Matt N

Hi guys. In recent years, I think it’s fair to say that Alton Towers have had a bit of a nostalgia push, for lack of a better term. In 2023, the park revamped Duel into The Curse at Alton Manor, which harked back to the ride’s roots and brought back something more akin to the Haunted House from 1992 (while Curse is not the Haunted House, it’s a haunted house with enough shared DNA that I think the two could be conflated with one another by a casual visitor). In 2024, the park retracked Nemesis. And in 2025, the park have opened Toxicator, which brings back a ride akin to the late Ripsaw from 1997 (while Toxicator is not the Ripsaw, it’s a Top Spin with enough shared DNA that I think the two could be conflated with one another by a casual visitor). Argaubly more so than ever before, Alton Towers’ recent investments seem to be leaning heavily into nostalgia for the park’s past. This is an interesting change of pace for the park compared to years gone by, so I’d be interested to know; what are your thoughts on the recent nostalgia push at Alton Towers? Do you love that the park is harking back to the glory days of the past? Or do you think that the park is fixating overly on past glories and not bringing enough new things to the table? Personally, I’m in two minds. I think there’s a balance to be struck between nostalgia and new ideas. On the one hand, I don’t think any of the projects that have been done have been unnecessary projects or excessively fixated on nostalgia to their detriment. Curse did not attempt to synthetically “revive” the 1992 Haunted House as some were advocating for and as I feared might happen; it did attempt to put its own spin on the haunted house concept and I think it works really well. Nemesis Reborn was a revival of a ride that was by all accounts revered and a core part of the park’s DNA, and I think the changes were excellent and breathed new life into the concept to bring it into the 21st century. Toxicator, perhaps ironically with it being the only new piece of ride hardware, is perhaps the one that feels like it was most done for nostalgia’s sake; there are a lot of other types of flat ride to pick from, and they still went for the one that the park had in 1997. But even still, Alton Towers lacks flat rides and the Top Spin as a ride type does objectively offer a lot of positive attributes. These projects have good ideas at their core, and one could argue; why should a good idea go unused just because it has been used before? Newness for newness’s sake is not necessarily a good thing; sometimes the old ones are the best, as they say! On the other hand, however, I have a key concern about the park relying on nostalgia for multiple recent investments. That concern is that an excessive focus on nostalgia for multiple investments in a row might contribute to a public perception that the park is stood still, and isn’t moving forward. I’m not saying that projects like the revamps weren’t good, but I think more so than any decade prior, Alton Towers has felt like it’s stood still during the 2020s so far. We as enthusiasts might be interested in projects like Curse and Nemesis Reborn, and the park are undeniably splashing the cash, but for the casual visitor, I have my concerns that it looks like the park is simply living off past glories and rehashing the past. To the casual observer, I can see why Curse is “just the Haunted House in a new colour”, Nemesis Reborn is “just Nemesis in a new colour”, and Toxicator is “just Ripsaw in a new colour”. In isolation, I think all of these projects were fundamentally good and beneficial, and nostalgia in moderate doses is not necessarily a bad thing… but when put together and being the only things done for multiple years in a row, they give off an impression that the park has run out of ideas and hasn’t done anything meaningfully new in years. People might rhapsodise about “the experience” in years gone by, but I feel this sentiment ignores the key thing that gave Alton Towers its popularity and status in the first place. During the 1980s and 1990s, the park was forward-thinking and brought several new and innovative ride installations to the table, and it attracted the public’s attention in a big way. Heck, even during the 2010s, the park was still forward-thinking and bringing new and innovative ride installations to the table in the form of rides like Thirteen, Smiler and Wicker Man. But when Alton Towers has spent the last few years in a row doing nothing but refurbishing and/or “reviving” things from the park’s past, I fear that that forward-thinking and innovating mentality that gave the park its name will be perceived to have gone. Multiple nostalgia-driven projects in a row could feel like the park is rehashing the old hits and living in the past rather than bringing anything new to the table. So personally, my view is that there is a place for nostalgia, and good ideas should not necessarily be abandoned for newness’s sake, but that the park’s reliance on it in recent years could perhaps be excessive, particularly if continued into 2026 and beyond. If we, for instance, see a new enterprise to “revive” Enterprise in 2027 and a new pirate ship to “revive” Blade in 2028, I fear it will just fuel a perception that the park is stood still and living in the past. We need some legitimately new blood interspersed in with nostalgia to make it feel like the park is moving forwards, and I’d argue we’ve reached a juncture where Alton Towers could perhaps do with some new blood rides-wise. But I’d be keen to know; what are your thoughts on Alton Towers’ recent nostalgia push? Do you think it’s a good idea to hark back to the glory days? Or do you think the park could do with bringing some new ideas to the table?

I couldn’t find an exclusive topic for it (apologies if there is one), but I did Toxicator for the first time over the weekend. I shared a few thoughts in my trip report from the Saturday, but I’ll give a few slightly more in-depth thoughts here. Let me start with the theming and presentation… Presentation On the presentation front, I think it overall looks really nice. To give a few more refined thoughts: I was unsure on the platform prior to the ride’s opening, but I have to say that it does make the ride look really dominant and visually striking; that platform absolutely towers above the area! Theming-wise, I think they’ve done an excellent job. There are some really nice little details around the area and queue, as well as in the underpass, and I also really like things like the audio and the toxic waste tanks (?) on either side of the ride. Yes, it might not quite match the grandeur of something like Talocan (from what I’ve seen of that one), but it’s better themed than 95% of flat rides out there, including any of the ones that used to populate Alton Towers in years gone by, so I’d consider the theming we have on Toxicator a big win! As with anything designed by John Burton, there are quite a few Easter eggs, or “nods to the past”. Maybe not as many as on some of his other work, but I did notice a couple of “Can you cut it?” references, as well as a reference to 1997 somewhere. I would say, though, that the platform is a double edged sword. I say this because while I think it makes the ride look really dominant, it does maybe sacrifice some practicality in that when the ride is in operation, it seems to leak water everywhere. I’m not sure if this is intentional or a design flaw arising from the ride’s placement on top of a platform, but there was a bit of the queue that I noticed people not standing in because the ride was raining water into it during operation, and the underpass is difficult to walk under for similar reasons. But on the whole, I would give the park top marks for presentation on this one; the ride looks great thematically! Let me talk about the ride now… The Ride Now prior to Saturday, I had never actually ridden a Huss Top Spin before. I never did Ripsaw when it operated, and I also never did Rameses Revenge either, so this was a new ride type for me! I’m not a great lover of flat rides in general, but I had heard people say that Ripsaw “wasn’t as bad as it looked”, so I wondered if I might like Toxicator. Unfortunately, I’m sorry to say that the ride really wasn’t for me at all. I really hoped I might like it or not dislike it that much, but unfortunately, I would say it was right down there with Air Race at Drayton Manor and Samurai at Thorpe Park as one of the most vile flat rides I’ve ridden, and I would it was my least favourite thing I rode all weekend at Alton Towers. I’m aware this is quite strong criticism, so I feel I should back up my stance with reasons. My reasons for disliking the ride so strongly are two fold: Firstly, it has a fair amount of slow and very sustained upside down hangtime. I can take brief or fast hangtime to a point (e.g. the inversion on Swarm’s dive drop, or Smiler’s indoor inversion), but the really slow and sustained kind of hangtime where it just leaves you hanging upside down for ages and ages is the kind that I absolutely hate. Toxicator seemed to have loads of it, unfortunately, and that turned me off it for sure. Secondly, I found the flipping a bit too violent for my liking. I’m not someone who’s averse to going upside down by any means (I’m absolutely fine with it on coasters), but Toxicator seemed to flip over and over in a ridiculously violent fashion that I just did not find remotely enjoyable. It made me feel a bit queasy, if I’m honest, and I just found the flipping too violent and jerky for my liking. I’m sorry if that’s controversial. I know many, many people love these Huss Top Spins, and rate Toxicator and also the likes of Talocan really highly, but that experience just was not for me at all. In a park like Alton Towers, where there are loads of great rides to pick from, it’s not a ride I see myself rushing back on any time soon. Wetness-wise, I didn’t get as wet as I feared I might. I got a bit of spray on my legs, but nothing overly terrible; it dried quite quickly, even on an overcast morning like Saturday. I can imagine the spray might be nice on a hotter day! I really want to be excited by Toxicator, and I do think the park should be applauded for building a new flat ride, but my experience on it over the weekend reminded me why I have little to no personal excitement for the idea of new flat rides at Alton Towers. I’m just not a massive fan of them in general, and the types I do really like (namely drop towers and S&S Screamin’ Swings, to name a couple… mainly things that offer notable airtime and don’t really spin!) are types of ride that Alton Towers can’t build due to height restrictions. I get that the park lacks flat rides, but I struggle to muster up an awful lot of personal enthusiasm for any hypothetical flats that Towers might build in the future, and Toxicator has definitely not changed that, I’m afraid. One other thing I would say, which I admit is perhaps slightly picky, is that if the park builds any more flat rides in the coming years, I hope they go for something that the park hasn’t had before. As much as Toxicator is a brilliant visual piece and looks really cool, I get the overriding impression that many people see it as “Ripsaw in a different colour”. While Toxicator is a new ride, the fact that it’s effectively a revival of a ride from 1997 does only add to the impression that Alton Towers isn’t really progressing and hasn’t done much that’s meaningfully new in years. Curse and Nemesis Reborn were brilliantly executed projects, but they were refurbishments and/or revivals of old staples rather than meaningfully new things, and I feel that Toxicator kind of has this feel to the casual visitor as well. I don’t think Toxicator being a Top Spin was necessarily a bad thing per se, as the ride type does offer many really cool aspects, but I do hope that future flat ride additions to Alton Towers offer something the park has never had before rather than simply being similar “revivals” of Enterprise, Submission, Blade et al. My fear is that the casual visitor might lump Toxicator in with the likes of Curse and Nemesis Reborn as being a refurbishment or revival of the old rather than properly new blood, and I feel that Alton Towers is maybe at that point where it could do with some properly new blood ride-wise. I hate to leave negative reviews, so I’ll try and be somewhat balanced and diplomatic with my summary. In summation, I would say that Toxicator is an excellent ride visually, and I will give them top marks for presentation. The ride really does look brilliant! I will also applaud them for trying to fill the flat ride gap in Alton Towers’ lineup. And if you like flat rides more than I do, I’m sure you’ll really enjoy the ride itself! But I’m afraid that the ride experience was not for me at all, and it’s probably a one and done within the sphere of Alton Towers for me; I don’t see myself rushing back on it any time soon. I’m sorry to leave a negative review, but I feel obliged to be 100% honest whenever I review things, and that is how I honestly felt. Here are a couple of photos I took (I didn’t take many, as I didn’t spend very long in the queue): On the plus side, being disappointed by Toxicator was the only real dampener on what was a broadly excellent two-day visit to Alton Towers! Operations were generally excellent; Nemesis was hardly stacking, Galactica was in “slowing down on the lift hill” territory on 3 trains and 2 stations, and Thirteen was throwing out trains at a rate I’ve never seen before! They were getting dispatch intervals as fast as 50 seconds on there, and even with a few larger guests who needed an extra restraint check as well as a dispatch where people weren’t leaving the exit platform quickly enough to dispatch, my average dispatch interval while in Thirteen’s station was 56 seconds, or 1,272pph. That is awesome! Wicker Man and Smiler were also doing well on a full capacity service. Availability was also generally pretty good, and some of the rides were running as excellently as ever! Wicker Man remains my favourite on park, and I got a particularly fantastic row 11 ride this trip, but Oblivion was also running brilliantly and I got my first front row ride on Nemesis following the retrack, which was sublime! The hotel was also really nice overall; it was nice to stay on-site again, and given the drama around Aramark, I thought the breakfast was absolutely fine! Given some of the negativity around Towers at the moment, I feel I should give credit where credit is due and say that this was an excellent trip to Alton Towers overall!

