Mark9

The pods flood and its generally miserable and uncomfortable for guests in the rain. So yeah it closes in the rain.

One of Europa's main complaints by guests is that it doesn't offer a fastrack system. Even more fair play to Europa for not bowing to every whim and just building high capacity rollercoasters time and time again It's why I'm slowly turning away from the parks getting high capacity rollercoasters. Whats the point in any of them getting a 2000 people per hour giant if I know I'm still going to be waiting ages because 1000 people an hour are paying £5 fastrack and I'm just standing there wondering why I bothered visiting. I was a huge fan of The Smiler but because Alton decided over half the people allowed to go on it an hour were fastrackers then I haven't visited since. I wonder how many others out there a like me and have voted with their feet and not voiced their viewpoint to the parks.

How many would you like?

So the issue is rides staff aren't updating the queue time often enough and fastrack people are capitalising on this.

Big Thunder is the quintessential family roller coaster. Mildly fast, full of variety and not too many large drops to scare kids. The general consensus is that Paris's version is the best of the four. While I can only compare to Florida, I'd go as far as agreeing with aspects of that opinion. The only real part where Paris falls down is its queue line. There seems to be various ways that the ride is run and none of them seem that great. On the first day for example, fastpass was available but there was no one batching into the main queue and unlike Florida, the fastpass queue didn't get their own side of the station. So what you had was fastpassers having to split into the queueline whenever a gap appeared. The second damaging thing was that at some point in the queue, it splits into two sides. If you decide to queue on the right you get whacked by a longer queue length, fastpass people attempting to join and that is also the side where disabled guests get on. If you opt for the left hand side you almost walk straight into the station, undeterred by distractions. It's the most bizarre operations and despite it being a very high capacity rollercoaster, has so much faff going on. Florida doesn't have any of these problems so it's almost like Paris decided to try something different and it doesn't quite work. The ride itself is similar to Floridas version with two key differences. The first is a fantastic start to the ride with the train dipping into an underground tunnel and gathering a lot of speed before it engages with the first lift hill. It's great to see that with thirty years of running, the Big Thunder lift hills still have the loudest lift chains out there. I wouldn't be surprised if kids were more scared of the noise then the ride. What happens for the majority of the rest of the ride is the same as Florida, California and Tokyo so I won't bore by describing the ride in detail.. except the ending. I was always a bit meh about Floridas dull ending through some rocks and skeletons. Paris is far superior with the train lurching violently to the left, into a cave and descending under the river, gathering so much speed like it really is out of control. I'd bet that it isn't as steep as it feels and yet works very well. The trains pulls up out of the tunnel into the break run and everyone is a bit blown away by that ending. Great finale and really makes the Big Thunder island concept work very well. We decided to have another go, what with it being a ten minute queue and chose the left hand side of the queue line. It was then off to face one of my greatest terrors; Indianna Jones! I'm not sure what the point of this ride is. It doesn't fulfil the quota of upside down rides as there is already Space Mountain and there's already a ride themed around a mine car at Big Thunder. I can only think that this was a desperate attempt at another ride in the park for adults. Whatever the reason, I know it has a poor reputation for being rough, boring and unnecessary but I kind of liked it. Sure it can't do straight lines or hills without whacking your head on a restraint but as a ride it was perfectly acceptable. It had a five minute queue the majority of the time so I don't think it entirely fits into the park in anyway. If Disney got rid and went for a ride like the version at California, I wouldn't say no. Our next stop was Pirates of the Caribbean but was for some reason unavailable. We had the same problem at Florida on our first trip so had no worries that it wouldn't open at some point. We decided on doing some Fantasyland rides such as Pinocchio and Snow White which we queued 10 minutes a piece for. I like this rides because they aren't flashy and "look at me" like some dark rides and they do their job of telling their respective stories adequately. Sure they won't win Gold Ticket awards but for high throughput, reliable attractions they work well. Next stop was the notorious it's a Small World. I liked it. I don't know why I like the idea behind the ride when everyone else despises it with a passion, but it just works for me. It looks like its had a clean up too as the majority of animatronics were working, it looked tidy with no dust anywhere and things looked repainted. For a high capacity boat ride, it ticks all the boxes.. even if it never seems to be able to get a queue. Finally with the rain now fully upon us, we found a nice hidden away area with one of my personal favourites from the trip, Casey Junior. I adored this ride and I can't figure it out why. It just seems so novel and under-stated

