Matt N

Sorry to double post, but the videos are now in properly. I apologise, as I didn’t embed them properly earlier.

Right then; sorry about the long wait, but the first area of Sinister Springs is finally ready! So without further ado, let me welcome you all to… Sinistra’s Lair: I’ll confess that I struggled a little with this area. The entrance area of a park, regardless of how you tackle it, has to be quite all-encompassing, and effectively has to summarise your entire park in one area. With a thematic archetype as broad as horror, I’ll admit that was quite tough. I opted for a crypt-style building style, with bits such as skeletons and gargoyles around the area, but there are so many other ways I could have tackled it, and I’ll admit that finding stuff to fill the space was quite hard in areas. That’s besides the point, though; I hope you like it! Now, Sinistra’s Lair has 4 attractions (well, 3 if you amalgamate the 2 that are different experiences of the same ride type together), and they are as follows: Sinistra’s Spine-Tingler, an S&S 4th dimension coaster themed as Sinistra's most terrifying torture device. The ride is 237ft tall, reaches 79mph and has 3,751ft of track. The ride’s story is as follows: “Now Sinistra has you under her spell, she’s ready to give you your first physical test. And she feels that her Spine-Tingler is the perfect way to test you. It’s a torture device that provides the ultimate endurance test, separating the strong from the weak… and alas, some are too weak for the Spine-Tingler, but that’s a sacrifice that Sinistra is willing to make. The Spine-Tingler feeds off the flesh of its victims… survive, and prove your true strength, or die trying, and become its next meal. It’s time to show Sinistra how much you can take… live or die, make your choice.”: I also filmed a POV and some cinematic shots: I apologise for the slightly janky track profiling in places... I smoothed it, but those bits wouldn't budge. Sinistra’s Hellraiser, an S&S Screamin’ Swing. The ride is themed as a torture device giving you a taste of hell, and has a timed special effects sequence, including fire, water and smoke. Hellraiser’s story is as follows: "Hell is a terrible place... you'll be headed there if you lose the game, so Sinistra feels as though she may as well give you a taste of it. Her Hellraiser is the perfect device; it offers a taste of hell you won't forget anytime soon. That should be enough to scare you into submission...": Sinistra's Horror Crypt, a duo of drop tower dark rides. The storyline for the whole ride is as follows: "Sinistra may have tested you physically, but you still need a psychological test. When you enter the Horror Crypt, Sinistra has two terrifying tales up her sleeves to put you directly into, and your job is to escape them alive. Good luck, mortals...". I know that the previous drop tower dark ride I did, Doomsday Temple, only had one tower, but I decided to go for two here, as I later discovered that the throughput of one tower was only around 500-600pph... here, I decided to go for two towers, with each offering a different experience, to increase both throughput and rerideability: I'll introduce each of the two Horror Crypt towers separately, as each has its own separate storyline and POV. The first tower is Drop Dead. The storyline of Drop Dead is: "You have been invited on a ghost hunt at the house of Dr Derek Von Doom, a scientist experimenting with the dead. Will you find more than you'd bargained for? Or worse, become his next test subjects?". Here's the POV: The second tower is Terrorestrial. The storyline of Terrorestrial is: "It's 2089, and you've been summoned to the lair of Zorgor, a hostile alien... will you survive the encounter of a lifetime?". Here's the POV: P.S. Horror Crypt POVs contain strobe lighting That's all the attractions in Sinistra's Lair. But the area also has various amenities, which I decided to give some thematically fitting names. Conventional names like "Box Office" and "Souvenirs" aren't the name of the game here; in Sinister Springs, all of the information stands will be named Clues for Survival, all of the drink stands will be named Bloodbath, and the park's main gift shop is called Sinistra's Scars. There is also a buffet restaurant named Sinistra's Banquet. Here's one of the facility buildings I did: Finally, here's some area overview shots, taken at both daytime and nighttime: As well as an area overview video: I apologise for the slightly plain area surroundings at present... I'm going to jazz up the edges of the park a bit more when I've completed the entire park, so that is still a work in progress at present. So, I hope you like Sinistra's Lair! I would appreciate any constructive feedback, and I hope to be back with more Sinister Springs content, or content from a different park, within a much quicker timeframe than my last break!

