JoshuaWAH

Well when two boats love each other very much.. Okay maybe not now, it is a family forum.

Honestly if they charged a few pounds extra, fine.. But Legoland is literally more than double the price.

So I wanted to add a list of under-rated rides I have ridden- for those rides that do not get appreciated enough. Eurosat- Europa Park In a park full of loads of things to talk about- food, shows, theming. And their big 3, plus Arthur. Euro-Mir's wackyness and its forceful ending. Eurosat seems to not get talked about much. Which is odd considering it is in a huge white dome. The coaster itself is one of the best indoor coasters IMO, ever since the re-track the ride is butter smooth. Has some good laterals, and is a fairly long ride. It is a family coaster, but it does have a bite to it. It also is mostly in darkness so that really adds to it (plus the use of theming as the only lights on the ride). Tomahawk- Portaventura I was considering putting Stampida here, but then I remembered some of the dreary rides I have had on it throughout the years- the awful roughness, or the horrible pacing where the ride just starts crawling. Its neighbour though, Tomahawk is an amazing family wooden coaster. It is very small, it is not very long, but it does pack in some good forces for what it is. When the park has two high questionable intamins, and two high profile B&M's, I guess it is quite easy to forget about Tomahawk. Blue Streak- Cedar Point People like this ride- but it gets buried in the deep sea of great roller coasters at Cedar Point. I often forget about when talking about Cedar Point, which is a grave shame. As it is a pretty classic fun woodie. Gemini- Cedar Point A great racing coaster with good airtime. And a real sense of quirkiness. Again, if this was at Thorpe, it'd be revelled as amazing. But at a park like Cedar Point, it just kind of gets buried sadly. Rougarou- Cedar Point This seems to get a lot of hate- which honestly I do not get. It is a good coaster IMO, way better than Valravn. It is not the smoothest ride, nor does it have the best layout. But it is a fun coaster, that has somehwhat of a different style of layout for a floorless. If this was not at Cedar Point, again, I think it would get more love. Runaway Mountain- SFOT A premier rides coaster with a lift chain? This ride is very akin to Eurosat. But a little smaller. It is compact, forceful, in the dark, and a very fun smooth ride. Viper- Six Flags Great America This woodie is respected, but honestly it deserves a bigger reception. It is one of my favourites woodies, period. It has great airtime, laterals, forces. It is such a classic woodie, and is kept in great condition by Six Flags. It is top 3 at Great America for me, it is a very strong wooden coaster. The Joker- Great America These things get hated on too much- I actually think they are such fun rides. American Eagle- Great America Okay it is brutal as hell, but the ride has some great airtime, so many laterals it is painful. It is also a beast of a woodie.

It looks very unique layout wise for a invert. I am sure it'll be a quirky ride. I love how its layout is a bit funky.

Nope. Right now this would not work on a full park scale, and even if it did. Do parks really need to abolish queueing? No. The covid restrictions (damage to throughput) probably contruibute hard to this. Its probably no worse than it was early last year, or the year before. It has been a huge issue for years. Due to the throughputs already being compromised due to Covid, it just highlights things. Honestly I think the solution begins with Merlin- they need to be more cut-throat. Make it harder, like Europa Park for example. I know it will pi** people off, but let it be. Do not accept doctor notes, if people do not like it. They can complain to Guest Services and get one free fastrack and shut up. Obviously the people are a problem, but if you do not give them a platform to stand on. And sure it might cause some colleratal damage. Whatever they do, just make it harder, less beneficial, maybe limit it to only 5 rides for those who can walk? Whatever they do people are gonna complain to be fair,.

Even the value nowadays at the pizza pasta places is bad- but here at Legoland the price point is extortionate. This is more expensive than Disney and Universal, which are overpriced in itself.. I'm blaming Merlin because it is a bloody Merlin park. Who runs it? Merlin. Lego is just a brand that happens to bring in the people. There is being smart and charging a bit more, and then there is daylight robbery like this price point we see here today. Would you pay for this? Would you buy this meal and feel like you got a inch of value for money?

Honestly I find it so cool they are using slammer as theming for this. Really a subtle easter egg to the past.

Maybe Forbidden Tomb will be the name of the top-spin going in Tomb Blaster's building?

This is absolutely stupid- I thought Merlin actually were pretty good with providing varied and actually not too expensive food. This makes Disney look cheap, for Pizza that is not even that high of quality. Not too long ago we could get unlimited for cheaper.. I'd rather order Pizza to get delivered to the car park for cheaper lol. Honestly I will bloody pack sandwiches if I have to next time I visit a Merlin park.