Having been given a breakfast slot for 9:45, we decided to skip a bit of continental and headed into the park around 9:00 instead. Seeing a main street so empty is an experience you'll rarely get so we took the opportunity to get some photos and get some coffee from one of the various outlets along Main Street. I'll never get tired of the Castle/Main Street view. LOOK AT THE THEME! We also approve of buying food and getting tickets for free coffee later in the day. One thing I really noticed about the parks here is how much more relaxed you can be. With Florida you get caught in a whirlwind of rushing about from ride to ride, reservation at restaurant to show or parade and never take proper time to appreciate where you are. Throughout our time in Paris, we did a lot of sitting around, relaxing and soaking in the atmosphere. Playing a part in that is that there is less to do here then in Florida but I can only put that as a benefit to Paris. Our first stop during Magic Hours was Space Mountain: Mission 2. From outside, it is a frankly stunning piece of design, that giant cannon is a piece of theming genius and fits in perfectly with the rest of Discoveryland. I'm rather fond of this area as it is. I can understand why they diverted away from Tomorrowland as that area dates faster then they can build/update it. As for Space Mountain. I do like the ride on a thematic level. The idea of being launched into space via a giant cannon is based on Jules Verne's novel 'From the Earth to the Moon' and I love it. I just wish the theming worked such as the recoil of the cannon or the misters as you are blasted into the building. The ride itself is rather atypical of Vekoma. Enjoyable but you really struggle to find a position in which you don't bang your head on the side of the stupid restraints. That being said it is very well paced inside, the ride keeping its speed up to the last moment. It does feel a bit like you are descending into a vortex as the trains spirals around the building, every now and then taking in an inversion surprisingly. We rode several times through the trip and it was either outstanding, unbearable or average. So I find it hard to really rate it. Our next ride was Buzz Lightyears Laser Blast, A ride I despised in Florida but here it was actually a decent ride. The props all seemed to make sense and weren't all cardboard cut outs with targets on them. I even liked the finale which I won't spoil here. I don't understand the points system but then again, it is only a throw away ride. With no interest in Orbitron or Autopia we decided to head back to the central hub and wait for the rest of the park to open. More views of the wonderful Sleeping Beauty castle awaited us. With 10 o clock upon us it was time to venture into Frontierland. We grabbed a fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain whilst everyone else descended into its main queueline. We instead thought we'd try out Phantom Manor. It's American equivalent, Haunted Mansion, is one of my favourite dark rides and I'd heard many great things about the Paris version. I wasn't disappointed as such. The subtlety of the storytelling (ie, there was no narration) meant that we had to really pay attention to the scenes throughout. Something to do with a bride whose family dies (or she murdered them) and so she gets buried as the ride descends from amazingly themed Mansion to an odd underground Western film. Very odd. The shoe-horning of Phantom Manor into Frontierland didn't work for me although there is no way the attraction itself could fit into the other three lands of the park. A triumph though and just shows that when it comes to dark rides, Disney are (mainly) on top. Our next stop was the Molly Brown boat ride around Big Thunder Mountain. We never found the time to do this in Florida so it was a welcome find to get on it and just relax for twenty minutes. It's a shame that aside from Big Thunder Mountain there is nothing to really look at. I hear that some kind of fountain show used to occur at the end but no longer works. Next time will focus on Big Thunder Mountain, Fantasyland and yet again we get to Pirates of the Caribbean to find it broken.