Sorry to double post, but I decided to have a bash at building the alternative layout in Planet Coaster, if anyone's interested. Here's what I came up with based on what Thorpe have provided: For some idea, this ride is 236ft/72m tall, the exact same height as Exodus. It hits 82mph/132kph, has 4,446ft/1,355m of track, and has 2 trains with 7 cars/28 riders. I managed to get 4 airtime hills in there (2 big camelbacks, 2 lower hills), alongside a hammerhead turn, a mini version of Mako's turnaround, a mini treble clef, and what I guess you could call a mini hammerhead (of sorts). I apologise for some slightly off profiling in places (I smoothed the hell out of it, but some parts wouldn't budge), but I hope that gives you all a basic idea of what it could have been like. If you're wondering why I varied the colour scheme in places, it's because the planning application mentioned the high points being painted light colours, so I did a bit of a Stealth on anything above about 80ft, as the application mentions. I hope you find this interesting!

Good to finally have this locked into a full planning application! I've got to say, I have personally warmed to this coaster a fair amount since it was first unveiled. I was initially a bit skeptical, as I'll admit that I was a big advocate for a more airtime-focused ride during the rumour stage (you'd have heard "B&M Hyper" come out of my mouth a lot...), but having let the layout sink in a bit, I actually think it's an excellent-looking layout with some really great-looking elements, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to riding! Some particular highlights of mine include the drop and the overbank into an inversion, but to be honest, most of the elements look really fun! Yes, this probably won't win any awards for the most airtime on earth or anything (while I'm sure Exodus will have some airtime, and some quite strong airtime at that, it doesn't look to have an overtly airtime-focused layout; I think the airtime will be more sprinkled in there as a side dish alongside other types of forces as opposed to being the main focus of the ride like some were perhaps hoping for), but it looks like a really fun, unique layout in my opinion, and certainly a phenomenal use of the space and Merlin's limited budget given the presumed brief (tall with lots of high elements)! In terms of the planning application; I find the alternative layout interesting, as to me, that suggests that the B&M Hyper rumour might not have been such an outlandish rumour after all... that layout looks like a B&M Hyper layout if I ever saw one. I'll admit that that alternative proposal is more what I personally had in mind for this project (I was a keen advocate for a B&M Hyper during the rumour stage), but the jury's out on whether it would have been more well received than the Exodus we got. It's hard to tell what it would have been like from an overhead view, even though you can get some ideas. Putting aside alternate realities, though; bring on 2024! I can't wait to ride Exodus!

My apologies… I didn’t really consider that. It’s been added!

Sorry to double post, but for those who have absolutely no idea of what I’m talking about, here’s a documentary by Expedition Theme Park, for a bit more info on what Crinkley Bottom actually was: https://youtu.be/Prr59WolXv4