27th July 2025: Alton Towers Day 2 We had our second day in the park today! I was looking forward to getting back into the park and doing some rerides, as well as potentially some things I hadn’t done on the first day! After breakfast in the Alton Towers Hotel, which I actually thought was perfectly nice given all of the drama around Aramark, I headed into the park on my own and took advantage of a perk that I haven’t seen offered in years… Early Ride Time! I can’t think of the last time that I remember having Early Ride Time at Alton Towers for hotel guests, particularly the full hour from 9am, but it was on offer today, so I took full advantage! I left the hotel room at around 8:50am and got admitted into the park at bang on 9am after a short wait: After entering the park, I headed to my first ride… Nemesis Nemesis was on a very short queue and was the only major thrill coaster open for ERT, so I decided to give it a go. I only waited 5 minutes, which I can never complain about, and I was on the ride swiftly. So, how was it? Well, I was in row 7, and it was brilliant as always; for a morning ride, the ride was running quickly, and packed brilliant speed and intensity! That initial sequence never fails to deliver, and overall, the ride was definitely a brilliant way to wake me up this morning: After my first ride on Nemesis, I liked it so much that I headed straight back round for another while the queue was walk on! I was once again in row 7, and it was once again brilliant; I do love Nemesis, and it was running very well today! After my second ride on Nemesis, I headed over to Katanga Canyon to get on a ride I didn’t do yesterday… Runaway Mine Train Runaway Mine Train was part of the ERT lineup and on a 5 minute advertised queue time, so as I hadn’t ridden it yesterday, I decided to give it a go. The queue time board stayed true to its word, and I was pretty much batched onto the next cycle after joining the queue. So, how was the ride? Well, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Runaway Mine Train, and today was no exception; I was seated in row 15, and the ride was good fun! Of the powered coasters I’ve ridden, I do think that RMT has one of the strongest layouts; it maintains good speed throughout, and that helix into the tunnel is surprisingly intense for a family coaster! All in all, then, I was glad to get back on Runaway Mine Train; in a way, going on it almost makes me nostalgic for the Alton Towers trips of my childhood, what with it being one of my first ever coasters back when I first rode it in 2009: After I got off the Runaway Mine Train, it was around 9:40am, so I decided to head over and join the pre-opening queue for my in-park favourite… Wicker Man Wicker Man is an ever popular ride and I was keen to do it again, so I decided to get into the pre-opening queue and try to score an early ride. The pre-opening queue was not overly long, and I ultimately got on the ride in around 30 minutes after it opened; for a popular ride like Wicker Man first thing in the morning, I don’t think that’s too bad! So, how was the ride? Well, after my slightly more middling seat placements yesterday, I was very pleased that my single rider status benefitted me today, as I scored row 11! And I have to say that this ride was definitely a cut above any of the rides I had yesterday; Wicker Man is always excellent, but a ride towards the back of the train is a definite cut above the rest, in my view! When on the back, you really feel the speed and whip, and there’s also quite a bit more airtime as well! Today’s row 11 ride absolutely creased me like very few rides I’ve ever done; I find Wicker Man so much fun, and the back of the train is especially fun: After I got off Wicker Man, my parents entered the park, and me and my dad headed to ride… Oblivion Oblivion was on an advertised 30 minute queue time, so me and my dad decided to give it a go, as my dad loves Oblivion and hadn’t done it yesterday. However, we decided to do something slightly different… even though we were together, we decided to go in the single rider queue and ride separately in an attempt to reduce our queueing time. This was very successful, as we got on in less than 5 minutes… and even more successful in that we got unexpectedly batched together! I’m not sure that is technically how single rider is supposed to work, but I’m certainly not going to complain! But how was the ride? Well, as with yesterday, Oblivion was absolutely fantastic; I had a particularly loose restraint on today’s ride, and I absolutely flew out of the seat! The speed in the tunnel was also hitting hard as always; even having ridden the likes of Red Force, I still think that Oblivion’s tunnel is quite possibly one of the fastest feeling roller coaster moments I’ve ever experienced. That tunnel feels ridiculously fast! On the brake run, my dad and I were enthusiastically agreeing with each other that the tunnel on Oblivion definitely adds something to the experience compared to SheiKra; it’s taken me years to realise it, but I definitely now think Oblivion is the superior Dive Coaster for me. It may be short, but that drop-tunnel combo hits every time!: After we got off Oblivion, I decided to head for a single rider ride on the other coaster in the area… The Smiler The Smiler was on an advertised 30 minute queue time, but as I was on my own (mum and dad didn’t fancy Smiler after yesterday’s ride), I decided to go in the single rider queue to give Smiler a go. And as per usual with my single rider exploits, I did make a time saving, getting on in just 15 minutes; I can never complain about that! But how was the ride? Well, I was seated in row 3, and it was a little bit smoother than yesterday… but I’m still not a great fan of The Smiler. It’s a ride I really want to like, as I think the layout is creative on paper, but there’s something that doesn’t quite rub me the right way about how the layout rides in practice. The restraint was also tightening horribly today; it seemed to have my thighs locked into an almost vice-like grip after the first half, and I couldn’t move them at all, which definitely impeded my enjoyment. Perhaps controversially, I almost think the restraints impede my enjoyment of Smiler more than the roughness; I do find it tough to enjoy myself on there when the harness is digging into my thighs so much: After my ride on The Smiler, I met back up with my parents, and me and my mum headed to… Thirteen Thirteen was on an advertised 50 minute queue time, but after me and my dad’s single rider success on Oblivion earlier in the day, me and my mum decided to go up the single rider queue and ride separately. We did not get batched together like me and my dad did, but in terms of time, it was possibly the biggest single rider success yet; there was no one ahead of us in the queue, I was batched onto the next train, and my mum was batched onto the one after! You can’t complain about skipping a 50 minute queue without using Fastrack! But how was the ride? Well, I was seated in row 6, and once again, it was a really decent ride. Even without the first drop pull of the back, I still really like the outdoor section of Thirteen, but the indoor section and backwards helix is where it really comes into its own! All in all, then, Thirteen was thoroughly enjoyable, and I was gratified by another single rider success: After I got off Thirteen, I decided to go on an attraction that I hadn’t ridden in a couple of years… Hex Hex was on an advertised 5 minute queue, so I decided to take a ride on there. Neither of my parents wanted to go on Hex, so I went alone for this one, and I ultimately got on in around 10 minutes. So, how was it? Well, I was interested to ride Hex again, as I hadn’t done it since March 2023, and the ride has been renovated somewhat since my last visit, following its period of extended closure. The changes have been contentious to say the least, but I have to say that perhaps controversially, I think the changes made have really enhanced the experience! They seem to have added loads of little enhancements; little things like the on-cue lighting in the cinema room and the big pyrotechnic that they’ve added in the Octagon are absolutely awesome additions, and I also really like the very controversial new lighting in the vault! Overall, then, it was really nice to get back on Hex; I wouldn’t say the Madhouse ride system is my absolute favourite, but of the four I’ve ridden, Hex is definitely my favourite example of the genre. It’s brilliantly theatrical, and I also think it feels brilliantly ambient in a way that none of the others do. Those new changes were a brilliant move for me that have made it possibly the best I’ve ever known it be: After Hex, it was around 12:20pm, and mum and dad made it abundantly clear that they were ready to start gradually heading towards an exit. As such, we headed over to some of the final rides of the day in Forbidden Valley via the Skyride. It was really nice to get back on there for the first time since 2022; I got some interesting views of The Gardens, and when we stopped in the air at one point, the wire bounced possibly mode than I’ve ever known it bounce!: After the Skyride, my dad and I headed for a reride on Nemesis, on an advertised 30 minute queue time. The advertised queue time was broadly pretty accurate, with us waiting for 35 minutes or so, and this time, we got really lucky and scored the front row. This was the first time since the retrack that I’ve ridden the front row on Nemesis, and I have to say that the ride really comes into its own on the front; in contrast with Wicker Man, Nemesis is 100% a front row coaster for me! The sense of speed in the front is absolutely astonishing, and the near misses are quite something; that initial sequence with the helix and the zero-g roll in particular is sublime in the front! That ride was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me, and I was really glad to score a front row ride on there: After that awesome front row ride on Nemesis, I headed for my final ride of the trip… Galactica Galactica was on an advertised 10 minute queue time, so I decided to give it another go. I pondered using the single rider queue, but as the main queue was so short (not even stretching to the merge point), I decided not to bother. 10 minutes was if anything an overstatement; I was on that ride within 5 minutes! So, how was the ride? Well, as with yesterday, I have to say that I actually enjoyed Galactica a fair bit more than I have on previous visits. I was seated in row 6, and while I would never describe Galactica as a favourite of mine and would still say that the position is a bit uncomfortable, the ride was good fun. In that position, I very much appreciate Galactica’s focus on slightly gentler manoeuvres more than the focus of the bigger B&M flyers on big, intense elements! All in all, then, Galactica, while not an absolute favourite of mine, was still a fun way to end the trip: After Galactica, it was 1:30pm and my mum and dad had had enough, so we headed out of the park via the Galactica gate and headed home, getting off Alton Towers property by 1:45pm. So, that wraps up our second day at Alton Towers, as well as the trip more broadly! Even though today was a bit shorter than yesterday, it was still fruitful; I got on 11 rides including the Skyride, and 10 rides even excluding it, which is not to be sniffed at given I was only in the park for a total of 4.5 hours, in my view! I also greatly appreciated having ERT for the first time in years, and I had some of my best rides of the trip today; Wicker Man on row 11 was incredible, but Nemesis on the front was also a huge highlight! And on the whole, it was another fruitful day to cap off a generally excellent trip to Alton Towers; I know I’ve been to Alton Towers a lot over the years, but when on form, it still does it for me like no other park in the country! Thanks for reading; I hope you’ve enjoyed this report! I’m not sure when my next trip report will be, but chances are that it will either be from Thorpe Park or a visit to Barry Island Pleasure Park to go and tick off some more local cuisine theme park-wise!

