Earlyspencer

Been a long time since I was on this forum... Some personal high- and lowlights since april 2018 - PortAventura and Ferrari Land http://board.pretparken.be/showthread.php?831-TR-Ferrari-Land-12-april-2018 - Warner Madrid: http://board.pretparken.be/showthread.php?932-TR-Parque-Warner-Madrid-amp-Warner-Beach-4-juli-2018 - Legendia Poland: http://board.pretparken.be/showthread.php?939-TR-Legendia-10-juli-2018 - Energylandia Poland (3 days too soon for Hyperion): http://board.pretparken.be/showthread.php?940-TR-Energylandia-11-juli-2018 - Some parks in DK, Northern Germany and Norway (no links) - Fenix @ Toverland But more on topic: my very first double visit to BPB: http://board.pretparken.be/showthread.php?1015-TR-Blackpool-Pleasure-Beach-21-amp-22-aug-2018&p=18056#post18056 Kind regards

Sharp as a knife trough half melted butter. The recent Macks (not the powered coasters from the past Millennium, nor their watercoasters) are among the most comfortable coasters when it comes both to seating and to riding without shaking. Blue Fire has to be considered as a proto-type, belonging to stand in a factory hall and not in a theme park. The real stuff however is to be experienced in Göteborg. On a lower budget scale, the Star Trek launch coaster at Movie Park was very enjoyable: smooth and smart with the double-track loading system. But do not expect exploding launches like Intamine sometimes offers (Taron, I-Speed). Having never done an S&S launch coaster before, I've no idea what to expect. WTF Valhalla stripped from its SFX? I've booked my trip to BP 20-24th of Aug. next year. I hope to experience UK's best water attraction in full force and glory.

Been a long (not) lonely time (hail to all Zep-fans) since I've been on this forum. One of the few undiscovered spots on my personal Theme & Amusement Park Map in Europe is BPPB. A shame, I know. I prefer a trip when you Brexiteers don't have holiday. That was rather a succes last Ascension Day at Thorpe. The Ascension break (10 & 11th of May 2018) might be an option but ... - this trip would be more complex than travelling to West-London (leaving from Antwerp, Belgium) - I'm not sure if BPPB would be open those days - I guess the new Mack might not be operational next May Another option would be the Halloween period. In Belgium, we have holiday the whole week around first of Nov. This year, BPPB will be open these days, but if you might know about next year in November (based on your experiences): please inform me. With my Bobbejaanland Pass I have free entrance at Blackpool Zoo until 4th of November 2018. For those interested in some of my recent visits in France, Holland, Spain and Sweden: check attached file and links. TR's summer 2017.pdf

Yess it will. School holiday in the NRW region will be from 17.07 - 29.08. Note that the park opens rather early at 09:00 CET. This means they might let you in even before 09:00 AM, so try to arrive early. Some attractions will open at 09:30 e.g. Maus au Chocolat and Black Mamba. The hole Wuze Town area and Klugheim (Taron) won't open not before 10:00. Taron is situated close to the main car park entrance 'Mystery', but they developed a clever system: To get to Klugheim before noon, the shortcut next to the rapid is temporary closed, so you'll need to go around via China and Mexico. If you arrive bu public bus, the entrance is close to the central Berlin-zone. If you stay at one of the official park hotels, you might ride Taron after the park closes (on the evening before your night at the hotel). Quick Passes are rather cheap but limited in amount and in use:15 € for 4 rides / attractions (but not Taron). You can use them yourself or share them with others. You can use it several times on the same ride (every ride and every person = 1 credit). I once used them on an Easter Sunday. The poorest capacity is on the semi dueling indoor spinning coastrs Winja Fear & Force. They are Maurers, need we say more? So try to ride them before noon. For those who are interested: my upcoming whereabouts in July: Pairi Daiza (Bel) Parc Astérix (Fra) Nigloland (Fra) Walibi Rhône-Alpes (Fra) Caves & Zoo Han sur Lesse (Bel) Efteling (NL) Duinrell (NL) Efteling (NL) Mer de Sable (Fra) France Miniature (guess which country!) Puy de Fou (Fra) Futuroscope (Fra) Aquarium and Mini Châteaux (Fra) Grévin Paris (...) Efteling Hellendoorn (NL) Slagharen (NL) Wildlands Emmen Zoo (NL) Hellendoorn (NL) August will bring me among others to Bagatelle, Bellewaerde, Gröna Lund, Liseberg, Kolmården, Isla Magica, Fort Fun and .. Phantasialand.