Hi guys. While it’s probably one of the lesser known defunct UK theme parks these days, I’m led to believe we have quite a few people on here who grew up in the UK in the 1990s, or were more generally around in the UK in the 1990s for that matter, and know about Mr Blobby and Crinkley Bottom in Cricket St Thomas, Somerset. So I was intrigued to know; did anyone ever visit this park in the brief period it operated? And if so, what did you think? I must say it’s a park that looks intriguing, and quite a strange one to imagine as someone who wasn’t alive in the 1990s. As someone who mainly knows Noel Edmunds as the host of Channel 4’s Deal or No Deal, I can never imagine him being a big celebrity with a huge TV show and theme park like that, but him and Mr Blobby were apparently huge in the 1990s! I mainly posted this thread, though, because I’m currently staying in a lodge complex in Chard that’s only around a mile’s walk from the former site of Crinkley Bottom. As such, my dad and I took a walk down there today to see what we could find, and while the site is now a Warner hotel and no longer looks remotely theme park-like, like most other stately homes in Britain, there are still a few little oddities there to find if you know where to look. I mostly took pictures of stuff that I thought looked vaguely theme park-y, and like it could have been part of Crinkley Bottom, but having consulted a Crinkley Bottom park map and looked online after getting back to our lodge, I actually wasn’t far off. I did take a few photos that I thought might be of interest to you guys. For reference, here’s the map me and my dad used, as a point of reference: (Credit to dunblobbin.com for this image: https://www.dunblobbin.com/park-map) Firstly, here are a few oddities I found that looked like they might have been from when it was a wildlife park: And then we came to what was unmistakably the former railway bridge: And I also photographed this building that was apparently home to the Animals of Farthing Wood attraction according to the map: After that, we crossed what was marked as the Flamingo bridge on the park map, walked along the former railway line, and walked back to the other side along the Crinkley Bridge, at which point I photographed a distinctly colourful looking building, which I later ascertained was the Crinkley Bottom Art Gallery, with what looked like the Extremely Nice Thingy Shop next to it (possibly not in the photograph): (It looked more colourful and stood out more in person… I was zoomed in a lot here) We then came to the Holey Tree, listed on the park map: And finally, we then took a walk up to Cricket House itself: But that’s not all! As it turns out, the very track we walked down to get there used to be the track for the safari (which you can see once you know that was the case), and we also saw a tunnel that used to be Mr Blobby’s Lair, supposedly! (I didn’t photograph that because my dad thought it looked too new to be part of the park) So I definitely had a very productive and interesting afternoon here in Chard; I hope you like my photos of remnants of this slightly more obscure piece of UK theme park history! Did anyone ever get to visit this interesting attraction, or do you remember it?

Hi guys. If you do coaster counting, one means that many enthusiasts tend to resort to in order to up their coaster count is riding kiddie coasters. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that enthusiasts tend to have different mentalities towards riding kiddie coasters and the level of care they have about getting kiddie coaster credits. Some have the mentality of “cred’s a cred”, and will travel very long distances to get the latest big apple or go-gator added to RCDB, while others tend to confine their kiddie coaster riding to when they’re available in larger parks, or even don’t ride kiddie coasters at all in some cases. So my question to you today is; what’s your mentality towards riding kiddie coasters? Tell you what, I’ll split this into some categories: Category A; I’ll always ride kiddie creds, regardless of distance or surrounding attractions. I want the +1s! Category B; I’ll ride kiddie creds if they’re close to my location or a location I’m visiting, but I wouldn’t travel any long distance for them. Category C; I‘ll ride kiddie creds if they’re in a larger park I’m making a broader visit to, but I would never visit a park with the sole purpose of riding a kiddie cred. Category D; I don’t generally ride kiddie creds at all. Which category do you fall into? Personally, I’m going to be controversial and say that I actually fall into Category D; I don’t generally ride kiddie creds at all. I think “never” is a strong word, but these days, I practically always avoid them. I did try taking a Category C mentality for a bit, hence why things like Troublesome Trucks and Octonauts sit in my count, but I was discouraged from this after various embarrassing experiences on kiddie coasters, and I now sit firmly in the camp of “I don’t do kiddie coasters”. In fact, when totting up the potential credit tally from a new park, I exclude kiddie coasters by default these days. For instance, while Europa has 13 credits in total, I’ve always done my cred maths assuming I’ll be getting 12 coaster credits on my April trip (assuming no major reliability issues or crowds or anything, of course), because I just remove B-a-a-a from my mind. I get why people do kiddie coasters, and I have no objection to people doing kiddie coasters, but I personally find that the embarrassment outweighs the good feeling from the +1 for me, and even excluding that, I’ve personally settled into the mindset that I’d rather do a more significant non-coaster within a park, or a re-ride on a coaster I particularly liked, than do a kiddie cred. And even if I had less issue with doing kiddie creds, I wouldn’t ever see myself edging higher than Category C or B, personally; I’m not sure I ever see myself doing long road trips with the sole intention of riding kiddie coasters. But I don’t judge those who do; each to their own, of course, and you will always have the upper hand over me cred count-wise! But which category do you fall into when it comes to your mentality towards riding kiddie coasters?