I just wanted to add my two cents to this- I feel like Blackpool is so liked as it is actually quite unique. Blackpool has so many weird throwbacks to the past in its lineup, rides like Steeplechase are absolutely old gems, you cannot ride a Steeplechase anywhere else. Revolution is a great coaster, and happens to also be one of 3 operating (the only one in Europe, and the most well known of its kind). Throw in 4 fun retro woodies, one of the best Mack Bobsleds, and a good looking Mack. I do see why people like the park. Sure it is really strictly an amusement park- most of the rides are not themed, but the park know that. They keep their classic dark rides, like Alice, River Caves, Ghost Train. Which are always pretty charming, and good fun. They have Skyforce which is the best non Detonator flat ride in the UK IMO. Skyforce also happens to be incredibly reridable and enjoyable too. The park sure is a bit outdated, it does not look the pretty. But I always have a blast there, I think it is easily the most well known non merlin park, and for good reason. Even though I make fun of it every now and then, I do respect it as the second best park in the UK. I do think it has fans for a reason. It certainly has its unique quirks, I feel a lot of parks that are as old as Blackpool haven't preserved the past as well as Blackpool had, the fact they have rides like Revolution and Steeplechase still going shows.. Now sure someone might make a Wild Mouse comment, but honestly you have to remember it was a in-house wooden wild mouse, it had a bad throughput, and we did get a consolation prize the next year. Wild Mouse was the best ride on the park, yes. But I bet it was wholely complicated, Wooden Wild Mouses are nearly extinct (I think there is one left), and that is for a reason. The park do take care of their wooden coasters quite well, and they have still their arrows running strong, so it is not like the park do not try. Sometimes you cannot preserve everything. I agree, as a 'I'm better than you' kind of thing- I really hope this one day stops. I think a lot of people (including myself) have coined rides over-rated (like Millenium). I think it really just stems to what each of us want in a coaster, I know people like Millenium for its speed and length, what I value in coasters the most is airtime. I think people really go in expecting without considering that ride really actually will not appeal to their indivdual taste. And then coin it as over-rated. Which is perhaps a bit of bad way of saying you perhaps do not have a common opinion on a ride. Which is what I have been guilty of in the past. I think if people elaborated more on why the coaster did not live up to their own personal expectations- it wouldn't be so bad! Okay enough rambling for the day

I like this. Any investment in Drayton is good tbh, the park could do with some modern areas and some new rides.

I honestly do not remember the Ghost Train's campaign very well, probably because I was not very interested. I think Merlin have done better marketing trains for rides. The Smiler is a amazing example. The Sanctuary- a maze that basically serves a backstory really fleshes the theme properly for me. I only got to experience it in 2014, but I do believe debuting that maze in 2012 as a teaser was genius. I also remember their was an stupid amount hype behind Smiler. And for good reason, it was a unqiue coaster that really nobody believed could be crammed into that footprint. I remember the app and game they released that slowly revealed the proper layout, and theme. The more you played the more the layout was revealed, I also remember the videos they released towards the opening that were sinister too. I think it has generated the most hype out of any ride for me. Swarm was equally as great, roaming actors. And attempts to build the story they have created. I think the closest Merlin has got to Smiler/Swarm is Wickerman, which is decent. But nowhere near as good, The maze a year before also happened. Though The Welcoming sadly did not really invest me in the theme like The Sanctuary did.

BUMP. This one came to me the other day, when I was younger I went to Six Flags Over Texas- this ride is not the 'worst' ride ever. But for its stature and size. It is such a piece of crap. Titan. The ride's layout is just so pointless. It has a 255 feet drop, which is incredibly shallow, and void of any airtime. It feels like a ramp, not a drop. It does have good speed though, so that is something I guess? After that drop is a forceless turnaround, a airtime hill that gives no airtime, and a helix before slamming into the world's worst MCBR. This MCBR murders the speed, and pacing. It also is abrupt and painful. The ride then crawls down, before having its best element. The "death" helix, this element gives the highest dose of positive G's I have experienced. It is highly sustained, and made me grey out/black out on every ride. I semi-liked this element, but it is uncomfortable and honestly a little too much tbh. Though I give it points for not being boring, unlike the rest of the ride. The ride meanders to the brakes afterwards. The ride is not the worst- it is smooth, but its layout is just so awful. Hypers are meant to be fun and re-ridable, not boring barring a element that tries to kill you.

