Mega-Lite

Genius! Nicely played and the sort of behavior I've come to expect of Efteling. Almost had several heart attacks when I skim read VR and Droomvlucht though, Benin you tease!

I got punched in the face by the door on entry to the ice room (was sitting front right), explain that one Coaster, don't get me wrong was amazingly funny but I'd like to know what's gone wrong there! I haven't seen the trommels working since 2013, so damn, you've been lucky with them! The Odin (angry shouting man) projection is probably the most annoying effect in recent years, as unless I'm seriously underestimating the complexity of it, is surely an easy effect to put right, plus it massively enhances the experience. Can't be sure if the big explosion was booming or not, I'd like to say yes but please don't quote me on that. As I said yesterday, even with these defects Valhalla is still seriously fantastic but I can see where you're coming from for sure. As for the hotel news, fantastic! Hopefully drive the insane prices of Blue Big (the only hotel I'll do in Blackpool) down. I assume some of the other crap disused buildings to the left of the pub are coming down too? Even with that I really can't picture how it's all going to fit in, car park and all but I'm sure they will once again surprise me. Christ Pleasure Beach are on a roll at the minute!

You've triggered me now man! As a man who probably likes Valhalla even more than you do but also as a man grounded in reality when it comes to the industry I'm going to try to be unbiased. Is Valhalla in it's current state anywhere near as bad as you're making out? No. Valhalla by it's very nature is very hit and miss with effects per visit so here's what I took away from my end of season trip. The Good. All the exterior stuff was running, including one of the flame throwers glitching out and going off every 10 seconds all day. The on ride audio was all working and deafening in places. First scene fire goblets were both on and scorching, plus the newly refurbished wolf thing looks amazing. Shouty Odin bloke on the lift was turned on for the first time in a while. Faux fire (steam room) was the best I've seen it ages. The crashing through the wall before the turn table was akin to a car crash! Scene at the top of the second lift looked stunning and all effects up there were running. All the fire effects at the end were working and were insane. The Bad. Audio was off for shouty lift bloke. Trommels on the lift weren't working but they hardly ever do. The black out curtain missing so you could see outside during the backwards drop. The ice room being the warm room, first time I've ever seen this so it didn't bother me, was exciting. The mist you drop through wasn't working which is lame. Water Vortex was off, I'd put that one down to being switched off for weather reasons but yes was a shame, that thing is awful but fantastic. Hammers weren't drenching like I've known them to in the past, once again I've got a feeling this is intentional. Water on fire effect as well as the ring of fire effect were both down but they are so rare to see working. So it was a pretty standard showing in my eyes, few things down and a few things to get excited about. The thing is though, Valhalla is such a fantastic experience even with X amount of things not working as originally planned it is still an awesome experience and easily one of the best dark rides out there. Yes I agree with you, if Pleasure Beach kept Valhalla at the state it was in when it opened, then this awe inspiring ride would be be untouchable, I completely agree with you there. However as has been said already, in order to do that a constant and very expensive maintenance schedule would have to be implemented and as Pleasure Beach aren't Disney/Universal and even more so because of their historic money issues it just isn't possible. I think it's completely unfair to say the money isn't being spent elsewhere either, because the rest of the park looks great at the moment and I don't want to think about the madness that's happening next year because I'll just get excited. If Valhalla has upset you that badly, please go ride Tomb Blaster, that thing deserves to be torn down/burnt down right this second!

It took less than a minute for a response and very little personal information was needed, pretty much the exact opposite of the Chinese visa. It's criminal how little recognition this coaster has on this forum, it could very well be a World Top 10 and I'll let you know soon enough.

I saw this on sale in the park on the last day of the season and was so tempted to buy it as a Christmas present for a friend of mine who hates Mack launch coasters! Personally I see no issue with it, just a bit of fun and a way to build hype. I'm very interested to see how this beast gets marketed actually and I'm hoping the answer is extensively.

I find it really strange how some call Taron the most intense ride ever and it makes them bleed and yet I find it a joyous mince around Klugheim. I'll put that one down to being more hardened than some. Helix made my grey out on my last 5 rides in row! I guess marathoning it 10 in a row with no breaks after being on park 12 hours isn't advised, I loved it though!

Second launch, there's no way to deny that. Brilliant airtime hill? I think not! Neither Helix or Taron are intense coasters from start to finish, however in terms of moments, Taron has 1 (the second launch) and Helix has many.

Every coaster below Helix in my top 10 has faults, Helix is perfection. I think daily, it cannot be bested with current technology.

That's a rather strange way of saying #TeamHelix.

