Mark9

Theme Park gets busy during its most important event of the year during half term week. World, rocked.

No not Brer Rabbit! NOOOO! Loved that ride. :-(

Should just out with a nice cool beer mate (Or an ice cold, glass bottled coke if you are a non-drinker), it's not worth getting upset over someone else's opinion, no matter how silly their opinion may sound.

I don't see roller coasters as exercises in going for the length, height, ride duration or speed. I see them in the sense that for every park adding a roller coaster is progress for that park. If we see things as purely how many headlines they can make or records they can break, we start to lose the importance of what a ride is supposed to be. In other words, roller coaster won't stagnate because we won't go higher or faster. Instead they will develop as thematic experiences. The differences can be small such as the blink and you miss it Stealth against the attempt at thematics and narratives of Swarm. I reckon story telling will be the route theme parks try to go down.. well in Europe at least.

London is always rammed. It being the capital city of a busy country.

You could live in Argentina where trains crash into stations or Spain where trains speed around corners at dangerously high speeds. Unfortunately we have an antiquated railway system, not designed for the amount of people or growth that live in the South of England. South West trains seem to run as many trains as physically possible but one problem, and the whole part of the network is thrown into chaos. Just a minute delay for a train at one station, causes delays all up the line.

I'm sure I'll make an appearance at this one.

Because security have nothing better to do then get smokers out of queue lines..

That can hinder the entire attraction though. The amount of time wasted in trying to remove a queue jumper or smoker can bring an entire ride to a stand still especially if they refuse to leave the queue right up to the point they are at the ride platform and trying to get on the ride. Make announcements fine, but what then after that. Continue saying announcements? I was a big believer in justice for everyone at say Fury but if a queue jumper was at the front of the queue, next to get on, I refuse him access and he won't go then everyone in the entire queue suffers because inevitably security won't be there right away when you make the phone/radio call*. Is it worth holding up an entire ride, an entire queue line because someone is smoking. It's a dirty habit (or so I hear) but I don't think punishing hundreds of people because a smoker is smoking is worth the effort. *Although pointing this out, there were many times when Fury did come to a stand still for precisely that reason.

I've never been a fan of Atlantica Supersplash. I can see why others like it but for me it is just so bland and featureless, especially when Poseidon does the whole watercoaster thing much more effectively. Silver Star was running very well when I went in May so I am glad to see it didn't disappoint. =)

I disagree with the extremeness of some of the arguments, but I understand where they are coming from. Saying things like mazes themed around HIV and Slavery dilutes their argument though. Thorpe can just either continue arguing with people that don't listen to the other side of the fence, they could just change the name and stop the issue now or they can help with publicity. All in all, that makes all three ex-Tussauds parks having some kind of boycott this year. I love boycotts, you can really tell the difference in gate figures after a boycott.

That happens every closed season anyway.

When we are saying extensive, what exactly do we mean?

such wit what homour much funny

That says more about UK rides then it does about Saw.

Pocahontas wasn't a box office hit, Avatar was. Pocahontas doesn't have two sequels coming soon, Avatar does. Pocahontas was fifteen years ago and would have made sense when Animal Kingdom opened. Avatarland is much more current. Pocahontas has never really had the success that The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast or Snow White did. I would have loved a Pocahontas land themed area, I imagine a Log Flume ride themed around "Just around the Riverbend" for example. But realistically Disney are just as much a profit making company as any other. Avatarland does have potential to be a great thematic experience but people are getting a bit bogged down on the film being a bit cack. So was Cars so film quality doesn't necessarily dictate area/ride quality.

I've been going Chessington for years, they aren't good enough anymore so I have chosen not to go this year. I normally make at least five visits there a season but the quality and experience has rapidly deteriorated over the last four seasons.

IP's can be used effectively though, you can see that at Drayton with Thomasland which is far better and immersive then Cloud Cuckoo Land. It's how you use the IP and Merlin haven't always done the best jobs with them.

Kumba

When I was a teen, I used to ride things like Vortex, Zodiac, Depth Charge and Tidal Wave all the time but as I've grown up I ride them less and less because they've either been trashed by the park or they aren't as fun as they once were. I never thought I'd say that about an entire park as I generally love visiting Theme Parks and I've always had the rose tinted glasses on when it comes to Chessington. The hell with them. They are an utter shambles and represent poor value and poor care for their customers. Whats the point of visiting a park that has the capabilities of running Seastorm, Bubbleworks and Safari Skyway but don't because of apparent refurbishment. The last time they took a spanner to Bubbleworks they trashed it and made it an abomination. It's laughable that they are using Runaway and Falls as reasons not to open these rides. Developed?! What does that even bloody mean.

Coaster Top ten for 2013. 1. Expedition Everest. Round of Applause. Yay! 2. Superman la/ Attaccion de Acero. I'm starting to wonder if anything can ever take this down as my favourite B&M. After six years it still remains strong in my memories. 3. Katun. Awesome ride. People need to ride this. 4. Nemesis. Another awesome B&M. Starting to develop a bit of rattle after 20 years of solid operation. 5. Oz'Iris. Three B&M Inverters on the trot you say? Why Not. I love the narrative of the ride and the uniqueness of the layout. 6. Blue Fire: Megacoaster. I had a huge fear that after four years it would be rough or jerky. None of the above. It remains silky smooth, enjoyable and features my favourite inversion of any ride I've been on so far. 7. New for 2013, Juvelen. Someone once said that a family coaster shouldn't feature in anyones top ten. Rubbish, complete rubbish. When a ride is this good and that enjoyable, why shouldn't it be up there with inverters and rides over 100 foot. I adore Juvelen. 8. Kumba. Pure B&M old school goodness. It has a bit of shake to it but that adds to its character far more then it detracts. 9. Shambhala. Rising this year, this is a very reridable attraction and full of airtime and joy. 10. Manta. I know people don't like pretzel loops for being too intense, but for me they are out of this world. The rest of the layout takes on an Air floaty approach which works well with the start of the ride. Dropping out of the top ten is Black Mamba. Bottom Five of any rides. 1. Tornado. Just awful. I don't think this deserves to exist anymore although I am aware there are people out there into pain and torture. 2. Furius Baco. Yuck. 3. Sequoia Adventure. Compared to the Intamin dreck above it, this seems like a great coaster in comparison. 4. Shamu Express. Beyond insulting. Rubbish too. 5. Primevil Whirl. Doesn't deserve its place at a Disney theme park.

The Cars IP is hardly the best thing out there but California Adventure proved that a dodgy IP can be a successful land with a popular attraction. Now I'm not saying Avatar land will be amazing or even good but it is/was a successful film in the box office and Disney could pull it off. Besides, Avatar does fit in with the themes of Animal Kingdom, how looking after the land should come before deforestation and global wealth. No we lost Dragonland to budget cuts and then this is the alternative fifteen years later. Personally I'm looking forward more to the night-time show around the Tree of Life more then Avatarland. Love me a bit of Disney night time show.

I've always seen two trains on Swarm, Colossus, Inferno and Stealth when I've been on busy days. It's the off peak days where they don't think it will be busy and then it suddenly is where issues seem to come about IMO.

I hope not. We want this event to be a success otherwise it risks having hours cut, rides potentially closing earlier, less actors roaming in the mazes and on park or even less days where the event is running.