Perhaps if the Locke and Key thing is being pursued, the park is trying to give Fright Nights a broader appeal beyond all-out adult horror? I admittedly don’t know much about Locke and Key aside from having heard the name, but if it isn’t overtly a horror IP like the others the park have pursued, then maybe the park is trying to attract a broader demographic to Fright Nights? Going back to an IP would also be an interesting move; they haven’t had any IPs for a few years now, have they? Is it known why the Lionsgate-themed Fright Nights mazes ever went? I apologise if I’m not exhibiting much knowledge here; I must admit that FN and horror stuff in general isn’t my thing at all.

Interesting review @Mark9; thanks for posting! Out of interest, does Genie still require the same amount of advance planning as FP+ required when I last visited? I seem to remember us planning our days about 2 months in advance when we went in 2019, so I'd be intrigued to know if Genie has removed that extent of planning. I didn't personally mind it too much, but I know many don't like it.

Sorry to bump a thread that's been inactive for 2 years, but seeing as I'm currently a first-year uni student, the thread title did catch my eye. As it appears that there are quite a few people on here with previous uni experiences, I was just wondering; is there anyone on here who didn't take to uni straight away, and for whom it took quite a bit of time for them to properly settle in? I only ask because if I'm being totally honest, I'm not 100% sure that I feel fully settled into university and the way of life it brings just yet, even 5 months on from initially joining. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say I hate my course by any stretch, and the people and environment are lovely, but something still feels like it isn't quite clicking for me, and I can't place my finger on what; if someone asked me whether I was loving my course, I'd honestly be hesitant to say yes at this point in time. If I'm being honest, I have found adjusting to the study style quite difficult, and doing the assignments often makes me quite stressed (although it must be said that I did find that things seemed to fall into place a little more towards the end of Semester 1). Even though I have no issue with doing independent study, I have found the transition to more unstructured time and less clear expectations quite challenging, and I have found the general style of study a bit tough to get my head around. Apart from one module which I failed (I got a 35 in one assignment, but I know that that was down to me misinterpreting the brief slightly, and also making blunders in formatting; I know what to do to solve that in the reassessment), I did OK in the other 3 in my first semester (my other grades were 58, 64 and 68), but I have found the transition (from sixth form) somewhat jarring. Sorry for the little ramble, but I only wanted to ask; is it normal to not fully settle in for a while after you've joined university? Or have I made a mistake, and is it only going to get worse from here?

It could well be for a layout change; I do think it would be nice if they were able to add in a few straight airtime hills, as much as I think the layout is very impressive already given the site and Merlin’s tight budget! And Merlin may well have listened to some of the enthusiasts complaining about the length and lengthened it slightly! However, there’s one thing that puts me off the prospect of a layout change, and that’s the wording and level of detail they’ve chosen to justify this change. If this was for a layout change, surely it would say something like “an alteration to the scope of the ride” that would have been spelled out to the planners in more depth (for instance, I imagine they’d have to outline any new footers being poured or whatever, as well as any new high points in that area), as opposed to “cut and edge landscaping”. That to me suggests some sort of more minor work away from the ride itself; I did notice that the new area encompasses the entirety of Loggers’ former plot whereas the old area didn’t, so perhaps the “design development” is that they’ve decided to demolish the remaining bits of Logger’s that weren’t covered in the initial scope? Also, the original layout doesn’t quite fill the originally outlined area, so surely a layout extension could in theory be done within the current boundary if they wanted one? Don’t get me wrong, it could well be for a layout change (I don’t know much about how planning works for that type of thing), but something tells me that the planners wouldn’t be happy if Thorpe tried to pass off a layout extension as “landscaping”… I’d expect them to have to go into greater detail for something like that, or at very least specify “an extension to the scope of the ride”. It’s worth remembering that the wooded section of The Flume was technically considered part of Wicker Man’s site during the planning process, but this was only due to the removal of the wooded section of The Flume; Wicker Man did not ultimately end up using the wooded area at all. To be honest, I don’t think Exodus really needs a layout change, personally. Yes, it’s not the longest coaster, and it doesn’t look to be a straight airtime machine in the way that many were hoping for, but given the site, the budget and the brief, I think it’s already pretty impressive myself!