It's the bullet trains, some theme parks with their strange entry options and everything and anything to do with driving a car that makes Japan expensive. Hotels are a steal, local travel is cheap, food is comparable to most places. For sure Japan has the nicest people in the World. Just be aware that standard falls a bit in Osaka and goes to s**t at Nagashima Spite Land. Cannot wait to get back and I'm sure you'll be doing research for your return when you come home.

Good man!! Leaving Japan was one of the hardest moments of my life, it took many beautiful Asiana staff to calm me down!

Risk versus reward my friend, not worth tempting fate to get a cloned Chinese hyper coaster and not much else. For the record I do avoid Paris, London and Barcelona, not from fear but because they are awful. I'll see you in Seoul.

Oh no, what a pity, never mind.

I really don't want to come across insensitive but I'd hope it's an optional sort of job and not forced.

Hold on.. Did I take that in properly, that beast might have non optional VR?

Please hurry up and remove Slammer, I know I won't be visiting at all next year but the sight of the poor thing just sitting there this year broke my stone heart.

There is indeed sadly. Taking my grievances out of the equation. Is Turkey really an easier place to visit than China? I know I wouldn't feel safe going to Turkey at the moment, surely China is the better option? Plus there's much more to do once you're finished with Flash.

Did some cross referencing with the released map last night, to discover, this year we only get 1 new cred, a spinning mouse... Please tell me if I'm missing something but if true that's a rather poor showing. Also why is there TWO carousels? As said before I'm in the city so I might as well, but there's no way I'd make the effort based on new additions this year.

Please explain? Same track layout, same launch speeds, same trains, the only 2 things that change would be the setting and how it rides (assuming Thorpe don't look after it as well as Phantasia). Yes, the setting is changing but that's about it, once again the coaster would ride almost exactly the same bar the fact Japan clearly maintain their coasters better (through hardly operating them). Not sure how culture affects the layout, unless you mean in Japan you're surrounded by beautiful women versus America Texans wearing cowboy hats and shooting into the air during the loop. I'm not throwing up anything in particular, I'm just moaning in general. Remember France is cloning Juvelen, that's certainly not that far away. I'd feel exactly the same, it's named landmark coasters being cloned I'm taking issue with. Put it this way, if a park in China were to CLONE Smiler, I certainly wouldn't bother going there to ride the same coaster but with more faff and less maintenance. If however China opened a brand new Gerts Infinity on the scale of Smiler, I'd be there in a heartbeat. See when I knew that park was getting an Intamin family launch coaster I was already looking into going there, soon as Juvelen clone was dropped, can't be be bothered any more. Nemesis being cloned would be a travesty!

I'm not dropping it because I think people are upset, not at all, I'm dropping it because I've said all I can say about it and there's not really much more to add, without it just becoming a cycle of repetition. I know it's hard to judge context in text form but I hope I'm not coming across upset either! You guys are just looking at it from a mind set I can't get behind and aren't willing to suspend it in order to see where I'm coming from.

Just the track of course, clones haven't stolen themes, yet. Well, one's Mack and Mack is better. Let it be known I'm not including the thousands of SLCs and Boomerangs or even the smaller stuff like Pterosaur, I'm bothered by the sudden rise in big named coasters getting cloned, I'm surprised I'm the only bothered by it really. Please don't assume I'm not fully aware of how and why coasters are cloned, however that doesn't mean I have to like it. I've already said my piece as much as I can so I'll do the mature thing, stop, but be waiting for a clone to trigger one of you guys so I can laugh.

But it punishes those who do go seek out these legendary monsters. Why not build the same coaster type and make it custom? It makes the new coaster worth hunting down and original and leaves the one that came first unique. You guys stay moist for Taron, so... Thorpe announce for 2022 they are getting a Taron clone. Do you... 1) Get so excited that you can now ride the same coaster an hour from your house. or 2) Moan because you want something new and exciting. Also accepting it's going to harm the mystique of Taron. Also Benin, I'm trying something nerdy and smart ass for my avatar, if I remember all will be clear in time!

Mark you've pretty much justified my issues with that post. Why go to X country and ride the only one when you can ride a rip off 10 minutes up the road? It takes a lot away from the status of the original and by default creates less interest in the cloned one. Really bothers me.

Think it's time to unleashed my inner Efteling fan boy and you guys can't judge till you put your Phantasia ones to sleep. It's a weird decision but I'll stand by their side on 2 conditions. It doesn't take money or land from lovely new stuff and they have a go at theming it this time round. I think it's important to conserve history and who are we to say if it's important to the park or it's visitors? Remember Chessie is in it's current state partly because new mangers have lost their grip on the roots of the park and don't respect what they currently have.

Second post in this thread and second moan about cloning coasters Stop it! It takes a large amount of allure from the original and gives me no interest in visiting the clone. Especially something are legendary as Takabisha, insulting! What's next, clone Dodonpa?!