26th July 2025: Alton Towers Day 1 Hi guys. Today was an exciting day; it was the first day of my annual Alton Towers visit for 2025! After a rather light season so far, comprised mainly of my MSc course aside from two visits to Blackpool and Paultons Park, I was looking forward to returning to some more familiar turf and getting on some of my favourite rides in the UK, as well as checking out the new for 2025 addition: Toxicator! As an added bonus, I also have two days on park and an overnight stay in the Alton Towers Hotel, so I’m going back in tomorrow as well! We left our home in Gloucestershire at around 7:30am and arrived on site at Alton Towers a little after 10am. The satnav went a little bit rogue, taking us off the M6 at Cannock and sending us through Cannock, Rugeley and many other previously unseen bits of rural Staffordshire, but the journey was mostly seamless aside from a little bit of queueing around JCB due to the LIV Golf event (which we turned the satnav on specifically to avoid, but it unfortunately failed us in this endeavour!). After we parked up, I headed on in to the park ahead of my parents and passed the threshold at the hotel entrance at around 10:15am: After entering the park, I headed to my first ride… Galactica Galactica was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so I thought I’d be foolish not to take a ride on there seeing as I was right next to it! The queue time board stayed pretty true to its word, with the queue only taking around 10 minutes; you can never complain about that! So, how was the ride? Well, I’m not normally the biggest fan of Galactica, but I have to say that it was perfectly enjoyable today! I was sat in row 4, and there was some nice speed and fun twisty bits! Perhaps controversially, I do find Galactica more enjoyable than the larger B&M flying coaster I’ve ridden, Manta, because I don’t like the pretzel loop on Manta and Galactica is much more tolerable in terms of forces. I still don’t find the position the most comfortable, and would never describe it as a favourite of mine, but it was better than I’d remembered and it rode perfectly pleasantly today: After Galactica, I met up with my dad, and we headed to ride the other coaster in the area… Nemesis Nemesis was on an advertised 5 minute queue, so we decided to take a ride on there. We got on the ride within about 5 minutes of passing the entrance, when you include the walk to find the back of the queue; Nemesis’ queue is quite a walk, even with bits of it closed! But how was the ride? Well, I’ve always loved Nemesis, and today was no exception! For something that’s not overly tall or fast, the ride packs absolutely superb speed and intensity, and some of those sequences of elements are truly inspired! I particularly love the sequence leading from the first drop through to the zero-g roll; the sheer build up of speed there is so exhilarating! I also have to say that I maintain my view from last year regarding the rattle; I think the discussion about it is over egged myself. I do not find it to impede my enjoyment at all, even in the outer seats; it’s there, but I find it largely benign and honestly hardly notice it most of the time. Overall, then, I thoroughly enjoyed my ride on Nemesis; it’s definitely one of my favourite coasters on park (albeit not quite my very favourite), and I loved getting back on there: After we got off Nemesis, I split off from my parents to head to something a bit different… Toxicator Toxicator was on an advertised 5 minute queue, so as it was the new draw for the year, I decided to give it a go. As with the other two Forbidden Valley rides, the queue only took around 10 minutes; for a new ride, I can’t complain about that! But how was it? Well, I’m not a big flat ride lover, but I never did Ripsaw when it operated, so resultantly, Toxicator was my first ever Huss Top Spin and I wanted to give it a try for that reason alone. I was interested to see how it rode, but also mildly nervous to see how wet I would get given it wasn’t that warm and I’d heard tales of people getting absolutely soaked by Toxicator with the fountains on. The ride looks really nice with all the theming and audio, and I have to say that I did not get nearly as wet as I’d feared, with only one fountain spray on my legs… but I’m really sorry to say that I did not like Toxicator at all, and found the experience absolutely vile. My reasons for not liking it are two fold; the first is that it does a lot of that sustained upside down hangtime that I absolutely hate, which turned me off it, and the second is that if I’m being honest, I think I find all the flipping in a row too much in terms of nausea and too violent for my liking. It is quite violent when it flips over and over, and I didn’t like it at all. I’m sorry if that’s controversial, as I know people have been raving about it as well as the likes of Talocan which is the same ride style, but as someone who doesn’t go mad for flat rides in general, I would say that Toxicator was right down there with Air Race at Drayton Manor and Samurai at Thorpe Park as one of the most vile I’ve ridden. In a park packed with brilliant rides like Alton Towers, it’s definitely a one and done for me; I don’t see myself rushing to ride it again any time soon: After Toxicator, my mum fancied a ride on Nemesis, having not ridden it earlier. I was never going to say no to a reride on Nemesis, and after a 15-20 minute queue, we were once again seated in row 5, and it was once again absolutely excellent. While I’m on the subject, I should also add that operations on both Forbidden Valley coasters were absolutely superb; Nemesis was on 2 trains and hardly stacking, and Galactica was on 3 trains and 2 stations and in “slowing down on the lift hill” territory, which I think is brilliant myself: After an awesome reride on Nemesis, we headed out of Forbidden Valley towards some of the other rides, taking a dark ride detour on the way… The Curse at Alton Manor Curse was on an advertised 5 minute queue, so as it was on our way out towards the rest of the park, me and my dad decided to have a go on there. If anything, the 5 minute queue time was overstated, as we practically walked straight on there; Curse is a very reliable walk on ride! So, how was it? Well, I have to say it was very good; I think it was a brilliant overhaul that vastly improved on Duel, and it was on fine form today, with pretty much every effect working! One effect on there that I’m a particular fan of is the Trommel Tunnel; when working properly, that is a really cool effect, particularly with the clock at the end of the tunnel! I also really like the whole story they added to the ride, as well as some of the projection mapping, and the effect with the mirror and the finale are some other really cool effects! I’ll admit that 1 or 2 of the projections (namely the skull and Emily popping out of the coffin) look a bit naff, but on the whole, I think the revamp was a major victory for that ride in that it made it a good, cohesive dark ride again! I’ll admit, though, that I do get a bit jumpy in there at times, and I think it’s about the top of the scare threshold I can tolerate; it’s the air cannons that get me! Given that some air cannons and audio on Curse make me jumpy, I think it’s perhaps for the best that I don’t do actor led attractions like Sub-Terra: After Curse, we headed down the Haunted Hollow to our next coaster… Wicker Man Wicker Man was on an advertised 45 minute queue time, so we decided to take a ride on there. As it turned out, the 45 minute queue time was overstated, taking only 30-35 minutes; you can never complain when that happens! As usual, operations were really good on there, with 3 trains running and dispatches being prompt, but I have to say that I do think they could maybe do with getting rid of the pre-show on there now, or at very least not holding you in there like they do. I noticed that they were often having to wait for the pre-show to end to fill trains on occasion, so it does seem to slow things down a tad at times. That’s enough about the operations, though; how was the ride? Well, I do absolutely love Wicker Man, and today was no exception; I was seated in row 7, and it was a phenomenal ride! It’s perhaps controversially my favourite ride on park, for the simple reason that while not the most intense of rides per se, it is possibly one of the most fun coasters out there, and absolutely creases me every time! It’s still no slouch layout-wise, though; the sense of speed in places, particularly on that first s-bend drop and buildup beforehand, is absolutely amazing for a coaster that only goes 44mph, there’s some nice airtime in places, the laterals are really good fun without being excessive (and I say that as someone who doesn’t rate wild mouse coasters at all because I don’t go nuts for excessive laterals), and the layout is twisty, fun and generally flows really nicely and is great fun to ride! It’s also really smooth and comfortable for a wooden coaster, and on the whole, I just find it so much fun and like it a whole lot more than I feel I should! This first ride was made unique, though, by the company sat behind us; my dad was sat next to a teenage girl who let out possibly the loudest, most piercing screams I’ve ever heard on a ride from the second we pulled out of the station! I think we were all slightly deafened by the end of the experience, and it reduced my mum to fits of laughter! Overall, though, that first ride on Wicker Man was phenomenal as ever; I do love getting back on there: I had noticed while climbing the lift hill on Wicker Man that the queue had dropped significantly, so after we got off, I hopped straight back in the queue for another go while my parents went and ate lunch. I waited around 25 minutes for this reride, and it was once again phenomenal! I did, however, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in trying to get the back; I was in the right order in the queue to be assigned to row 12, but as I was a single rider, I was asked to stand aside and instead ended up in row 3 due to a group of 5 coming directly behind me! The ride was still awesome nonetheless, and the operator on there acted exactly as they should have done to maximise operational efficiency, but even still, I was slightly disappointed to miss out on the back so narrowly! After I got off Wicker Man, I headed back to meet my parents and eat my own lunch before we headed together to ride our next coaster… The Smiler The Smiler was on an advertised 30 minute queue time, so we decided to have a go on there. The queue was in fact overstated, taking only around 20 minutes; that’s always a bonus, particularly on a popular ride like Smiler! But how was the ride? Well, we were seated in row 2, and I have to say that it’s not the best ride I’ve ever had on there. There were a fair few rough bits, albeit it perhaps wasn’t quite as bad as the last time I rode it, and the restraints also seemed to tighten quite uncomfortably during the ride. I don’t hugely rate The Smiler, if I’m honest; it’s not a terrible ride by any means, but I find it a little bit too rough in places, and I also find the layout, although creative, feels a little bit repetitive in its motions in a flat ride-style manner that makes me feel a tad queasy. I have to say, though, that the second airtime hill on there is awesome! Overall, then, Smiler wasn’t my favourite ride of the day, and I think my parents agreed; both of them admitted that while they were impressed by it, they were unsure if they actually liked it. My mum in particular said she found it “a bit too rough”: After we got off The Smiler, we were initially going to ride Oblivion, but the ride was experiencing a temporary delay, so we instead decided to head over to… Thirteen Thirteen was on an advertised 45 minute queue and was one of only 2 big coasters I hadn’t done today, so we decided to head over there. Well, I say “we”, but my parents told me to head on over on my own and I ended up riding alone. As such, I decided to use a secret weapon that I have never been able to use on Thirteen before… the single rider queue! This was added to Thirteen at the end of last year, and I have to say that I found this offering highly beneficial; on the first ride, I was batched promptly at the baggage hold, and I almost entirely bypassed a 45 minute standby queue… as I got on the ride in 5 minutes. I can’t quibble with that at all! So, how was the ride? Well, I actually scored the back row on there for the first time in ages, and it was brilliant! Thirteen has definitely grown on me over the years, and this ride was great fun! As I was in the back, the first drop had some surprising airtime, with me really getting pulled out of my seat, the outdoor section had some fun twists, turns and mild pops of airtime, and the indoor section was a laugh as ever! I always find that backwards section so funny, and I find it feels a lot faster than it likely is in reality when you’re in the darkness! Overall, then, I really enjoyed Thirteen; I think it’s a brilliant ride, and I find it really good fun: After my brilliant ride on Thirteen, I met back up with my parents, thinking that we might ride something else together… but at this point, they decided that they were going to exit the park, play the free round of Extraordinary Golf that came free with the hotel room and check in early. As such, I was left to my own devices from here on in. The first thing I did, while I was in Dark Forest, was have another single rider reride on Thirteen. As the single rider queue was so quiet and I found the first ride so enjoyable, I thought “why not?”. The single rider queue was a little busier this time, but still only took 15 minutes, which I can’t complain about given that the main queue was still 45! As I was in the station a little longer, I should mention that I also got a more comprehensive view of operations on there, and I have to say that they were absolutely outstanding today! The average dispatch interval was less than a minute, and at times, they were attaining 50s intervals on there. There were times where the staff were checking the trains so fast that they were having to usher people off the exit platform from the previous train before they could dispatch… it was brilliant! As for the ride itself, I was seated in row 5, and it was once again really good fun, although the punchy first drop from the back row ride was lacking this time. After I got off Thirteen, I headed to X-Sector to tick off the final operating big coaster that I hadn’t ridden today… Oblivion Oblivion was on an advertised 25 minute queue, so as it was the last major coaster I hadn’t yet done, I decided to give it a whirl! As with Thirteen, Oblivion has obtained a newly added single rider queue since my last visit; I used this to great effect, getting on the ride in just 10 minutes! So, how was the ride? Well, I have to say that it was absolutely fantastic; I love Oblivion, and today was no exception! It’s a coaster that’s grown on me a lot over the years; when I was younger, I used to put it down a lot for being short, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve grown to value how well it executes the few seconds of ride time it has. It may be less than 10 seconds long, but those seconds are sublime; the sustained airtime on the drop is wonderful, and the raw sense of speed in the tunnel provides raw exhilaration quite unlike few coasters I’ve ever ridden! Even though Oblivion is short, I’m a fan of anything with speed, airtime and a comfortable, rerideable ride experience in tandem, and it ticks all of those boxes for me; this might sound like a bizarre take, but I think it’s probably the closest thing Alton Towers has in terms of sensations to a big, airtime-focused hyper coaster, and I like it for that! Another potentially hot take that I grew to realise today is that I think I might marginally prefer Oblivion to SheiKra; while SheiKra has raw size and additional length on its side, the sense of speed in Oblivion’s tunnel is quite unlike anything SheiKra offers; you really feel the speed down there! All in all, then, I loved getting back on Oblivion; short though it may be, I think it’s absolutely fantastic, and it’s my favourite steel coaster on park (yes, I put it ahead of Nemesis!): After I got off Oblivion, I went back round again not once more, not twice more, but three times more, capping off my Oblivion tally for today at four rides. I think it’s probably the most easily rerideable coaster in Alton Towers for me; while I personally prefer Wicker Man by a small margin, the faff of the pre-show and the often longer queues make Wicker Man a less effortless reride than Oblivion, in my personal opinion. Oblivion is a very fun coaster to lap, particularly with the single rider queue; this provided me with queues no longer than 10 minutes on all four occasions today! After my Oblivion riding session ended, I headed to ride a coaster that I hadn’t done in a little while… Spinball Whizzer Spinball Whizzer was on an advertised 25 minute queue time, but the single rider queue looked very short, so as I hadn’t actually ridden it since 2022, I decided to give Spinball a go. Once again, the single rider queue was highly beneficial, getting me on the ride in only 5 minutes; I can’t complain about that at all! But how was the ride? Well, Spinball is my least ridden coaster at Alton Towers aside from Octonauts, and today’s ride made me remember why; I’m not a massive fan of it, and would probably say that it’s my least favourite of the bigger coasters at Alton Towers. I’m not the world’s biggest lover of spinning coasters anyway, and as with a lot of the Maurer spinning coasters, Spinball can get quite spinny. As well as that, I also find it very jolty and jerky in places, which doesn’t make for the most pleasant of ride experiences. Overall, then, Spinball has a fun enough layout and is a nice family coaster for the park, but it’s not one I hugely rate, unfortunately. Nonetheless, it was interesting to get back on there after a 3 year hiatus: After I got off Spinball Whizzer, I headed over to Wicker Man for another reride. This time, I was seated in row 5, and it was once again phenomenally fun, although I was seated next to a Brummie gentleman who wouldn’t stop effing and blinding as we negotiated the circuit: After I got off Wicker Man, I headed over to Forbidden Valley for one final reride on Nemesis. I was seated in row 6 this time, and it was once again absolutely fantastic; the ride had warmed up wonderfully, and that first sequence of elements in particular was hitting hard: After I got off Nemesis, it was around 5:45pm, and as I had to meet my parents for a dinner reservation, I left the park there. In retrospect, I substantially overestimated how long it would take me to walk from the Galactica gate to the hotel and could probably have squeezed in another ride on Nemesis, but I didn’t want to be late to arrive back with my parents: Before I wrap up the trip report, I should probably mention where we ate this evening, seeing as food, or more specifically avoiding the on-resort offering, is a hot topic at Alton Towers currently. We went to The Bull’s Head in Alton, and despite highly mixed TripAdvisor reviews that were worrying my mum, we thought it was absolutely lovely! The staff were pleasant, the food was lovely, the service was quick, and on the whole, we couldn’t recommend it enough if you’re wanting to avoid the on-resort food offering at Alton Towers, even if it is admittedly slightly difficult to park! We did have an interesting experience when coming back, though, as the main resort entrance was closed and we had to re-enter Alton Towers through the staff entrance… we were greeted by a security guard who looked surprised to see us and gave us a slightly bemused “Good evening!”. We then went back to our room and briefly sat down in the hotel bar… although I must admit that I didn’t stay down there long as I found the entertainment a bit too loud. Does anyone else find the entertainment in the Alton Towers Hotel absolutely deafening when you’re sat having a drink in the bar, or am I just too miserable? So, I think that just about does if for our day at Alton Towers! I had an excellent day; if you’ve lost track, I got 17 rides, which might be the highest number I’ve ever managed at Alton Towers! This included at least one ride on every big coaster that was operating and rerides on multiple, so I was chuffed with that! Crowds weren’t too heavy for a Saturday in the summer holidays, and given how much flack Alton Towers receives in enthusiast circles nowadays, I have to say that operations were also broadly excellent; dispatch times were excellent in most cases, and ride availability was also pretty good, with relatively limited downtime. I was also a big fan of the proliferation of single rider queues; so many rides have them now, and it’s awesome! Rides-wise, I have to say that Wicker Man was my highlight as always, but Oblivion and Nemesis are also rides that I’m a big fan of, and I also really enjoyed Thirteen today… there’s so much to pick from in Alton Towers! As a coaster fan in the UK, I almost feel like a child in a sweet shop when I visit Alton, with there being so much good stuff to ride; it is quite unlike most other UK parks in that regard, with only Thorpe seriously competing with Alton Towers in that sense for me! All in all, though, I had an excellent day today, and I can’t wait to head back in tomorrow! Thanks for reading; I hope you’ve enjoyed this report! Keep your eyes peeled for another report tomorrow, as we head back into Alton Towers for another day of fun!

Thanks, both! I doubt I'll end up doing it anyway. If there are probably actors in it, I'm not sure I'd want to take the chance, and besides, there's too much at Thorpe that I actually like for me to be overly worried about not having done The Walking Dead! I'll probably be far too tempted by the bigger coasters on my next visit, particularly seeing as I definitely need more goes on Hyperia...

Out of curiosity, how often do actors appear in The Walking Dead? And do they ever appear when not advertised outside? I only ask because I haven’t actually done it since the retheme due to a bit of a phobia of/aversion to costumed actors, particularly scare actors. I rode the coaster hardware itself in 2014, prior to the retheme, but I haven’t ridden it since. I’m wondering if I should rip the plaster off and try it next time I’m at Thorpe, but I’d really prefer not to risk it if there’s a strong chance of actors being in there.