Sorry to bump this thread after nearly 5 years of inactivity, but I was just wondering; have Towers done something to Rita in recent years? I only ask because I had a period of 4.5 years without riding Rita (between 2016 and 2020) because of how rough it was and how little I liked it, but when I rerode it in 2020, I thought it was brilliant, and way, way smoother than I'd ever remembered. I've had 4 rides post-2020, in both the purple and blue trains, and none of them have been overly rough at all, which I find really interesting. I would even dare to say that my most recent rides, in September 2021, were really quite smooth; my front row ride was honestly hardly any rougher than Icon at BPB, with only a very slight rattle, and even the ride I had in row 8 straight after only had a touch more of a rattle to it; nothing that majorly detracted from the ride at all. The ride literally didn't hurt in the slightest, and I'd have happily gone round a few times! And while I still wouldn't say they were a favourite of mine, I also didn't mind the restraints too much, in spite of remembering hating them years prior. Most interestingly of all, I rode Rita and Stealth within a week of each other in September 2021, and I would have said that my 2 rides on Rita were considerably smoother and more enjoyable than any of my 3 rides on Stealth; whereas Rita only had a slight rattle at worst, Stealth was really bouncing about quite horribly going up and down the top hat on all 3 rides, and I came off it with somewhat of a headache all 3 times I rode. Given that Rita is far more notorious for roughness than Stealth, I find that really interesting... Not to mention that while Stealth's launch is more forceful and the airtime on the top hat is fantastic, Rita has a more extensive layout which is surprisingly exciting in places; I'd never noticed before, but there are a couple of surprisingly strong ejector moments on Rita that really throw you out of your seat! Even though it's so hated, and even I once hated it, I've really been enjoying Rita lately, and I'd also say that while I prefer Rita of the two, both of the Dark Forest Intamins are rides that I enjoy more than most. Does anyone know if Rita's had anything done? And do you agree with me about it?

I think it can operate without the water effects, yes. While I don’t know about the speed question, I seem to remember hearing that Drayton Manor turns the water effects off on Captain’s Sea Adventure (their Zamperla Watermania) during the Christmas event.

Legoland Deutschland has announced that they are building a new €15.5m coaster in 2023, that will be the first of its type in a Legoland park: https://www.themepark-central.de/legoland-deutschland-neuheit-2023/ The ride will be located in a new themed area between the holiday village and Land of the Pharaohs that will also contain another attraction. Nothing else has been said other than the budget, the fact that it’s part of a themed area, and that it’s the first of its type in a Legoland park. There are no real rumours, but interestingly, I’ve heard both an SBF Hamster Wheel (suggested within the above article) and an S&S Axis (a European park was said to be building an S&S Axis for 2023, and nowhere else is currently showing any obvious signs of being the park for this) suggested. I wouldn’t have initially gone for either of those, personally, but given we’re seeing Chessington and Legolands in China building B&Ms, I think just about anything is possible! I’ll admit that my mind initially leapt to a launched B&M like Chessington’s and the Chinese Legolands’, but would they call that “the first in any Legoland park” given that Legoland Sichuan is also due to open in 2023? What do you guys think it could be?

Welcome @Vampire*! (Apologies for not seeing your post earlier…)

The 2016 ride was rumoured to be a Zamperla Watermania, wasn’t it? Also, I think they provide essentially the same ride experience for all intents and purposes, so it wouldn’t really make much difference.

It would appear that Chessington is installing 2 new rides in Pirate’s Cove for 2022, according to Chessington Buzz: https://chessingtonbuzz.com/news/two-new-rides-for-2022/ The planning application was submitted today, and the two rides are: A Zamperla Watermania (basically a mix of a teacups and a splash battle) that features water guns around the outside and a nautical feel, with a lighthouse tower operating console. The ride is to be named Bobbing Barrels. A Zamperla Rockin’ Tug, thought to be Timber Tug Boat from Thorpe Park, that is being named Trawler Trouble. Some of the artwork has also spawned a rumour that Pirate’s Cove is being rethemed to more of a nautical theme as opposed to a pirate theme. That would make sense given the general aesthetic of The Blue Barnacle compared to its predecessor, in my opinion. Isn’t this interesting! What do you guys think? It does certainly appear as if the level of investment into Chessington is stepping up somewhat, with these new rides now and Project Amazon in 2023!