Its kind of messy with family rides. Thorpe from 2013-2015 decided to try the family route. Before ditching it in 2016, then adding hand me down family friendly flat rides in 2017, then finally drenching their most popular family ride in blood and zombies for no reason in 2018. It seems at the moment we're not getting anything more than a walkthrough or a bench. Honestly I think Merlin view Thorpe as a low profit asset, and hence right now they would rather invest in Legolands and throw Alton and Chessington the occasional bone. With Covid, I honestly think Thorpe getting anything will be a long shot. A new coaster- that might take a decade at this rate.

I'm not surprised, they have lacked direction for 6 years now. RIP to the park having a clear image.

Thought I'd bump this. So I've ranked my favourite launches 1. Top Thrill Dragster- Hydraulic launches at its full power. Its a smooth launch, and the lap bar restraints add to the experience. It feels like Stealth but on steriods. 2. Furius Baco- As marmite as this coaster is. You have to admit the launch is amazing. A 83.9MPH hydraulic launch is great, but in the wing seats. It feels stupidly powerful. I honestly think this launch gets a little overlooked due to the ride being heavily flawed. But it is amazing. 3. Mr Freeze Reverse Blast- Its been nearly 10 years, but I remember this being an amazing backwards launch. It is a very different style of launch. 4. Maverick's second launch- This moment is so powerful. Easily my favourite LSM launch, it feels just as strong as some of the hydraulic ones do. 5. Stealth- A very powerful hydraulic launch. It is smooth, and the acceleration is brilliant. 6. Rita- It may be the red-headed step child of Alton Towers. But it does have a great launch, I'll give it that. 7. Taron's rolling launch- This is akin to Maverick, though I would not say it is as good (mostly due to it having speed going in). It still is very strong though and gives some great forces (and a great noise). 8. Wicked Twister/Vertical Velocity- These impulse coasters kind of feel the same to me. They have great launches. It is interesting being launched in the inverted position. Dishonourable mention goes to Red Force, it rattles so bad on that launch it gives me a headache. Furius Baco it SMOOTHER on its launch track. Which is saying something.. Maverick and Taron's first launches also didn't make it as they are more of a way to get the train moving, Blue Fire is somewhat of a honourable mention. I have felt force on it in some rows, though it is not as strong as the 8 I've listed.

I guess its good they are trying to add events during the summer period albeit a little last minute. Thorpe sorely lacks a summer event at the moment, so having Mardi Gras and something going on during the main summer is decent. I felt the Oktoberfest plaza was fine how it was. With Derren gone it is a dead area, so having the plaza there actually worked fairly well, it gave me reason to walk there. Alton probably had a way better setup, but they have huge amounts of space on their side. I do not think there is many other options at Thorpe tbh. Maybe Big Top's old location? Can't they do both? Oktoberfest/FN would be a good few months after a spring/summer event. It doesn't have to be perfect. Its all a bit of fun at the end of the day. Some extra food options and entertainment can go a long way.

God we can hope. If they got it, I would visit WAY more often.

Its good to see the return of the Intamin, I just hope they are somewhat reliable. Hagrids looks amazing, but seemed like a never ending nightmare for Universal. Both Pantheon and Velocicoaster look like top tier rides. I do think Walibi Belgium's mega coaster looks better than both tbh. But all are probably going to be top tier rides, when they are open anyway.

So Alton just announced a new event for the 22nd May – 20th June- it is called Mardi Gras. Here is some more info. "a carnival inspired takeover that will dazzle you with an explosion of colours, sounds, high energy entertainment and rides open until late, as well as exciting new food options from around the world." This sounds like fun IMO. I like how Merlin are experimenting with events at their parks. The extra entertainment, and food options honestly really add to the atmosphere of the parks. I liked Oktoberfest at Thorpe, it was not perfect. But it had its quirks, and the beer was a perk. I hope we get something like this at Thorpe, it would be a bit of fun.

If only they had a family enclosed Vekoma coaster.. It would do wonders for the park's younger audience. I actually agree with the actual entrance not being the problem, but the area around it needs improvement IMO.

For Merlin its pretty bad tbh. Look at Alton's entrance, the iconic corkscrews over the plaza. Alton is probably one of the most iconic tbh. So its not really even a merlin thing. If you look at old pictures, it does look a little better. But still. Heide and Garda seem to have better entrances, as does the Legolands. Chessingtons is the only other one that is bad to be fair.

10/10 entrance. Gatekeeper's keyholes have nothing on this

I'm guessing it was offered by Mack as a redundant additionary measure. If it was compulsory I am sure Mack would of added it to their prototype at the large theme park they directly own?

I still can't believe this park is getting this. Such a cool and unique coaster. I hope this is a hit, as this model honestly looks like a home run for Mack.