Mark9

And now do you give a toss about the actual problem or are you so blinded by freebies that cost the park nothing but collectively ruin other peoples days instead. The ignorance is astounding quite frankly.

There are words for people like you.. just sayin'.

Ah, classic. Doesn't solve the problem in the slightest though and just helps make the queues for the rides longer.

Alton would only ever run Rita on one train if there was a problem with one of them. We don't have to make up conspiracy theories or attack Merlin for everything you know.

It's funny you say that as I think Thorpe only has two dark/gloomy themed rides in total. Tidal Wave is very much tounge in cheek for example (takes guts too make comedy out of a natural disaster), Inferno always struck me as quite upbeat too and Stealth is one of the cheeriest major roller coasters in the country. Hell, Storm Surge is the best joke in years! Alton = dark dark dark.

I would love for some European park to just get a lumbering piece of kit like Banshee. Whilst the more imaginative, smaller rides like Nemesis are greatly appreciated, something massive like Katun would be awesome and very exciting. I'm also a bit jealous of American parks doing these epic opening events with free t-shirts and official openings from park managers. Adds a bit of occasion to the day instead of ride just opening with no fanfare.

Oblivion Inferno confirmed.

This is a discussion forum. People are discussing. It's as simple as that.

Ah, the equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and pretending everything is rosy, singing loudly to drown out any sense of reasonable discussion and conversation. Good work insider9150, because listening to genuine concerns is going to help make the park a better, wiser place isn't it. Nice one. I love this notion that the people discussing why Chessington isn't in the greatest place are considered moaners. They probably care more about the park then you ever have, I can only vouch for myself when I say it built a lot of my childhood memories and to see images like this:- (Thanks Theme Park Insider) really makes me sad and hope it works again soon.

All four of the Gerstlauer bobsleigh rides I've been on ranked lowly in the poll. Very unfair as they are cracking rides

Interesting.. Battle of the Dive coasters it is then as Gardaland are also getting one for next year. I'm expecting Eftelings one to be more Krake then Sheikra considering the height and considering Eftelings reputation for theming.

Oh.. So I should be pretending that this is theming of the grandest scale then. That it truly is more then the sum of its parts and that it will go down in History as the greatest themed area of all time. Come on man, at least understand why people think this is a bit iffy, it does strike as the cheapest and easiest thing they could get away with.

Looks fantastic. You definitly can't say it looks slow in the testing video, it looks very quick and snappy. September can't come around quick enough.

I thought that was the general theme of any Merlin park.

Tell you what Ricky, if Angry Birds Land is up there thematically with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the France area of Europa Park, I'll definitly buy you a beer.

The Mitch Hawker poll should be taken with a pinch of salt to be honest. It's good for seeing general trends but never good to any individual roller coaster. In fact the only reliable data will be rides like Nemesis, Bizarro and Expedition Ge Force which manage to stay in similar positions every year. Take the wing riders for example, Raptor has managed to stay pretty consistent in its ranking but Swarm, X Flight and Wild Eagle have all dropped 30-60 places. Even Gatekeeper (which as a Cedar Point ride, has particular fanboy relevance) couldn't over-take Raptor on the poll. Another fact is Theme Park Review. Last year Sky Scrapper wasn't even included but thanks to 11 riders, is apparently 19th best roller coaster in the world. No matter how good it is, that is way too small a sample to be accurate. The same stands for Kawasemi with its 19 riders. So in conclusion, yay for Nemesis. Oldest rollercoaster in the top twenty. Merlin need to get some air time rides in as that is clearly a trend from an enthusiast point of view and a public one.

They might be waiting for a part and therefore can't do any more until it arrives.

No wonder it's taking so long to start the ride then, when the queue line fencing collapsed in 2006, everyone entered via the disabled exit and it was an absolute nightmare when you factor in fastrack and disabled guests. At least back then, there was a valid (if ridiculous) excuse. Also, when it was the old theming, that tunnel and queue line was always pretty cold. Are we saying that the changes done to Runaway have turned it from the Arctic to the Sahara. That's pretty embarrassing if true.

*sighs* It used to only get those length queues on the busiest of days and even then, it was at max, 45 minutes. I suppose that is what happens when you dress something up as new, market it as such and then tell staff not to bother being efficient.

If you had read any other PortAventura trip repots, all that you said pretty much goes with the territory. PortAventura could be one of the best theme parks in the world but so much their works against that. Out of interest, how many trains was Khan and Shambhala on?

I liked Sub Terra at first but I do find it a ride of increasingly diminishing returns. For a start, it really bothers me that immersive acting equals staff shouting at you for no particular reason. We're members of the public (the video makes that clear) so why are the Phlanax staff treating us like Soldiers. Secondly, the ending maze really is unnecessary. I know some fan sites think it improves the attraction but I find it really irrelevant and works against what has gone on before. Egg hatches so the staff lose their minds? I know people are drawn to Nemesis but they don't attack each other. Jeez.

Yes, let everyone build up the bile instead. I mean come on really, this is just papering up the cracks, the equivalent of painting a decrepit fence in bright neon colours (oh Cbeebies land, I'm sorry to offend you). The entrance as it stands is poor. Full of cobwebs, dark colours, temporary fencing surrounding the payment kiosks, a portacabin annual pass building. The entrance to the car park is far more interesting and dynamic then the entrance to the theme park. I really wish whoever manages this sort of thing would stop pussy-footing around and just give the parks the investment they are crying out for. Thorpe's entrance could be fantastic but it's just so uninspired and tired. Once you get past the entrance that wonderful skyline is a fantastic visual image. But you have to get past the 80's to get too it.

Currywurst. Sauerkraut oder Frankfurter?

Runaway when I worked on it was using five of its ten motors.

Before the camera was installed, you got three circuits on Runaway. But now, any more then two and it messes up the camera cycle. Therefore you can thank Photos for the shorter ride cycle. As for taking an age for it to leave the station, thats just the knackered ride system. It's supposed to go as fast as Fish does. When I worked there it wasn't running on all ten motors.