I’ll digress to being quite shocked at just how drastically IOA’s coaster lineup has seemingly improved since my last visit in 2016. I didn’t think it was by any means bad back then, but I’d say coasters were one of the park’s weaker links (certainly compared to dark rides and water rides, anyway); I liked Hulk, but didn’t love it, and I found both Dragon Challenges quite average. I also found Hulk, bizarrely, to not be that smooth for a B&M coaster that had just reopened from a huge retrack, but that might just be me. However, the 2 new rides built since then look quite mesmerising; Hagrid’s looks like a stunning family thrill coaster with phenomenal theming, and VelociCoaster… what else really needs to be said there? These rides look to have strengthened IOA’s lineup quite considerably, and given it’s already my favourite theme park in the world as of right now, that bodes well for when I next visit! Glad you enjoyed VelociCoaster @Mark9; I envy those who are able to get out there and ride it, as it looks stunning! It’s a shame you didn’t particularly rate Hagrid’s, though; it was always reviewed very well in a lot of previous reviews I’ve read. I guess it is (or looks to be, at least) more of a family ride intensity-wise, though, which might not be for everyone.

I guess Lumber Jump was probably the easiest one to move. Glad to see it being retained, though! And is it me, or do the name and graphic imply that it might be themed around one of those fairground strength tester-type things, where you hit a hammer and it goes up a certain amount dependant on the force of your hit? That could just be me being completely weird and making that up, though… I’m also curious as to where in Amity Cove this might go, as I’m not sure there’s a huge amount of space in Amity. Although I guess this won’t require much space, in fairness.

Hi guys. The 2022 season is just beginning, with BPB starting to reopen its gates, so I thought I’d breathe some life back into TPM’s trip report section (which hasn’t been updated for over a year by the looks of things) and make a 2022 Trip Plans thread! So, what parks are we all planning to do this year, now that COVID’s effect on the theme park industry is seemingly beginning to ease? Personally, I have a variety of plans for 2022. Much of this isn’t set in stone, as it’s only February, but here are my tentative 2022 trip plans, split into categories of their status: Locked In Plans Europa Park (26th-30th April 2022, on park 27th-29th April 2022) - After months of planning, this is finally locked in! We’re staying in Castillo Alcazar for 4 nights and have 3 days of park tickets to Europa Park, a bucket list park I’ve wanted to visit for a good 7 or 8 years now! I’m absolutely buzzing about it; it’s slightly surreal to think that after years and years of wanting to go, I’m only a little over 10 weeks away from finally stepping into Europa Park, the Golden Ticket Award winner for world’s best theme park and a place that many hold in extremely high regard, and I’m going to be riding coasters like Wodan, Silver Star, Blue Fire, as well as seeing other esteemed rides like Voletarium and Piraten in Batavia, as well as seeing what the park in general has to offer… my, this is so exciting! I know a lot of you are probably quite blasé about a trip to Europa by now, but from my personal perspective, I can’t believe that a trip I’ve dreamed about doing since I was 11 or 12 is finally happening! Almost Definite Plans Solo Train Trip to Drayton Manor (Weekday in June 2022) - After my successful pilot of solo theme park visiting at Thorpe last September, I want to take my newfound ability further in 2022 and take the train alone to a theme park in 2022. And where better to begin with that than the easiest park to reach from my location by train; Drayton Manor! I’ve mapped out the route from Wilnecote train station (reachable by direct train from my local train station), and everything looks nice and walkable the entire way, and I’d also like to get back to Drayton even excluding the stuff about my solo park visiting; I haven’t been in 4 years, there’s still some significant(ish) stuff there I haven’t ridden, and I would like to give Apocalypse a good send off before its rumoured removal at the end of 2022! In terms of when I’d like to go; I’ve decided on a weekday in June, as I’m headed to Europa in April, and this is also when I’m off uni and the kids are still in school keeping park crowd levels low, so it’s win-win! I obviously haven’t booked anything or concluded anything for this yet, but I am quite set on doing it at some point in 2022, so I’ll file it under “Almost Definite”! Possibilities Brean Theme Park/possibly Weston too (Unknown) - In spite of having been a theme park enthusiast since I was 10, I still haven’t visited my nearest theme park; Brean Theme Park! My dad has said to me that me and him could remedy that at some point in 2022, though, and he also raised the possibility that we could do Funland at the Tropicana as well, so excluding the kiddie creds at either park, as I don’t generally do kiddie creds, this could be a very easy +4! Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Unknown) - My parents have said we might be able to get back up to Blackpool for a short break at some point this year, and I’ll admit, I am keen for a revisit, what with new Valhalla and retracked Big One, Grand National and Big Dipper all having happened since my last visit, and I’m gagging to get back on my #2 coaster Icon after 3 years away! To tell you the truth, I was originally planning to do BPB myself on the train in one day, but from the South West, the trip was quite an epic one compared to anything I’ve done before, and practically everyone around me thought it sounded like quite a poor travel-to-park-time ratio (I totted it up to be around 8-9 hours of travelling for around 4-5 hours of park time, with me needing to get up at about 5:30am), so my parents said to me “if you want to go to Blackpool, I’m sure we could go up and stay there at some point this year so you get a full day in the park!”, which sounded like a far more pleasurable, less bold idea to me… That’s all I can think of at the moment, and as I say, much of that is not set in stone, so the year could turn out totally differently; it’s only February at the moment! In terms of the Merlin parks; from having talked to my parents, I’m led to believe that after quite a Merlin-heavy 2020 and 2021, our visit frequency to those will be considerably lower in 2022 due to us no longer having MAPs (my parents aren’t buying themselves new MAPs after being angry at the way Merlin treated passholders during COVID). I could in theory buy an MAP myself (my last MAP, the Premium MAP I had during COVID, was one I bought myself), but if my parents don’t get them too, it’s probably not overly worthwhile. But what 2022 trip plans do you have?