Hi guys. Of all the things that can happen at a park, a spite is probably the most gutting. I'm sure we've all had an occasion where a ride has been closed for the day, or it's broken down, that means we haven't been able to ride it. But sometimes, some might voluntarily choose not to ride something for whatever reason. Whether it's through fear or just plainly forgetting it exists, we might sometimes choose not to go on a coaster. With this in mind, I'd be interested to know: have you ever self-spited yourself out of a major roller coaster? Have you ever voluntarily not ridden something for whatever reason? For purposes of limitation, I'm going to keep this to relatively major attractions. There are a number of enthusiasts who often don't ride kiddie coasters (myself among them); if I were to include all of the kiddie coasters I've denied myself by choice over the years, this would be a long list! If we're keeping it to more major coasters and excluding kiddie coasters, most of my examples are fairly historical now, but I have a few I could reel off! These are: Rock'n'Rollercoaster at Walt Disney Studios Park - This is probably my most significant one, and the only one I am yet to receive redemption on! When I was not quite 8, I went to Disneyland Paris, and I had the opportunity to make Rock'n'Rollercoaster my first ever inverting coaster. I was over 1.2m (but not yet tall enough for Space Mountain or Indiana Jones), and I'd never gone upside down before... but I chose not to ride it. Why, you might ask? Well, it was all because a boy from my primary school told me it gave him tummy ache... so I staunchly refused to ride it all trip on that basis alone! I'm still bitter with myself about this one 14 years on... I have provisional plans to return to DLP next year, and this is one of the attractions I care most about going on purely to avenge my 8 year old self! I don't even care if it's not that good; I just want to go on it to redeem my past self-spite! The Dragon at Legoland Windsor - It took me until I was 14 to ride this... because when I first went to Legoland at 6 years old, my sister and I both refused to ride it due to the perceived "scary" theming! I couldn't ride it on my second visit at 10 years old either, but I had a broken arm, so that was slightly more out of my control... Saw: The Ride at Thorpe Park - I did not go on Saw until my 3rd visit to Thorpe Park when I was 15. On my first and second visits in 2014 and 2015, respectively, my sister and I were still in the phase of being slightly fragile around any kind of vaguely "scary" theming. We pondered Saw on our second visit in May 2015, but we caught the restrictions board outside that said "Live or die... make your choice" on it and swiftly decided to live! I was also a bit too much of a law-abiding citizen to contravene the posted age restriction of 12... I visited in May and didn't turn 12 until July. Scorpion and Sand Serpent at Busch Gardens Tampa - On my first visit to Busch Gardens in 2016, I didn't ride either of these... because I quite literally forgot they even existed. No, I'm not joking; when we were in the park, I simply forgot they were there and forgot to ride them, meaning that I exited the park having missed 2 non-kiddie coasters purely due to my own actions! On my revisit in 2023, I made specific effort to ride them... and I'm glad I did given that Sand Serpent shut about 2 weeks later and Scorpion swiftly followed about a year after that! In terms of non-coasters, the only thing I generally self-spite myself out of these days is anything involving live actors, particularly scare actors, due to a personal phobia of/aversion to scare actors. For this reason, I never did Derren Brown's Ghost Train, I have never ridden Nemesis Sub-Terra, I have never done a scare maze, and I also haven't done The Walking Dead: The Ride at Thorpe Park since they rethemed it (I got the cred in 2014 when it was X, so I'm slightly less bothered about this one than the ones listed above). Coasters-wise, I'm game for pretty much anything nowadays (kiddie coasters aside)! But I'd be keen to know; have you ever self-spited yourself out of a major roller coaster? Or any other attraction, for that matter?

At some parks, something that I would say seems less prominent than they used to be are paper maps. As a collector of theme park maps from my visits, I very frequently don't see a paper map at some parks anymore, with things having migrated to apps. I do like a paper map, and I'm always happy when parks have them prominently on display! At many places, they don't have them anymore or at very least display them far less prominently. I'm also sad about the loss of physical ORPs. I'm a lot less inclined to buy the digital ones; I almost liked the little books they came in more than the actual photo itself!

That looks like a fun, albeit slightly random, addition! It reminds me somewhat of the misters on Sik up at Flamingo Land around the same element, although this one shouldn’t get you wet like those do!

Hi guys. On paper, everyone’s dream theme park visit is one with no queues. Queues are the bane of everyone’s existence when it comes to theme parks, so to not have them sounds like a dream… right? After a recent visit to Paultons Park on 5th June that was particularly deserted, as well as some ensuing discussion with people off the back of that, I’ve been pondering this notion. With this in mind, I’d be interested to know; in your view, can a theme park ever be too quiet? Is the theoretical ideal of a park with no queues and no crowds really such an ideal in reality? Personally, I’m actually somewhat undecided on this. From my own perspective, a large part of me would say no. A quiet park means all the more rides for you, and as a person who doesn’t mind doing a good number of rerides on things I enjoy, that suits me down to the ground! There are very few things better than a nice riding marathon, in my view, and depending on the park, some of my best memories in theme parks have been from times where I’ve just been able to ride over and over (a 30-ride day at Thorpe Park in September 2023 sticks particularly fondly in my mind)! On the other hand, though, some might argue that depending on your own tolerance for reriding, queues are almost necessary to lengthen the day and break up the rides a bit. There’s also the argument about atmosphere that I can see; I had a brilliant day, but at points, my Paultons visit was almost quite surreal due to the sheer lack of crowds. When you’re the only person within visible eyeshot at points, it is certainly quite an odd experience! So on balance, I would probably lean towards no, but I can see some of the arguments for yes. I can also see that the answer might differ depending on the park; I’ve certainly found riding lots of rides easier and more enjoyable in some parks on a quiet day than in others! But I’d be keen to know; do you think a theme park can ever be too quiet?

I wouldn’t be overly surprised if Legoland gets primary school trip groups rather than secondary school ones like Thorpe and Alton. I went to Paultons last week (which is probably similarly pitched in terms of target age demographic) and there was a Year 6 school trip group there. I never went on theme park trips when I was a Year 6 (only 11 years ago!), but it seems to be a thing now…

I think the weather probably was a contributing factor. It was pretty horrible for much of the day!

One thing I would say about Legoland is that the hill the park is set on can make it quite a trek to negotiate at times if you’re not the most able walker. I’m a relatively adept walker (if I do say so myself!), so I didn’t struggle with it too much on my most recent visit, but I have been in the past with a member of our party being in a wheelchair and it was quite hard work! With a small child, I can imagine that their littler legs might potentially struggle. So I’d recommend making use of the Hill Train, if it’s open. I’d concur with @JoshC. on the note of queues. I found many queues to be pretty overstated on my last visit, and like Josh, I also found Minifigure Speedway’s queue to move quite quickly compared to that of other rides. On the subject of Minifigure Speedway, I should also warn you that they do not let you pick your side as they do on many other duelling coasters. I struck lucky and managed to get on both sides without needing to ask, but if you are keen to try both, you may have to ask. I haven’t visited with a young child (other than when me and my older sister were young children ourselves on our initial visit in 2009, which is now some years ago!), so I apologise if I’m not too useful to advise you on visiting with a child, but I hope you have a nice time regardless!

As some may be aware, I visited Paultons and rode Ghostly Manor for the first time yesterday. Overall, I have to say that I think it’s a really cool addition! To start things off, first impressions are very good! The facade is lovely, as is the outdoor queue line; every time I walked through it, I was noticing new details, and there are some cool pieces of theming! I particularly liked the swing that moved on its own and the painting; I thought these were cool items! The indoor queue line is also really nice! There are some nice smell pods (I think they emit a lavender-type smell?), and there are lots more nice thematic details! I thought the tubes with ghosts captured and moving around in them were a nice touch in particular! In terms of the ride itself, I’ll keep it spoiler-free and say that I think it’s overall really good fun. I had 5 rides in total, and in terms of a few good points, I’d say the following: For the Paultons Park audience, I think it strikes the perfect balance between cartoony fun and scares. There are some moments of what I would call mild scariness that might scare a young child, but it’s not an all-out horror fest and the cartoony visual style keeps things fun and jovial! Some of the scenes are really nicely executed, with a good blend of screens and physical set pieces. There are a couple of nice animatronics in the ride, and things like projection mapping are also used effectively. While the ride is more shooting gallery-like in style, I think it works here, and the scenes aren’t long enough for it to feel monotonous. Each mini game isn’t particularly long (maybe 30 seconds at most?), so you do quickly get moving rather than feeling like you’re shooting at the same scene for ages on end. I found the gun system relatively comfortable to hold and easy to use. It did take a bit of getting used to and learning, but I think that is more down to my dreadfulness at interactive dark rides rather than any issue with the software! The Gameplay Theatre ride system is very clever, and it gets a lot of ride duration out of very little space. When you consider that Ghostly Manor replaced a 4D cinema, I think Paultons have done tremendously well! I do have a couple of small critiques and points for improvement, however. These are: I think some of the screen-based scenes (namely the ones facing outwards) lack physical scenery or any kind of bounding to try and hide the screen edges. I know that they are constrained with what they can do to some extent in these scenes, and you aren’t going to see physical scenery as elaborate as that in the inner scenes, but I think something to try and keep the immersion going would be nice, even if it was just some themed bounding for the screen edges. As it stands, these scenes basically just consist of a screen and some black floors and black walls; there’s no physical theming there at all. For the ride to flow seamlessly, it is very reliant on there being no hold-ups at the boarding and exiting stages. The mini games in each scene run for a predetermined duration, so if the boarding or exiting process is held up in any way, the mini game just ends and the ride sits still in a scene for a while with “the ride has stopped and will resume shortly” projected on the scene or onto the screen. To make the ride more flexible against disruptions in boarding and exiting flow, I think it would be nice if they were able to make the mini games continue running for the entire length of time the ride was stopped in a scene for, regardless of how long it is, for so that people’s attention isn’t drawn to the delay. If I’m being really picky, I think it would be nice if they were able to make the transition between scenes a bit more dramatic in some way and distract from visibility of some of the other scenes while you transition. Maybe a blast of smoke or something would work? But overall, I think Ghostly Manor is great fun and a brilliant addition to Paultons Park! It’s not the world’s most elaborate dark ride, but given that it replaced a 4D cinema, I think they’ve done very well with the space, and as a first dark ride for the park, I think it works excellently. They’re onto a winner with it, in my view, and it plugs a gap in their lineup! If you’re interested, here are a few photos I took: In terms of the rest of the park, I had an excellent, and very quiet, day! If you’d like to read more about it, my trip report is here:

5th June 2025: Paultons Park Hi guys. Today was an exciting day; in the words of our former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, “I went, as we all must, to Peppa Pig World”… yes, I returned to Paultons Park in Hampshire! I hadn’t been to the park since 2021, but I felt that the addition of Ghostly Manor, a unique new interactive dark ride, was the perfect excuse for me to return! The day started at around 6:45am, with a 30 minute drive across the Welsh border to Severn Tunnel Junction railway station in Wales to catch my train. I took a Great Western Railway service down to Romsey, and it was a journey of two distinct sections. Up to Bristol Temple Meads, the train was hideously overcrowded like few I’d ever seen before (the only comparable trains I’ve seen were trains to Cheltenham during Cheltenham Festival week… I was stood rubbing shoulder to shoulder with people in the foyer!). However, there was a mass exodus at Temple Meads and I managed to bag a window seat for the remaining trek down to Romsey, and the remainder of the journey was a wonderfully quiet, pleasant and scenic train ride down through the West Country. The journey time was roughly 2 hours, and I ended up reaching Romsey on time at just before 10am: After getting off the train, I took a taxi from the station to Paultons Park. This was prompt, and allowed me to make good time for entry at around 10:10am: If it isn’t apparent from the pictures, it was raining a fair amount when I entered the park, and as none of the rides on the Lost Kingdom side were open, I initially decided to head to Ghostly Manor to take refuge from the rain. I waited in the indoor queue for around 5 minutes ahead of a terribly irritating Year 6 school group who would not stop shouting and screaming, but unfortunately, the ride went down and the queue was evacuated: As such, I decided to start my day on a coaster… Storm Chaser Storm Chaser was open and completely deserted, so I went for a spin on there. I was the first rider of the day, apparently, despite the park having been open for at least 20 minutes at this point! I was swiftly joined by 1 or 2 other people, and then the train was sent. So, how was the ride? Well, I was seated in the front row, and my memories from 2021 of it being a fun and enjoyable family coaster were reaffirmed. It was a fun ride; it packs a surprising amount of speed, is smooth, and also has some pretty intense and thrilling moments for a family coaster. That low helix in particular is surprisingly forceful! As someone who isn’t a huge lover of things that spin excessively, I also find that the ride offers a good spin without being excessive; I found the spin level tolerable and fun! Overall, then, I thoroughly enjoyed my first ride of the day on Storm Chaser; it was a really good way to start off the day: After my ride on Storm Chaser, there was no one waiting to get on, so as was encouraged by the ride staff I decided to stay on and go around for another highly enjoyable lap (although technically, my row had reverted to row 2 due to the car switching direction)! After my second ride on Storm Chaser, I scouted out Tornado Springs to see what was open. I was, rather eerily, the only person I could see in the area, so it was hard to tell! As it turned out, Farmyard Flyer and Cyclonator did not open until 12pm, but despite it being deserted, a Tornado Springs ride I hadn’t previously tried was open, so I decided to give that a try… Windmill Towers Windmill Towers was open despite its deserted appearance, so as I hadn’t previously done it, I decided to give it a try. I’d been told that these towers were “more forceful than Magma” before trying them, so as someone who loves a good drop tower, I was naturally curious! So, how was the ride? Well, I have to say that it was really good fun! Don’t get me wrong, it is not some intense, world-beating drop tower extravaganza by any means, but there were some very fun tickles of airtime that really made me chuckle! It has a surprisingly long cycle as well, so you get plenty of giggly airtime pops for your money! All in all, then, I thought Windmill Towers was a good, fun drop tower; I definitely enjoyed giving it a go: After my ride on Windmill Towers, I was unsure whether the Lost Kingdom side coasters had opened yet and I wanted to give Ghostly Manor a little time to reopen, so I firstly decided to reride Storm Chaser while in Tornado Springs. I was the only person in the area, so I bagged not one, but two consecutive back row rides! These were once again very good fun; it felt like the ride packed a bit more speed at the back! After my rerides on Storm Chaser, I decided to head to another coaster in the near(ish) vicinity… Cat-O-Pillar Cat-O-Pillar was open and, like pretty much everything else I’d encountered so far, walk-on, so I decided to take a ride while I was in the area. Unlike Windmill Towers and the previous two rides on Storm Chaser, however, there were people on the train, so I waltzed into row 4 to take my ride. So, how was it? Well, as smaller family coasters go, I do often quite like a Zierer Tivoli, and Cat-O-Pillar wasn’t riding badly! I always find it really quirky how you seem to speed up going uphill when you sit towards the front of these coasters, and Cat-O-Pillar was showing this off quite nicely, with some fun helixes! The ride was also smooth, which I was glad of after the surprisingly jolty Egg-Spress at Pleasurewood Hills last year; this was certainly more enjoyable! Overall, then, I enjoyed my ride on Cat-O-Pillar, and thought it provided a perfectly fine Tivoli experience: After my ride on Cat-O-Pillar, the new ride had reopened, so I decided to head to… Ghostly Manor Ghostly Manor was on an advertised 5 minute queue, so I decided to give it a go. This queue time was if anything overstated, as only one group were ahead of me and I got on very promptly! So, how was the ride? Well, I have to say that it was really good fun! There’s some really cool theming on there, with some of the scenes having a really nice blend of screens and physical set pieces and animatronics! The queue line also has some really nice theming, and while the ride is more “shooting gallery” like in style, I think it works without feeling monotonous. I’ll do a longer review, as I do have some minor nitpicky critiques to suggest, but overall, I think it’s a really cool addition to the park and works well! Incidentally, my score on the first ride was 43,600; given that I'm not typically very good at shooting dark rides, I wasn't displeased with this: After Ghostly Manor, some of the Lost Kingdom side coasters had opened, so I headed for my first ride of the day on… Flight of the Pterosaur Flight of the Pterosaur was walk on, so I decided to hop on there and take a ride. The station was very quiet, with only one other group up front, so I hopped on the back. But how was the ride? Well, I’d remembered Pterosaur being great fun in 2021, and the ride was if anything better than I’d remembered; this thing is such good fun! I like a good inverted coaster, and while this is more of a family ride, it still packs a good sense of speed for its intended scale, with some of the drops feeling good and fast! There are also some surprisingly forceful moments; that ending helix in particular is absolutely awesome, and almost reminds me of a family version of Nemesis’ helix! It’s also really smooth and comfortable (those restraints are wonderful!), and all in all, I just find it really enjoyable! If I were to rank, I’d say that this is probably my favourite coaster in the park; as fun as Storm Chaser is, Pterosaur is a little more my thing. Simply put, I think I’d take an inverted coaster over a spinning coaster 9 times out of 10: After I got off Pterosaur, I headed for the other coaster in the area… Velociraptor Velociraptor was absolutely deserted, so I decided to give it a go. I was the only person in the queue or the station, and the host looked somewhat surprised to see me, so as with some of the other rides I’d done today, I ended up having the ride entirely to myself! So, how was it? Well, it had been a few years since I’d ridden Velociraptor, but I remembered it being a relatively strong example of a family shuttle coaster, and that view was reaffirmed; if anything, it was slightly better than I’d remembered! The forward portion of the layout is smooth, fun, and keeps quite a good sense of speed, even packing a mild pop of airtime! I’ll admit that I don’t like the backwards portion as much, and family shuttle coasters aren’t a ride style I tend to go nuts for in general, but I think Velociraptor is probably the strongest I’ve ridden, narrowly beating Accelerator and the two sides of Minifigure Speedway. It was a fun ride overall: After my ride on Velociraptor, I decided to bring out my slightly more shameless side and grab a new credit… Dino Chase Some of you may know that I often don’t ride kiddie coasters, but as there was no one in the queue or on the ride and I had just seen a group of 3 who definitely weren’t children get off it, I decided to put aside my kiddie coaster reservations and nab a credit that I didn’t get in 2021 on Dino Chase. The host was friendly and didn’t draw any attention to me not being a child, I sat discreetly in the front row, and there was no one in the area; it was possibly the least embarrassing kiddie coaster ride I’ve ever had, and I got a solo ride to boot! So, how was the ride itself? Well, Dino Chase is what it is, really. The ride did pack surprising vigour in places for something so small, but it is ultimately an oval-shaped layout designed for children, so it’s not ever going to hit any top coaster lists. I was glad to tick off the credit (#136 in the count!) and overcome my kiddie coaster embarrassment with such an inoffensive experience, though: After Dino Chase, I headed for two back-to-back rerides on Flight of the Pterosaur. I had one in the front and one in the back, and they were once again great fun with some great forces. And I also had the whole train to myself on both rides! I then had two back-to-back rerides on Velociraptor. Both of these were on the back row, and were good fun; I think I preferred the back to the front, as the ride packed more speed through the fun forwards portion! This was then followed by two further back-to-back Flight of the Pterosaur rerides on the back row. Once again, these were great fun! I then headed onto another attraction I’d never done before… Dinosaur Tour Co Dinosaur Tour Co was absolutely deserted, so I decided to give it a go. I hadn’t done this on my 2021 visit and it looked as though it might have some nice animatronics (and I honestly wondered if I should pace myself with something slower given that this was my 17th ride and it wasn’t even 12pm…). I walked straight onto the ride and was off in no time at all! But how was the ride? Well, I have to say it was quite charming! The voiceover and dinosaur animatronics were really sweet, and the indoor scene was an unexpected surprise, particularly the effect at the end! I will say, though, that this had very tight legroom; if you are somewhat on the taller side (I’m 5’10”, for reference), it might be worth keeping in mind. I bashed my knee quite hard on the steering wheel getting out of the truck! The ride was fun, though, and a nice way to have a bit of a gentle detour between coasters: After I got off Dinosaur Tour Co, it had hit 12pm, and another major coaster had opened up, so resultantly, I headed over to... Cobra Cobra was, as you've probably guessed, absolutely deserted, so as a result, I walked straight onto the ride, sat straight down in an empty car and was sent in a jiffy. It is great when that happens, and it was a continuing theme throughout the day! So, how was the ride? Well, I'd remembered quite liking Cobra in 2021, but unfortunately, I wasn't quite as much of a fan this time. It's not a terrible ride by any means; some of the turns and airtime moments are good fun! There's one key bit that really brings it down for me, though, and that's the sequence of wild mouse-style turns. I am not a fan of the harsh laterals provided by wild mouse-style coasters at all, and unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of Cobra's either. The fact that this sequence is only one part of a wider layout containing some more fun elements like helixes, turns and airtime moments puts Cobra well above any regular wild mouse I've ridden, but I still wouldn't say I rated it as highly as I did in 2021, and I dare say it's possibly my least favourite of Paultons' current 4 big coasters. I can sense that might be a controversial one, as lots of people like Gerstlauer Bobsled Coasters, but it's a little bit too wild mouse-adjacent for my personal liking, even if the harsh laterals don't make up the entire ride like they do on wild mice. Cobra was still fun overall, but it wasn't quite doing it for me today like it did in 2021, if I'm honest: After getting off Cobra, I headed back to the other side of the park, riding Ghostly Manor again en route. I once again found the experience really enjoyable; I was noticing new details that I didn't see on the first ride, and I got an improved score of 54,900 this time! After riding Ghostly Manor, I then headed into Tornado Springs to tick off another new credit that had now opened for the day... Farmyard Flyer As with everything else, Farmyard Flyer was deserted and walk-on, so as this coaster had been built since my last trip to Paultons and I therefore didn't have the credit, I decided to give it a try. The ride hadn't long opened, seeing as it was scheduled to open at 12pm like Cobra, and the only two other people in the station were two young boys who parked themselves at the front, so I promptly parked myself at the back to get on the next train. So, how was the ride? Well, I have to say that it is very well themed; the queue is absolutely lovely, with loads of little details, and the ride itself has some really nice bits of theming in it too! That is where my superlative praise ends, however, as I'd say the ride itself is average at best, if I'm honest. It's my favourite new-to-me coaster that I've ridden so far in 2025, but given that the sole competition is Dino Chase (tiny) and the leftmost side of Steeplechase (vile), that's not a particularly high bar! Similarly to Dino Chase (albeit bigger and less embarrassing for adults to ride), it is what it is; it's a children's roller coaster that's fun enough for the intended audience, but is not going to make any top coaster lists for older riders. I will say, though, that it is surprisingly jolty... it's not rough per se, but definitely not smooth for a 3 year old family coaster, and has its fair share of lumps and bumps. Overall, then, I'd say that Farmyard Flyer is beautifully themed, but is very much something that I'd say has limited appeal outside of the children's coaster demographic. It's not something I'd rush to reride on a future visit: After Farmyard Flyer, I had two back-to-back rerides on Storm Chaser in the front row. Once again, the ride was highly enjoyable, although I should say that the rain was coming down a little harder and was paired with a stiff breeze. The wind made the ride feel more exhilarating, but the rain did make the experience feel a little like being waterboarded! After the two Storm Chaser rerides, I headed for a flat ride... Cyclonator Cyclonator, as with everything else, was very quiet (that would be a good drinking game... take a shot every time I mention crowd levels in this trip report!), so I gave it a go. I had a one-cycle wait, though, which was possibly in contention for the longest wait of the day! But how was the ride? Well, unlike most, I'm not the world's biggest fan of gyroswings, and I do not remember particularly liking Cyclonator in 2021 (I seem to remember it making me feel a bit sick). However, I must admit that while still not a favourite of mine, it was not nearly as bad as I'd remembered. There was some better airtime than I'd previously remembered on there, and the spinning, while I'd still rather it wasn't there, was manageable. Gyroswings still aren't my favourite, and I would still take a non-spinning alternative like a Screamin' Swing any day of the week, but they are growing on me. The most notable aspect of this ride, however, is that the rain had started coming down harder, and this was possibly one of the wettest experiences I have ever had on a non-water ride! The rain was coming down hard enough that it felt like I was getting pierced in the face as we flew through the air; I could hardly keep my eyes open, I was getting gradually more soaked, and it was one of those experiences where you just can't help but laugh! Combine that with the fact that I'd been reunited with the aforementioned Year 6 school trip group from the morning's Ghostly Manor breakdown and they were doing their very loudest high-pitched screaming throughout the ride, and it made for quite an experience: I followed my ride on Cyclonator up with two more back-to-back rerides on Storm Chaser. Both were in the back row, I had the entire train to myself once again, and both rides were really enjoyable, although had somewhat of the same waterboarding-style effect as the prior ride on Cyclonator! After that, I took another ride on Cat-O-Pillar. I was on the front row this time, and I had the entire train to myself! The ride, as it was earlier, was a fun and quirky Zierer Tivoli, although I did notice a slightly irritating set of drive tires rumbling the train that I didn't notice the first time round. This was also another one where I was going around the ride and could not see anyone else within the vicinity! After my ride on Cat-O-Pillar, I went for another go on Ghostly Manor. My score was slightly lower than last time, at 53,700, but the ride was once again fun; I do think interactive dark rides are pretty rerideable, particularly on a wet day like today was! After my reride on Ghostly Manor, I had a brief break to eat lunch in an undercover seating area before heading for a reride on Storm Chaser. It was another back row ride, and it was once again good fun! I then headed for a reride on Cobra. Similarly to earlier, it was fun, but definitely brought down a peg by those wild mouse-style turns for me. After that, I headed for an attraction that had opened since my last foray to the Cobra end of the park... The Edge The Edge was absolutely deserted, so I decided to explore and see if it was open (I genuinely wasn't sure seeing as the ride was still and I was the only person I could immediately see in the area!). As it turned out, the ride was open, and another group swiftly joined me for a ride. So, how was The Edge? Well, I wasn't a huge fan of Thor at Drayton Manor last year, and this was, if anything, less enjoyable than that, for me. I'm not a big spinning flat ride person, and this did spin a fair amount, and I also do not like that motorbike riding position at all. I find the way it has you resting on your chest really unnatural, and this one was also strangely bumpy in a way that Thor wasn't, for some reason. Overall, then, I'm sorry to say that I wasn't a fan of The Edge; I'm glad I tried it, but I won't be rushing back on it again: After my ride on The Edge, I went for another nearby flat ride that was a little more to my liking... Magma Magma had also opened up since my last trip to this end of the park, so I decided to give it a whirl. It goes without saying at this point that the ride was walk-on, and I took my seat promptly. As common as this was today, it is still a bonus when it happens! But how was Magma? Well, I'd remembered quite liking it in 2021, and I liked it once again; although it's not the most intense tower by any stretch, there are some fun, giggly tickles of airtime that I like! It did maybe feel a tad shorter and more timid than Windmill Towers across the park, but it was still fun overall: After my ride on Magma, I had another go on Cobra while I was in the area, which was similarly fun to earlier. I then had another back row ride on Flight of the Pterosaur. Once again, this was really good fun, with some great moments of speed and force for a family coaster! This was swiftly followed by two back-to-back rides on Velociraptor. Both of these were in the front, and once again, they were good fun, with some nice speed in sections! I then did another front row ride on Flight of the Pterosaur to jazz things up a bit (fun, but I do prefer the back) before heading for another Ghostly Manor reride. I was starting to get the hang of the shooting system by this point, and I managed a new high score of 57,100! The ride was once again really good fun; I think it's a cool addition to the park, and brilliant for rainier days like today! After my reride on Ghostly Manor, I headed for something slightly more sedate... Rio Grande Railway Rio Grande Railway was quiet, so I headed to the queue and waited for the next train to arrive. But how was the ride? Well, as a sedate breather, I do quite like a train, and Rio Grande Railway was a nice one! It had some nice theming in the initial Tornado Springs part of the course before heading out into a very sedate portion near the woods and water mill and finishing up with a brief ride through Peppa Pig World. Overall, it was a nice, relaxing way to spend a few minutes, and a good way to take a breather between coasters: After my ride on Rio Grande Railway, I had not one, not two, but three back-to-back rerides on Storm Chaser. I bagged a front row ride, a back row ride and a row 7 ride, and all of these were really good fun! I then went for another ride on Windmill Towers. As with earlier, I very much enjoyed the ride, and loved some of the giggly tickles of airtime it provided! After that, I went for two more fun back-to-back rerides on Storm Chaser. Both were in the back row, and one was another solo ride where I had the ride all to myself! I then headed for a final reride on Ghostly Manor. It was fun once again, and this time, I managed my best score all day; I got 69,800 that time. I do think the point-scoring aspect makes shooting rides quite rerideable, and I was starting to get more of a knack for Ghostly Manor's shooting system by the end of the day! After that, I had two fun back-to-back rerides on the back row of Flight of the Pterosaur, followed by two fun back-to-back rerides on Velociraptor. I then had one final fun front row reride on Flight of the Pterosaur and closed out the riding with a final front row ride on Storm Chaser. All of these were really enjoyable! By this point, 5pm had arrived, so I bought a chocolate Magnum (or more accurately, Paultons' ripoff of a Magnum) and left the park, eating my Magnum while I waited for my taxi to Romsey station to arrive. My taxi to the station was once again prompt, and this time, I was driven by a very friendly and rather chatty man who asked me lots of questions about Wales (I explained that I'd travelled to Romsey from South Wales when he asked where I'd taken the train from)! He then talked a bit about Gaza, which is where I'll admit I just sort of nodded uncomfortably. I don't deny that the situation in Gaza needs to be talked about, but I'm not sure I want to talk about it in great depth with a random taxi driver I don't know. I must say, however, that the overall taxi service was excellent in both directions and worked brilliantly; the drivers were very friendly, and it was really easy to book via the app! I then took the train back to Severn Tunnel Junction from Romsey, which unlike the one there was nice, quiet and uneventful for the whole length of the journey (apart from the fact that GWR's digital announcer was having a funny 5 minutes and thought we were in Ealing Broadway and on our way to Maidenhead...). I'll close out this report with a picture I took of the White Horse in Westbury (I'm not sure if this is its actual name, but that's what I've always called it...) from out of the train window. Seeing this brought back memories of many a family holiday to Center Parcs Longleat Forest when I was a child, where seeing this horse always meant that we were nearly there!: So, that brings an end to my trip report from Paultons Park! I had an excellent day; yes, the weather was pretty dreadful for much of the day, but the ride count certainly made up for it! If you've lost track, I managed a grand total of 51 rides in the almost 7 hours I spent in Paultons Park. This is by far the most rides I have ever done in one theme park day, blowing my prior record of 31 to smithereens (I'd already beaten this figure by around 2:30pm, so it wasn't even close)! The composition of said ride count was as follows: Storm Chaser x15 (another record broken... this is the most rides I've ever managed on one individual attraction in a theme park day!) Flight of the Pterosaur x10 Velociraptor x7 Ghostly Manor x5 Cobra x3 Cat-O-Pillar x2 Windmill Towers x2 Dino Chase x1 Dinosaur Tour Co x1 Farmyard Flyer x1 Cyclonator x1 The Edge x1 Magma x1 Rio Grande Railway x1 I'm not sure I'll ever beat this... short of doing some sort of ERT, I'm not quite sure how I'd beat this! I'm not quite sure whether to be proud or appalled at having done 51 rides in just under 7 hours... The park today was quite possibly in contention with Oakwood in May 2019 for the quietest theme park I've ever been in; there were numerous points where I was the only visible person in areas, and it was actually quite eerie! Areas like Tornado Springs got a little busier later on, but Lost Kingdom and the area by Cobra et al stayed a ghost town pretty much all day... it was almost surreal! In terms of specific insights beyond ride count and crowd levels; it was great to get back to Paultons. It's a really pleasant park that's definitely on the up, they have some lovely themed areas and generally present things very well, and they do have some excellent family coasters. My personal favourite is probably Flight of the Pterosaur; that thing packs a punch for a family invert! Although Storm Chaser is also surprisingly punchy and really good fun, and follows close behind! Ghostly Manor is also a really cool addition; it's a really fun dark ride with a cool ride system and some really nice theming, and I think they're onto a winner with it! Valgard and the addition of Drakon should add an interesting additional dimension to the lineup, even if I do have my personal scepticism around the exact choice of a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter, and I definitely look forward to coming back and checking it out in 2026 (with a new thrill coaster on the way, I'll 100% be back next year!). If I'm being honest, Paultons is not currently a park I'd be looking to return to annually in the way that Alton Towers and Thorpe Park are, as I don't think it offers the larger thrill rides I crave in the way that Towers and Thorpe do, but I'm interested to see if their move into thrills with Drakon might gradually start to change that for me. It's a bright future at Paultons! Thanks for reading; I hope you've enjoyed this report! Forbidding any surprises, I think my next trip report will most likely be from Alton Towers in late July. I'm looking forward to another probable solo day at Alton when my dad heads to LIV Golf at JCB again like he did last year!