Been there, done that ... on Wed. 28th and without queueing, while queueing time last Saturday went up to 150 mins. As annual pass holders, we were invited to ride Symbolica a few days before the official opening, in a chosen 30 mins time slot. Don't be afraid, I won't spoil. We (fam. with 2 children) chose the 'Heroes' ride. Wife 'n youngest (7) sat in front. Them fronts-sitters were distracted by a semi-useless control panel and screen. On a few occasions durig the ride, they could activate some animatronics, while we back-sitters ... well we sat there in vain. I read and heard many other comments and all of them agree: the inter-active part doesn't add that much. But please note Symbolica is a magnificient ride. I've never seen that much details in a darkride attraction and the animatronics were rather smooth / vivid. And luckyly no screens or VR-glasses were needed. I rate it higher than Maus au Chocolat or even Ratatouille. The introduction in the first room by O.J. (not Simpson, unfortunately) is told in Dutch, English, French and German. There isn't that much talk during the ride itself, so I think you won't miss that much of the background story.

You were right: Ali Baba from 1985 - 1991

"New family cred (looks like a Bobsled, Gerst looks like)" It will be a Gerstlauer. Probably like Gesengte Sau (Tripsdrill) and Thors Hammer (Djurs) "New rethemed area with Boomerang (assume this will be Bollywood?)" Nowadays this boom. called Cobra is rather themeless and not that smooth / comfortable. My bet is a make-over like Speed of Sound (Walibi Holland) Roumors said the Stunt Fall (Warner Madrid) was meant to be settled here during the Six Flag era (around 2000) but the (very few) people living around the park would protest. "Revolving theatre (somewhere)" The large indoor buildig already exists (next to Cobra and Aqualibi) since I was a little child (early 80's). I guess it was used for shows, theme Arabia Since late '80's it it empty, roumours said there would be a darkride with boats. But after Efteling created Fata Morgana, there were no more plans for a permanent attraction in this building Only during Halloween, there is a maze in here. "And it's only just outside Brussels for those of you thinking about a visit.." True, and there are direct trains from Brussels North Station to Walibi. There are also direct trains from Leuven, which is a very vivid small student town. You can buy combined train tickets & park visit (called 'B-Dagtrip') online and at every Belgian station. From Belgium with love.

Ghost Train was the best attraction in its kind (live acting + VR + real theming). In that (one but) last room, we stood very close to that eh ... surprise act (please censor me here if you think this is a spoiler). But ... It isnt' an attraction you want to visit several times a day / week ... I guess it is a very expensive attraction, but who will visit this within two or three years? So is it worth the investment? BTW any news about the extra space that will becreated on the sites of Slammer and the old log flume? @Kerfuffle: The late night buss LHR - Staines and the busses Staines - Thorpe - Staines did very well. Maybe I was just lucky, as two days later LHR suffered from a digital meltdown, not to mention the recent awful news from the UK.

My very first visit ever to Thorpe Park (on 25th and 26th of May 2017 ): Bull's eye, thanks to ... - the weather: I didn't know the theme park was situated on a tropical island! - not that long queues on Thursday (an official holiday on the continent: Ascension Day) - We scored the Big Five already around 1 PM on the first day of visit - AN EXTRA EVENING OPEN BECAUSE OF A VIP EVENT (and open for us, the regular hotel guests from 7 pm - 9 pm). - DBGT during that VIP evening - Nice Shark Hotel with very good but noisy airco. Luckyly we were only two persons in this container room. - One hour ERT on Friday - Celebrety Maze was a try-out version on Friday, but I liked it (it even reminds me a bit of Dungeons in Hamburg and Berlin) - Friendly staff - Reliable public busses on time! Also some small disapointments: - Ugly park entrance and Dome Hall - A lot of attractions temporary out of order (e.g. Depth C. early in the morning, Stealth several times and DBGT whole of te regular Thursday, Storm Surge didn't open before 2 PM and had a failure just when it would be our turn) - Permanent water level (ap. 10 cm) in SS's rafts - Not that much shelter (from the sun, but in other occasions: from the rain) in in the queue lines. - Colossus is .... (censored), but a pain in many ways (queueing: do they have only one train?, dispatching: to get in and out is a kind of contortionisme, the ride itself: I'm sitill aching in neck, back 'n bones) - Flat rides (among others Quantum) are rather small - Trash as decoration around Tidal Wave (we had it too around Dizz at Bobbejaanland and still have it around Lost Gravity at Walibi Holland): not my cup of tea. Please find my trip report (written in Dutch) here: http://board.pretparken.be/showthread.php?237-TR-Thorpe-Park-25-26-05-2017 I guess Google translate also works in the other direction [TR] Thorpe Park 25-26_05_2017.pdf

Ghost Train is announced te be closed yesterday and today, according to https://queue-times.com/parks/2/queue_times On the official park website, the rolling message above doesn't display 'Ghost Train now open' as it did last weekend. Seems to be a nice week in TP while Stealth under maintenance ... not! Coincidentally? Or is DBGT only open during weekends and holidays?

