after the other with zero time inbetween to just enjoy the event atmosphere.
- jessica2 and JoshuaWAHH3
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1. Plan Plan Plan!! > these days the Disney parks take in a fair amount planning even for trivial things like getting on rides. So familiarise yourself with the "Virtual Queue" system that newer rides like Cosmic Rewind use. You also need to be aware you need to RESERVE park visits on top of buying entry.
2. Give yourself enough time> If you can allocate two days for Magic Kingdom and Epcot than do so as these parks can be unpleasant IF rushing around
3. Be prepared for some long long waits at the Disney parks
4. If budget allows, make the use of Express pass at Universal and quick queue at Busch!! Worth every penny!!
5. Be sure to dine at Yak&Yeti at animal kingdom and Mythos at IOA. Two of the best theme park restaurants going.
6. Avoid the Busch free shuttle like the plague. It gets you there well after park open and you have to get back on quite a bit before the park shuts. So UNLESS its the only option for Busch, avoid.
7. Scout the landscape of restaraunts on International Drive. Some really nice and affordable options can be found.
8. Dont rush. Its a once in a lifetime holiday so take time to REALLY enjoy yourself
Always happy to answer any questions!!
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On 5/12/2022 at 1:50 PM, Matt Creek said:
I wouldn’t say it’s Disney standards at all, but it does look very nice. A definite improvement from it’s sorry state at Thorpe.
I’m glad the park has been working on presentation this year.
What you on about?? This is true Disney killer quality!!
I have actually now decided after careful consideration to cancel my october outing to Walt Disney World. I dont see ANY point paying a small fortune and then flying 9 hours across the atlantic to go ride Rise Of The Resistance or Flight Of Passage when we have the super detailed pinnacle of theme park theming in the form of Trawler Trouble at our very own chessington!
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All in all I see this being a great move for the park.
Spookslot may be an aging attraction and dated by Symbolica standards, but it is a huge part of the parks heritage. So to see Efteling move for a newer dark ride whilst keeping the theme of Spookslot just sounds a win in the sense of keeping the park moving with the times whilst also preserving park heritage.
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And once again us mere mortals are given a gift from the gods.....well RMC anyway....which is much the same thing.
Now whilst this excites me majorly given I have yet to ride one of their single rail coasters, I do believe the jury is still very much out on this design and that is largely/entirely down to the throughput. I just feel unless they really run it like clockwork, its going to be a nightmare at shifting queues ESPECIALLY when the busy halloween fright nights season kicks in.
Nonetheless, very exciting news and I look forward to riding in 2024!!
What is your favourite coaster drop in the UK?
in UK Attractions
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Big One by some distance. Though Hyperia should have something to say about that!!