Apologies for bumping an over month-old thread, but I think that’s a really intriguing idea! I imagine such a park would probably have more dark rides and slow-moving attractions, a little like Epcot, rather than high-intensity coasters and flats. How do you educate effectively through the medium of, say, an RMC? I guess an example of where this was actually attempted (to a degree) was the brief opening of Britannica Park in the 1980s, before it was a failure and got turned into the American Adventure. I think its failure was more down to the fact that it opened half-finished rather than the idea of a Britain-themed park being a bad one, though. I’ve always been quite intrigued by the idea of a British history-themed park, I’ll admit!

It was definitely a seismic event for the UK theme park industry, and I often wonder what the parks would be like had it never happened. Would we have seen cuts at the likes of Alton Towers as we did? Would the likes of The Flume, Logger’s Leap and Ripsaw still be here? Would we have seen different investments? There are so many questions!

Could it be to make them vibrate less? Some have been expressing concerns about a rattle, particularly since the wheels were changed, so I feel like adding that new support could maybe be a way of securing the seats a bit more and stopping them from vibrating as much? I haven’t ridden it since the wheels were changed, but I don’t remember it having a bad rattle when I did it last year. There was a slight one there, but it didn’t detract from the ride whatsoever for me. On a side note, I’ve heard that the new wheels are making the ride run faster than ever… I can’t wait to try it out again later this year!