Interestingly, it appears that ParkVibes isn’t returning for 2022… I wonder why that is? Was it not hugely successful or something? I’ll admit I didn’t notice a huge difference when I visited during ParkVibes other than the themed flags and some slightly altered audio in places, but I heard other people who seemed to enjoy it. This lineup sounds really solid, though; I’m particularly interested to see what Carnival ends up being like, seeing as I’m assuming that Mardi Gras will be fairly similar to Towers’ one, whereas Carnival is unique to Thorpe!

That is a sound suggestion that makes a lot of sense… I didn’t think of that.

I know this is going to sound slightly random, but I have a question to those who’ve ridden Sky Lion this year in terms of their thoughts on the ride, if you don’t mind me asking. Warning: Minor spoilers for those who haven’t ridden. Is it only me who felt that the ride could have used a bit of feedback to what was happening on screen through the use of physical effects? For instance, I’m talking about things like it squirting you with water when you travel through water on the film, or blasting some hot air at you when you travel through the hotter environment. Personally, I did feel like some of this would improve the ride, and my parents both agreed with me; it was one of the first things they said to me when we got off. We all expressed feelings that there were points where we were expecting a water squirt or whatever and it didn’t come. Don’t get me wrong, I thought Sky Lion was a great dark ride (one of my favourites in the UK) that’s really fun to ride, and I overall thought they did a great job with it! That is literally the most picky of flaws I could find in it, but it was something I did personally notice. Spoilers ending Does anyone else think this? Or am I literally the most petty reviewer ever?

Most interestingly, Merlin is now lobbying for the London Resort application to be withdrawn, as the developers have demonstrated “no tangible progress” in their eyes: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https://riderater.co.uk/9543/merlin-calls-for-withdrawal-of-london-resort-plans/&h=AT3eBNkY3S5WaNCU0eZHzFAQjQoxQim2zJqQZvPKyriSNm9kvksbrO2CS8rLs_-r_vAlBNRLLH21oUoOfx_16VbKSaDcmHCbcuS9K8qL_gZ0VFyUq-9M9TczYIk8ciA&s=1 Merlin invites the developers to resubmit an “application-ready” planning application “in due course”.