Last year at the end of June, I bought for my family Efteling annual passes (150 £/pers.) as it is only 75 km away from our home town. This allows us to visit Liseberg, Phantasialand, Tripsdrill, Isla Magica, Port Aventura and Europa Park for free once during each 'calendar year'. So we got in for free in Europa Park one day in November 2016 and one day in April 2017. Only for Europa Park you need a voucher, made at the guest service of Efteling max. 3 months prior to your planned visit at Europa Park. The free entrance at Liseberg isn't only the entrance fee, it also includes an 'all ride wristband' and an admission to the haunted mansion (normaly at an extra fee of 50 SEK = 5 £). Concerning (semi-)public traffic: check Flixbus. Their hub Breda isn't that far away from Efteling. Their hubs in Karlsruhe, Frankfurt, Strasbourg and Freiburg have direct connections to Europa Park. Flixbus also serves a direct line Lille - Parc Astérix Plailly. Other interesting stops of this bus company might be Heide Park Soltau and Hansa Park Sierksdorf, both directly linked to Hamburg.

I have visited this park over 30 times, once immediately after a nocturnal ferry trip Hull - Zeebrugge (we then had a very calm pre-Easter holiday at Alton Towers and Drayton Manor). The park isn't that far away from the ports of Zeebrugge, Calais and Dunkerke. By public traffic, there is a direct tram connecting the park to all villages and towns along the Belgian coast (like Ostend). The park also has a train station 'De Panne' which is directly connected to towns like Ypres (First World War, anyone?) and Ghent. The park has some disadvantages: 1. Very poor capacity (esp. their Mack water coaster 'Super Splash', the powered Mack 'Draak' and the childish Vekoma coasters 'Victor' and 'Rollerskate'). 2. Most of the attractions are designed and meant for smaller children (and their parents) 3. They try to get money out of you by any means, e.g. 'professional' photographers accompagnying dressed characters and avoiding you of taking your own pictures with the characters. Never a nice way to enter a theme park, in my opinion. 4. Children from 85 cm have to pay an entrance fee. Mostly in Belgian and Dutch theme parks, they get in for free up to 3 or 4 years or up to 1 m. If you Brexiteers (sorry!) come by car and think to visit several theme parks on the continent, you might consider buying a Plopsa Fun Card. This allows you to visit all 5 of the (dry) Plopsa Parks without limitations during one year. Their most thrilling park is Holiday Park (Sky Scream and Expedition Ge-Force!). Plosa Coo is rather small but is situated in an stunning natural environment and it might be on your way to (or back from) Holiday Park. It has one of Europe's best outdoor spinning coasters 'Wickie'. The other two Plopsa parks (Hasselt, Belgium and Coevorden, Netherlands) are smaller, mainly indoor and made for smaller children. Don't waste your time here, unless you travel with young children (< 6 years). The Plopsa Fun Card will let you visit many other parks at a reduced fee. Among others their own Plopsaqua (-40%), nearby theme park & zoo Bellewaerde (-40%), Movie Park Germany (-40%), Walibi Belgium (-40%), Bobbejaanland (-50%), Bagatelle (-40%), Phantasialand (- 40%) and Europapark (-40%). Try to avoid the school holidays (mainly during late spring and summer) in Belgium and Northern France. During the Halloween period it isn't always that busy, as the park aims mainly younger children. Plopsa De Panne is the only main Belgian theme park which is open between the end of Halloween and Easter: every weekend in November and December and two weeks around X-mas and New Year. Please note that only the indoor part 'Mayaland' (no roller coasters or thrill rides here) is open in Jan., Feb. and Mar.

Been there, done that. I don't want to spoil the fun for those who will attempt to this attraction, but here my experience and opinion (slight SPOILER ALERT): I didn't book a time slot ticket. As I showed up in the afternoon (it was raining all day and NeuroGen is one of the few indoor attractions in the park), there was surprisingly no one queuing. The ticket office was already closed. I was lucky te be allowed to enter the attraction without a ticket. It seemed like most of the visitors in the park that day were families with younger children. My oldest son went in just before me but soon he returned through the entrance door. Inside he was asked for his age and he honelstly answered '14', which is too young. I didn't had to wait in the 'waiting room' as I was the only 'patient' around. In a kind of operation room a doctor/actor put VR glasses on your head to approve your brain capacity. The film you see is supposed to show your youth. In one of the scenes you attempt as a young 20er a disco party and take a pill (I guess that's why my son was acces denied). This experience wasn't scary at all. I had much more fear (and fun) visiting haunted houses with live acting in among others Liseberg, Movieland Park Italy and during the Halloween events in Bobbejaanland and Walibi Belgium. I pitty the actors in NeuroGen as I imagine most of their 'patients' won't be that enthusiastic after the treatment.

Stealth will be closed from 15th to 18th of May (announced on Thorpe's main website). Considering this calendar https://queue-times.com/parks/2/open_periods, this interruption occurs during the last calm midweek this season. If it's about necessary maintenance, why don't they close St. already this (busy) weekend? I will visit the park for the very first time in my life on 25th and 26th of May (all the way from Belgium). Fingers crossed if the big five will be operational. Later this summer I will visit among others Kolmården (another stress factor)