30th April 2025: Blackpool Pleasure Beach Hi guys. I haven’t been the most active on here lately, but I’ve been back on this evening, and I realise that I forgot to upload my trip report from a park visit I did a month ago. So hello again TPM, and apologies for the inactivity! 30th April was an exciting day; my first park visit of 2025 had arrived! And the park in question that started off my year this year was Blackpool Pleasure Beach, “the world’s most ride intensive amusement park” up in Lancashire! By virtue of the fact I live nearly 200 miles from Blackpool, it’s not a frequent visit for me, so it was an interesting park to start at! Prior to 30th April, I hadn’t been to the park in almost 6 years; to put things into some perspective, my last visit to Blackpool was when I had just finished my GCSEs (I’m now approaching the end of a postgraduate Master’s degree), was prior to the COVID pandemic, and perhaps most strikingly was when pre-revamp Valhalla was still open! Having travelled up to Blackpool the previous day, I was staying in a Travelodge situated a matter of yards from the park entrance, so I had plenty of breathing room before park opening time. The park didn’t open until 11am, but as per usual when I stay in a hotel room, I peaked very, very early, having woken up before 7am and finished my breakfast before 8am! As such, I actually started my day with a leisurely stroll along Blackpool’s south promenade, taking in both views of the Pleasure Beach (mainly The Big One), as well as some of the interesting art installations along the promenade. I strolled along because the previous day, I noticed an odd light up glittery ball thing further down the seafront, and I wanted to see what it was. Even having strolled down and Googled it after getting home, I’m still somewhat none the wiser… I know this is Thorpe Park Mania and not Art Mania, but I still thought it was interesting nonetheless: After my promenade stroll, I made my way toward the Blackpool Pleasure Beach park entrance and awaited opening time. With only 2 men (who appeared to be regulars based on the fact that they appeared to be chatting to all the staff like old friends) in front of me, I made very good time in entering the park, being only the 3rd person to enter: After entering the park, I initially made my way over to Nickelodeon Streak, but I discovered that it was closed all day, so I instead started my day over on… Avalanche Avalanche looked absolutely deserted, so I decided to start my day on there. When I walked up to the station, I saw that I was indeed the only guest in the vicinity, so I ended up being on the first train of the day and having a solo ride to boot! So, how was my first coaster ride of 2025? Well, I was seated on the front row, and I have to say that I thought it was great fun! There’s something I quite like about these bobsled coasters, and I find Avalanche to be really quite a good one. It picks up great speed and flows really nicely throughout, and some of those lower corners pack surprising whip! I almost thought I was feeling slight airtime in some of those corner transitions towards the bottom! Overall, then, I found Avalanche thoroughly enjoyable, and a great way to start the day and indeed the season: After my ride on Avalanche, I decided to head to another coaster right next to it… Revolution Revolution was also absolutely deserted, so I decided to climb up the stairs and give it a ride. As with Avalanche beforehand, I was seemingly the first rider of the day on here and had a solo ride; you can’t beat having two solo first rides of the day in a row! But how was the ride? Well, it was good and I enjoyed it! For something that’s quite short and not overly fast, Revolution packs a punch! The airtime coming off the drops is surprisingly fierce, and the loop itself is forceful! I’ll admit I’m not sure whether I overly like the backward loop on there (it goes to my head a little), but the thrilling forward loop and the forceful pops of ejector certainly made it a fun ride, in my view, and it’s not overly rough or uncomfortable for an older Arrow, either! All in all, then, I thought Revolution was quite good fun, and definitely a ride I enjoyed: After Revolution, I decided to head for another nearby coaster… The Big One The Big One had a trivial wait, so I decided to give it a whirl. Unfortunately, my streak of solo rides had come to an end, but I still only waited a train or two for my ride on The Big One, so I can’t really complain too much! So, how was The Big One? Well, I was seated in row 8, and I have to say that it wasn’t running badly at all! I’ve never historically been a huge fan of The Big One, but it has grown on me somewhat over the years since I’ve first ridden it. While there are much better hyper coasters out there, I have to admit that rushing down that first drop into the first triangle is still a very impressive sequence, packing an awesome sense of speed as the wind rushes into your face! There’s also something I find quite charming about the ride’s sprawling layout that winds its way all around the park, even if it does completely lack airtime (seriously, there’s not an ounce!) or any notable forces for the most part aside from the first drop. I’ll admit that it is a bit rough in places, which detracts a bit from it for me, but this ride wasn’t absolutely terrible by any means; it was still perfectly rideable and fun. Overall, my first ride on The Big One was quite enjoyable and it was running reasonably well, even if I’d prefer it a bit smoother and admit it’s my least favourite coaster above 200ft by some margin: After my ride on The Big One, I decided to head for something a bit more… iconic, and a previous favourite of mine… Icon Like The Big One, Icon had a nominal wait, so I decided to give it a go. With the ride being operated pretty well on 2 trains, I was on very quickly; you can never complain about that! But how was the ride? Well, I have to admit that Icon was the coaster at Blackpool that I was most excited, but in equal measure most nervous, about re-riding. When I last came to the park in 2019, I absolutely loved Icon; the ride was right up there in my #2 spot, and my favourite coaster in the UK by some margin. But given that it seems to have evolved into a ride that a lot of people are apathetic towards at best now that the new ride hype has worn off somewhat, I wondered if my love of the ride on previous visits was simply because A) it was brand new and I hadn’t really done much else like it (I had done nothing that inverts with lap bars, I hadn’t done that many coasters with notable airtime, and my only other multi launch coaster at the time I first rode it was Cheetah Hunt). Since my last ride, my coaster count has nearly doubled, and I’ve been on the likes of VelociCoaster, Red Force and the original Mack mega coaster Blue Fire, to name just a few “Icon-adjacent” rides I’ve ridden. With that being said, I must admit that my front row ride was every bit as good as I’d previously remembered, if not better! Each to their own, of course, but I personally still remain confused as to why people widely don’t particularly like Icon, and I remain a somewhat outspoken lover of it! I grant you, the ride is not the most mind-blowingly intense in the world, but I just find it so much fun, and it strikes the perfect balance of fun, thrills and rerideability for me! There are some really awesome bits of airtime on there; the top hat really shines through, but I also love the two twisty pops and dives before the second launch, the Immelmann, and a particularly fun drop midway through the second half, to name just a few! I also think the ride packs a nice sense of speed, and the twisty layout mostly keeps things interesting. I ride it feeling like I’m twisting and floating all over the place, and I find it absolutely joyous! It’s also really smooth and rerideable, and overall, I still absolutely adore the thing! It’s not in my #2 spot anymore (VelociCoaster it is not!), and I would say that the ride is not even quite my UK favourite anymore, with Hyperia having taken that particular accolade last year, but even still, I love Icon and will continue to happily defend it against its many critics: After getting off Icon, I liked the ride so much that I immediately headed back round for a second go while it was on a short queue. I was seated in row 4 that time, and it was phenomenal once again! After my second ride on Icon, I headed over to another coaster that I hadn’t ridden yet… Big Dipper Big Dipper had slightly more of a queue than the other coasters I’d ridden thus far, but I hadn’t ridden it yet at this point, so I decided to take a spin on there. The ride was only running one train, meaning that the dispatch interval was a sluggish 6 minutes and the not overly long-looking queue took 15-20 minutes, but given that the park had been open for less than an hour at this point and I was already queueing for my 6th ride, I didn’t think I could really complain too much! So, how was the ride? Well, I was seated in the back row… and I think I needed a new spine afterwards! There were some fun bits of airtime, but the ride was probably the roughest I’ve ever known it, and it literally felt as though it was trying to bash me to hell in every single valley! It wasn’t quite as bad as I remember Grand National being on my last go in 2019, but it wasn’t that far off… ouch! Overall, then, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Big Dipper; I get that it’s an old ride, I’m glad it’s still running, and it does have some fun bits of airtime, but my ride was pretty rough and once was enough for me: After Big Dipper, I decided, perhaps against my better judgement, to reacquaint myself with a previously disliked coaster from my first visit… Infusion While Infusion was one of my least favourite coasters of all time based on my memory from my first Pleasure Beach visit in 2018, it had a near walk on queue, and I figured that 2018 was 7 years ago and I should give it another chance. Like how my mum tries sausages every so often to confirm whether she still doesn’t like them, I decided to give Infusion another whirl after many years away from it. As mentioned, the queue was short, so I wasn’t wasting much time by riding it even if I hated it again. So, how was it? Well, having ridden more coasters has not improved it, I’m afraid… I was seated in row 7, and it remains absolutely abysmal! While the base SLC layout is good and the ride looks the part, the head banging was absolutely relentless, and my shoulders and ears felt absolutely wrecked by the end! It also didn’t help matters that the passenger sat next to me was repeatedly yelling the phrase “OZZY’S A PAEDO!” in the loudest possible voice as we were negotiating the layout… all in all, then, Infusion remains vile, and one of my least favourite coasters. I find it almost impressive that in a park with so many old woodies and Arrows, the second newest coaster is quite possibly its roughest and least pleasant: After Infusion, I decided to take a break from the coasters and go for something slightly more relaxing… Wallace and Gromit’s Thrill-O-Matic Wallace and Gromit was on a very short queue, so I decided to give it a go. As with many of the rides so far, I practically walked on, which I can never complain about! But how was the ride? Well, I like the Wallace and Gromit films, and I have to say that I found the ride really fun and charming! There are some great scenes and animatronics in here, and all in all, I think it’s just a really charming dark ride that puts a smile on your face! I definitely enjoyed my lap on Wallace and Gromit, for sure: After my ride on Wallace and Gromit, I headed back over to Icon for another lap. I was seated in row 6 this time, and it was phenomenal once again!: After my reride on Icon, I headed for another reride on The Big One. I was seated in row 7 this time, and while the ride was maybe a tad rougher than earlier on in places, it was still running pretty well and was still enjoyable. Even if The Big One is not the strongest hyper I’ve ridden by a long shot, there’s still something I find inherently likeable about a 200ft+ coaster: After my reride on The Big One, I headed for two further rerides on Icon. One was in row 6 and one was in the very back row, and both were wonderful once again! After that, I headed for a Burger King lunch before I decided to try the final operating non-kiddie coaster that I hadn’t yet ridden… Steeplechase I hadn’t yet ridden Steeplechase, and having only done one of the sides in 2018, I still had 2 more of the sides to add to my count, so I decided to take a ride. I ultimately waited around 15 minutes for Steeplechase, which I didn’t think was too bad. But how was the ride? Well, I got the left hand side on this occasion, so I gained an additional +1… but I’m afraid I didn’t rate the ride at all and found it pretty vile. It’s not particularly intense or thrilling, but it is extremely uncomfortable; it felt like the predominant thing the ride did was trying to impale my hips with its seat barriers and have Heimlich manoeuvre style braking! I hate to say it, as the ride is unique and the racing element is quite fun, but I really didn’t enjoy Steeplechase and have to admit that it may well rival Infusion as my least favourite coaster in the park, placing it in strong contention for the title of my least favourite coaster of all time. Still, I guess I got a +1 out of it, which is always good: After my ride on Steeplechase, I took a reride on Revolution, which had only a one train wait or so. I was seated in row 7 this time, and as with earlier, I found it pretty enjoyable; with the great airtime and great forces through the loop, it really does pack a surprising punch!: I then went for a reride on Avalanche. The queue looked quite short, but ultimately took 30 minutes due to the ride only running one train. I was seated in row 5 this time, and as with earlier, it was really good fun and packed surprising speed and force: After my reride on Avalanche, I headed north to do something a little bit different that I’d never done before… Ghost Train Ghost Train was on a pretty much walk-on queue, so I decided to take a ride on there. With this only being my 3rd ever visit to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, there are still quite a few filler attractions I’ve never ridden, and prior to this visit, Ghost Train was one of them! So, how did I like my first ride on this vintage classic? Well, I have to say that it was quite charming! There were some well placed jumpscares and some cool effects (including a working Trommel tunnel!), and I overall thought it was a really nice classic dark ride! They do have somewhat of a penchant for loud siren/klaxon noises on there, though, don’t they?: After Ghost Train, I had not one, not two, but three back-to-back rides on Icon on a short queue! I was seated in row 5, row 8 and row 7, and all three were once again wonderful; if anything, the ride only got better as the day went on! I then had another reride on The Big One. I was seated in row 12 this time, and it was once again running reasonably well, albeit a little rough in places. The ride has definitely grown on me since I first rode it! I then had two wonderful back-to-back rerides on Icon, in rows 6 and 8 respectively, before heading to do another classic dark ride I’d never ridden before… Alice in Wonderland Alice in Wonderland was pretty much walk-on, so I decided to give it a whirl. As with Ghost Train earlier, Alice in Wonderland was a vintage filler ride that I’d never previously done, so I was interested to give it a try. But how was it? Well, I have to say I found the ride really charming and quirky! I don’t know if it’s the animation style, but I found the theming in Alice to almost have a sort of “cartoony acid trip” type feel to it, which was quite charming and probably fits the Alice in Wonderland franchise quite well! On a side note, I also think the Mad Hatter bench outside with the date that changes is quite a nice touch! All in all, then, I found Alice another fun, charming vintage dark ride; it’s vintage rides like this that make Blackpool special: After Alice, I decided to try another vintage filler ride that I’d never done before… Flying Machines Flying Machines had a pretty much walk on queue, so I decided to take a spin on there. With the Flying Machines being the oldest operating ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (if I’m not mistaken?), I thought they’d be a cool one to try, and once again, they were a vintage filler attraction that I hadn’t ridden prior to this visit. So, how was the ride? Well, I have to say that I thought Flying Machines was yet another very charming piece of vintage in Blackpool’s arsenal! I’m not a huge lover of spinning flat rides, but I found the Flying Machines to spin gently enough that I still found the ride enjoyable, and with the ride being relatively sedate, it was nice to sit back and take in some views of the park! Overall, then, I definitely enjoyed the Flying Machines, and I find it so impressive that the ride has lasted since the early 20th century: After I got off the Flying Machines, I headed back over to Icon for one final ride. I was seated in row 6, and it was a wonderful way to end my many Icon rides over the course of the day, with the ride having warmed up very nicely! After that, I headed to deposit most of my belongings into a locker to prepare for my final ride of the day… Valhalla With Valhalla being phenomenally wet from my prior experience on it in 2019, I decided to save it until the end of the day so that I could make a quick exit to my hotel to change afterwards. With my waterproof phone bag at the ready, I entered the queue, which thankfully didn’t take very long. It was certainly far shorter than the 2 hours I waited for it in 2019! I was seated next to a very friendly Northern man who tried to take his top off, but was swiftly reprimanded by the operators… nobody’s clothes are safe from Valhalla, it seems! So, how did I find Valhalla? Well… Valhalla is a complicated one for me to review. I really, really want to like it; there are some incredibly impressive effects in there, with the blasts of fire at the end being particularly breathtaking, and I really like a lot of what they’ve done with the revamp. I thought the narrative element with the voices enhanced it, I liked the new music and some of the new effects, and all in all, the whole thing seemed notably more polished immersively speaking than it did in 2019. It has a lot going for it! But as you can probably tell from the fact I said “I really want to like it”, there is a big “but” coming… and that is that I personally find it far, far too wet. I always get the feeling that the ride was designed by a water-crazed sadist, and the sheer wetness makes it harder to enjoy for me. The unpleasant pool of stagnant water at the bottom of the boat remains, and today had a plastic spoon floating in it amongst other residue, and the whole thing just feels like taking the Ice Bucket Challenge repeatedly (does anyone remember that?). For all its great aspects, I’m sorry to say that I’d struggle to think of a more sadistic theme park attraction than Valhalla; the sustained wetness is pretty overbearing for me, personally. With that said, I do think they did a good job on the revamp, so that is something I will applaud them for; I very much liked the enhancements they’ve made: After my ride on Valhalla, it was past the park closing time, so I retrieved my belongings from the locker and bade Blackpool Pleasure Beach goodbye for the day, heading to my hotel to change before heading to the Velvet Coaster for an evening meal: So overall, then, I had an absolutely excellent day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach! The weather was gorgeous, and if you’ve lost track, I got on 26 rides in total, which were as follows: Icon x11 The Big One x3 Avalanche x2 Revolution x2 Big Dipper x1 Infusion x1 Wallace and Gromit x1 Steeplechase x1 Ghost Train x1 Alice in Wonderland x1 Flying Machines x1 Valhalla x1 It’s not quite a personal best, but I was still very pleased with that! It was great to get back to Blackpool and get back on some favourites, particularly Icon! That ride definitely remains one of my favourite coasters in the UK and a top-tier ride for me, despite so many years having passed and so many new rides having been ridden since I last did it! I do think Blackpool Pleasure Beach is a really nice park that I wish I could get to more often. One thing I find really cool about it is how you can be on a modern coaster like Icon one minute, and a ride from the early 1900s like the Flying Machines or Big Dipper the next. I also love how so many rides are rammed into such a tight space! It makes for some awesome visuals, and it is also a considerable aid in doing what I was able to accomplish today; you aren’t riding 6 rides in the first hour at Alton Towers even if the place is deserted! But overall, I had a brilliant day; I hope it isn’t 6 years until I next return to Blackpool! Thanks for reading; I hope you’ve enjoyed this report! I’ve managed to cram in a cheeky day trip before my MSc dissertation period formally begins on 17th June, so my next theme park trip will be a trip to Paultons Park this Thursday! I can’t wait to check out Ghostly Manor for the first time (and I will aim to upload the trip report to TPM on the day this time)!

It’s great to see Stealth back! Apologies if I’ve missed any prior posts, but did we ever ascertain what the issue was?

Is there any rumour about what part could have gone wrong? I’m guessing it’s something quite big for it to be causing so much downtime.

I think the main issue with Blade and Flávio’s going is that it makes an already thinned out lineup for the middle ground family audience even thinner. In my view, it’s not really a flat ride issue, as we have got the Top Spin coming next year which somewhat counteracts Blade’s removal, but instead more of a middle ground whole family ride issue. The Blade was a key stalwart of Alton Towers’ middle ground family lineup, so with that gone, an already squeezed demographic is taking even more of a hit.

It’s looking to me like whatever is happening with the Beach might potentially be 2025’s draw instead. I wouldn’t be wholly surprised if they built some sort of ride there. Where did the park get with that proposal to not need planning applications for structures below 25m? If that got passed by the council, then they could theoretically be doing anything below 25m without us needing to know about it.

Apologies for being nearly a month late, but I have some throughput timings and insights to share from my recent trip to PortAventura World in Spain. The throughput readings I was able to get were as follows: Dragon Khan (Theoretical: Unknown on 3 trains) - 668pph (2 trains, average of 4, 10th September 2024), 806pph (2 trains, average of 3, 11th September 2024), 409pph (1 train, average of 4, 12th September 2024) El Diablo (Theoretical: Unknown on 3 trains) - 1,000pph (2 trains, average of 4, 11th September 2024) Furius Baco (Theoretical: 1,500pph on 3 trains) - 580pph (2 trains, average of 3, 10th September 2024), 622pph (2 trains, average of 10, 11th September 2024) Note: The 11th September average was skewed downwards by one particularly slow reading at the end; the picture up to that point was closer to 700pph. Red Force (Theoretical: 1,200pph on 3 trains) - 434pph (2 trains, average of 10, 11th September 2024) Note: This average was skewed downwards by one particularly slow reading at the end. Up to that point, the average was closer to 550pph, or a train around every 80s. Shambhala (Theoretical: 1,680pph on 3 trains) - 816pph (2 trains, average of 10, 10th September 2024), 774pph (2 trains, average of 9, 11th September 2024), 425pph (1 train, 12th September 2024, average of 2) Stampida (Theoretical: Unknown on 2 trains per side) - 1,229pph (2 trains per side, average of 6, 10th September 2024) Tomahawk (Theoretical: Unknown on 2 trains) - 552pph (2 trains, average of 3, 10th September 2024) Uncharted (Theoretical: 900pph on 3 cars) - 720pph (unknown number of cars, average of 2, 12th September 2024) Overall, I did not think that PortAventura’s operations were nearly as bad as I was expecting. Were they overly fast? No. But I also didn’t feel that they were abysmally slow either. Express Pass also wasn’t oversold, and queues moved decently. Queue times weren’t too bad either; I didn’t queue over an hour for anything all trip, and while the likes of Shambhala and Dragon Khan did get longer queues on occasion, there was always a major ride on a short queue to ride. Stampida, El Diablo, Street Mission and the water rides amongst others never seemed to get a queue longer than 20 minutes all trip. In terms of the actual throughputs themselves; the only time I saw anything run on 1 train was Shambhala and Dragon Khan in the slightly hairy weather on Friday. Under normal circumstances, everything seemed to run at least 2 trains, and while not lightning fast, I didn’t think the dispatches were excessively slow either.

Following my recent (well, nearly a month ago…) trip to PortAventura World in Spain to close out the year, I can now update my top 10 and top 30 yet again, with a rather big new entry at the very top being the icing on the cake… My current top 10, with a coaster count of 134, is now as follows (new in italics) : Shambhala - PortAventura Park: It’s finally happened… after 8 years, a new top dog is in town! I had very high expectations for Shambhala, and it did not disappoint; it’s an absolutely sublime coaster! As with Mako, the sustained airtime is glorious; the first drop is wonderful, and every single hill had brilliant sustained air! But there were a few little things that pushed it the distance above Mako for me. Unlike Mako, Shambhala keeps the thrills going right to the end, with every hill delivering, and as a result, I think it flows a bit better. The enhanced height and speed also really added to the ride compared to Mako and Silver Star for me, and another aspect I loved on Shambhala was the speed hill, which seemed much more notable in my mind than the similar element on Mako. Overall, though, Shambhala was just wonderful, and I loved every single one of the 7 rides I had on it while in Spain. Mako had a good 8 years at the top, but Shambhala is a very deserving successor! Mako - SeaWorld Orlando: It may not be top dog anymore, but Mako has held a special place in my heart ever since I first rode it back in 2016, and my 2023 revisit to SeaWorld (where I had 5 rides on it) reinforced my love for it! The sustained airtime is absolutely biblical (particularly in moments like the first drop, first airtime hill and speed hill), the sense of speed is wonderful, it's blissfully smooth, and overall, it's just such a fun, thrilling and rerideable coaster that I could (and indeed tried my darnedest to) sit on all day! I truly love this ride, and on my 2023 revisit to SeaWorld, it didn't disappoint! 10/10 Jurassic World VelociCoaster - Universal’s Islands of Adventure: It may not quite be #1, but my goodness was it close, and VelociCoaster would certainly be a worthy contender for the top spot! There is so much that this ride does well; it packs a great sense of speed throughout, with the second section in particular feeling ridiculously fast, there are quite a few sublime moments of ejector airtime that really whip you out of the seat, there are some truly brilliant inversions, and overall, it's just a truly stunning, spectacular coaster, in my view! In terms of some specific highlights; it's hard to pick from the wonderful array of sensations on offer. But if I had to choose a few, the second launch is absolutely obscene, packing a euphoric thrill like few other rides I've ever experienced, the top hat is sublime, packing some breathtaking ejector airtime on the back in particular, and the mosasaurus roll is an absolutely mind-blowing inversion that throws you out of the seat with some sublime sustained negative g-forces and ensures that you fly into the final brakes blown away! Overall, VelociCoaster is a truly stunning coaster, in my opinion; its blend of stunning airtime, impactful elements, fun, comfort and rerideability certainly make it a firm favourite of mine! 10/10 Silver Star - Europa Park: I had quite low expectations for this coaster given that it's not overly well liked, but I have to say that I was blown away; I absolutely adored this coaster! It has wonderful sustained airtime, it's smooth and comfortable, it has an awesome sense of speed, the ending is absolutely brilliant, packing some phenomenal ejector airtime (particularly the MCBR exit), and overall, this is a stunning coaster that I absolutely loved! I did rank this below Mako of the two B&M Hypers I've ridden due to my feeling that its airtime, while stunning, never has quite the same impact as some of Mako's strongest moments, in my view, and while smooth in its own right, it isn't quite as blissfully smooth as Mako. I also felt it to be slightly less consistent, as I did have 1 or 2 slightly weaker rides on it during my trip to Europa. Nonetheless, Silver Star is a stunning coaster with phenomenal sustained airtime, and I love how it is incredibly rerideable and keeps the thrills going right to the end with that awesome post-MCBR section! 10/10 Iron Gwazi - Busch Gardens Tampa: This ride is phenomenal! In terms of some key strengths, it’s absolutely relentless in pacing and has some of the strongest ejector airtime I’ve ever experienced, and some of the big hitters in the layout like the first drop, outerbanked turn, death roll and wave turn are truly sensational elements that are right up there with the best, in my opinion! The first drop in particular is insane; whipping you far out of the seat with ejector airtime for a surprisingly sustained period of time never gets old! There are also some absolutely top-drawer moments of ejector airtime elsewhere in the layout, and the ride is smooth and rerideable! In terms of why I moved it up when I haven’t reridden it, this is because in retrospect, I think I was overly harsh on Iron Gwazi at the time, fixating on its very tiniest imperfections to try and quantify the slight disappointment of it not quite living up to my wildly high expectations on the very first go. This is going to sound odd, but Iron Gwazi is a coaster where the more I sit back and think about it, the more I actually love it. Thinking back, it grew on me considerably the second and third times I did it once the weight of expectation was off its shoulders, and it is genuinely a top tier ride that is more than deserving of a top 5 placement for me! 10/10 Hyperia - Thorpe Park: What a sublime ride! I was excited for Hyperia, and it did not disappoint! I love a good hyper, and Hyperia is a phenomenal one! For starters, the ride is primarily designed around weightlessness, and it delivers this excellently; you seem to spend half of the ride pinned out of the seat in some capacity! The first three big elements on the ride are an obscenely perfect sequence. The first drop is absolutely unhinged and so, so good, delivering excellent sustained ejector, the non-inverting Immelmann is sublime and offers both brilliant speed rushing up into it and top-drawer sustained ejector coming out of it, and that outerbanked turn into the inversion is wild and pins you right of your seat with top-tier sustained sideways ejector! The zero-g stall is not quite up there with the other elements, but it is still excellent, with sustained hangtime, and the final two elements after the trim were surprisingly excellent, with both the outerbanked turn and the final airtime hill delivering! Overall, then, Hyperia is an absolutely sublime coaster, in my view, and it definitely lived up to the hype for me. It’s so good to have a coaster this brilliant 2 hours from home, that I can most probably ride at least once annually! 10/10 Wodan Timbur Coaster - Europa Park: Wodan strikes the perfect balance between pure demented insanity and amazing fun factor and rerideability, in my view! It’s an absolutely relentless coaster, with phenomenal pacing right to the end, and it has quite a few really surprising pops of ejector airtime, including an excellent first drop, but it’s also a really smooth and comfortable wooden coaster, and it just manages to be a ridiculous amount of fun! Overall, Wodan is such a fast, airtime-filled and fun coaster that I absolutely loved on my visit to Europa Park! 10/10 Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure - Universal’s Islands of Adventure: Dismiss this as a “family” coaster all you want, but I think such quick dismissal would be a huge mistake, because this ride is phenomenal, in my view! Of the rides in my top 10, I’ll admit that this one probably has the least tangible reason to be there. However, the key reason why Hagrid’s ranks so highly for me is that purely and simply, it is a phenomenally, impeccably fun roller coaster! In terms of some specifics, the low-to-the-ground turns were a lot more thrilling than I expected and the launches were surprisingly punchy and great fun, but unlike many coasters, my love of Hagrid’s is for a much broader reason than any specific features of the ride layout. It is just so, so fun, and the ride will always leave you laughing hysterically and smiling on the final brake run, and that for me is really important. Riding Hagrid’s taught me a crucial lesson about my taste in coasters; it taught me that a coaster does not necessarily need greatness in the form of tangible elements for me to love it, and that fundamentally, all a coaster needs to be is fun. Hagrid’s is not the most intense ride by any means, but if you want pure fun, I’d struggle to recommend many better coasters than this one! 10/10 SheiKra - Busch Gardens Tampa: I had remembered liking this ride back in 2016, but my reride in 2023 was even better than I’d previously remembered! I love a B&M Dive Coaster, and this was a fantastic one! The sustained airtime over both drops was absolutely phenomenal, and the sheer size of them produced a brilliant sensation of speed throughout the ride! You typically think of Dive Coasters for their initial vertical drop, but interestingly, I actually thought that the second vertical drop on SheiKra delivered just as much as the first if not more! Overall, SheiKra was phenomenal, and a really pleasant surprise; I often said that I preferred Oblivion, but I’d now say that I comfortably prefer SheiKra, as I do feel that the added height and length really add something to it! 10/10 Wicker Man - Alton Towers: Wicker Man is a fantastic GCI coaster that I absolutely love! It may not look like much on paper, but I find it to be an enormously fun and rerideable coaster that never fails to put a huge smile on my face! I find it to be a really fast-paced coaster with some really fun twists and turns and some surprising pops of airtime, with some particular favourite elements of mine being the initial s-bend drop, where you gain brilliant speed incredibly quickly, and the big drop out of the high u-turn and following airtime hill, with both elements providing some excellent airtime that really whips you out of the seat! Overall, I find Wicker Man a hugely fun and rerideable wooden coaster with awesome airtime, twists and pacing, and I think it’s a ride that is definitely far more than the sum of its parts, personally! I decided to bump it up a few spots after my most recent visit in 2024, where it was running so well on the 2 rides I had; the airtime was kicking, the ride was blisteringly fast-paced, and it just made me laugh and smile so much! Somewhat similarly to Hagrid’s, Wicker Man just takes the raw fun factor to a whole new level for me! 10/10 Shambhala was the only ride at PortAventura to make my top 10. I had an outside hope that Red Force might make it in there based on some of the more positive comments I’d heard about it, but alas, it was “only” top 20 material for me! Perhaps controversially, I actually ended up marginally preferring Stealth… In terms of the top 30 following PortAventura, this now looks as follows (new in bold) : Shambhala - PortAventura Park (10/10) Mako - SeaWorld Orlando (10/10) Jurassic World VelociCoaster - Universal’s Islands of Adventure (10/10) Silver Star - Europa Park (10/10) Iron Gwazi - Busch Gardens Tampa (10/10) Hyperia - Thorpe Park (10/10) Wodan Timbur Coaster - Europa Park (10/10) Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure - Universal’s Islands of Adventure (10/10) SheiKra - Busch Gardens Tampa (10/10) Wicker Man - Alton Towers (10/10) Ice Breaker - SeaWorld Orlando (10/10) Icon - Blackpool Pleasure Beach (10/10) Oblivion - Alton Towers (9/10) Stealth - Thorpe Park (9/10) Red Force - Ferrari Land (9/10) Montu - Busch Gardens Tampa (9/10) Nemesis Reborn - Alton Towers (9/10) Nemesis Inferno - Thorpe Park (9/10) Revenge of the Mummy - Universal Studios Florida (9/10) Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts - Universal Studios Florida (9/10) Blue Fire - Europa Park (9/10) Mine Blower - Fun Spot Kissimmee (9/10) The Swarm - Thorpe Park (8/10) Kumba - Busch Gardens Tampa (8/10) Kraken - SeaWorld Orlando (8/10) Megafobia - Oakwood Theme Park (8/10) Rock’n’Rollercoaster - Disney’s Hollywood Studios (8/10) Cheetah Hunt - Busch Gardens Tampa (8/10) Sik - Flamingo Land (8/10) Uncharted: El Enigma de Penitence - PortAventura Park (8/10) Another surprise contender since my last update that only narrowly missed out, sitting in the #32 spot, was Gold Rush at Drayton Manor! That was an unexpectedly excellent family coaster! It has been an excellent year for me, on the whole. It’s been my most cred-tastic year ever, with 23 new credits ridden this year in total (the first time I’ve ever gone over 20 new credits in a year!), and I’ve also had 2 new top 10 additions in Shambhala and Hyperia (not quite as good as last year, where I had 4 new top 10 additions and a resurgent previously ridden coaster that re-entered my top 10 after a particularly strong performance on my revisit, but still pretty good, in my view!). For those interested, I would rank all 23 new coasters I rode this year as follows: Shambhala - PortAventura Park (10/10, #1/134) Hyperia - Thorpe Park (10/10, #6/134) Red Force - Ferrari Land (9/10, #15/134) Uncharted: El Enigma de Penitence - PortAventura Park (8/10, #30/134) Gold Rush - Drayton Manor (8/10, #32/134) Roller Coaster - Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach (7/10, #39/134) Dragon Khan - PortAventura Park (6/10, #50/134) Minifigure Speedway (Legends) - Legoland Windsor (5/10, #65/134) Minifigure Speedway (Allstars) - Legoland Windsor (5/10, #66/134) El Diablo: Tren de la Mina - PortAventura Park (5/10, #67/134) Tomahawk - PortAventura Park (5/10, #68/134) Furius Baco - PortAventura Park (4/10, #87/134) Stampida (Red) - PortAventura Park (4/10, #88/134) Stampida (Blue) - PortAventura Park (4/10, #89/134) Spook Express - Joyland Children’s Fun Park (4/10, #95/134) Tami Tami - PortAventura Park (4/10, #96/134) Egg-Spress - Pleasurewood Hills (4/10, #101/134) Cannonball Express - Pleasurewood Hills (3/10, #108/134) Wipeout - Pleasurewood Hills (3/10,#112/134) Whirlwind - Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach (3/10, #114/134) Big Apple - Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach (3/10, #118/134) Family Star - Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach (2/10, #127/134) Tyrolean Tubtwist - Joyland Children’s Fun Park (1/10, #134/134) I’m not sensing that next year will be quite as fruitful due to me having to do an MSc dissertation over the summer, but me and my parents are still pondering another new foreign park visit next year, so who knows!