Qui a besoin du monde, quand tout ce que vous avez besoin est une terre When choosing the trips for 2013 there was two that were outright yes's and two that came about quite by chance. Disneyland Paris was not an all and all winner, in fact Chris and I were putting off Disney until our California trip next May. However with Disney extending their 20th Anniversary celebrations and with Chris feeling a little Disney craving, we decided to go for Paris even with no Ratatouille. After a speedy 2 and a half hours of Eurostar fun we arrived at the resort. The first thing that hit me is how immediate Paris is compared to Florida. I think inevitably, Florida may crop up again and again as it my theme park benchmark and for me holds a lot of loved memories. Whereas with Florida, a long journey from the airport gets you just within the gates of the World, here you stumble out the station into the Downtown area. I somehow missed the tower despite the fact it was my most eagerly anticipated ride. We made our way to our hotel, Sequoia Lodge, a hotel themed around the Wildnerness. Bambi seemed the most prominent character Checking in complete and with a bit of Mark9 persuasion, Chris relcutantly said we could have a go on Tower of Terror and also the Army Man parachute thing. The first because it's my favourite ride ever and the second ride was because the next day it was to be closed the rest of our holiday for refurbishment. Our first stop however was the Early of Sandwich which is better then the other fast food offering at the resort. TASTY. Aww. When walking into Disney Studio Park the first thing that really struck is how it is pretty much Hollywood Studios but on a smaller budget and much smaller. The Tower immediately dominates the entire park, hell it can even be seen from Big Thunder Mountain and the Alice in Wonderland maze. The other thing that hit us what the park was busy. We checked out the queue boards and 35 minutes for Rock 'N Rollercoaster, 60 minutes for Army Man Parachute ride and finally a cool 80 minute wait for the Tower of Terror (Which was only running two out of three lift shafts) mmmm 80. After a bit of wondering checking out just how small the place truly is, we settled for Army Man parachute ride, considering it would be our only chance to ride it. The first thing I have to say is that the queue really was 60 minutes so it was accurate at least. The second thing is that the queue line really was too wide allowing Spanish families to queue jump at will. You may think I'm generalising but the majority of the time it is Spanish groups who create problems at theme parks and after all, I have experienced PortAventura where queuing isn't mandatory. The ride itself is okay but not worth an hour waiting time. We had a wonder around Toy Story Playland including seeing Rex, leaving Toy Story Land to see Ratatouille construction and then re-entered Toy Story Land to leave for Tower of Terror. The Tower. Ey Ey Ey. It is my favourite ride bar none and is truly exceptional. All of the Tower staff need to be paid more for their efforts for example. They don't just work on a ride, they act the part of creepy bell-hops, grinning oddly at guests or deliberately running through the lift doors in utter panic scaring guests silly with their screaming. They help to make each ride that little bit different. The ride itself, well I was reading through a few other trip reports and saw a lot prefer this tower to the Florida one. Both have so much merit but I actually ended up preferring the Florida one. Sometimes the waiting around for a lift in Paris got a bit tedious, what with this tower using two different levels of loading. The actual ride experience is probably just that little bit better then Florida however but ultimately Florida's to me feels more efficient and looks far more interesting then Paris's more blockier, blander look. I still love both though and could photo it all day. And with our rides ridden, we decided to go back to the hotel and get myself a hair cut before heading to Annettes for some food. Themed around an American diner, this wasn't bad food and I liked how some of the staff went about on roller-skates. Bed time, ready for a full on day at Disneyland Parc.

Point is though Josh, there was a six year gap between Hydra and Hair Raiser. Not proof that a Stand Up could become a potential ride, just proof that rides do come out of limbo.

I'm with Pluk here. Lets protest, lets chain ourselves to the singing tractor. OLD MCDONALD HAS A FARM!

Send that message to Thorpe Park if I were you. Although I'm amused that you'd rather spend a whole lot more money on petrol and a hotel rather then an extra fiver to get into Thorpe.

Don't get the logic here. We shouldn't get an 150 foot ride because it will affect the look of another ride?

http://mark2262.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/why-ive-turned-a-corner-why-ive-seen-the-light/ Once upon a time I hated Intamin. And now I don't. Find out why in this amazing, one of a kind blog. Comments welcome on here or on the page.

Shame.. you shouldn't have bothered with Matterhorn Blitz and ridden Eurosat instead. Out of the two, Eurosat is a far superior ride. Hey de ho.

It's more that they find it boring then they find it stressful. You are naturally interested in rides (I presume ) so have a vested interest in hitting throughputs and working hard all the time. These people living in Staines, going to College or University probably could care less that there are people queuing hours out there for a single go on the ride (I know they should care but you will always get the bad egg in a group). Best way of motivating the staff is to do these power hours. I used to do it at Fury all the time, by essentially bribing the staff with a reward such as a round at the pub (or a nice coke for those under 18's ) for the group or the person who works the hardest getting something for their efforts.

Rollercoaster is a toss up between Furius Baco and Tornado at Bakken. Any other ride.. Top spins are pretty much universally boring whether they are Huss or Fabbri and I despise Storm Surge.

Thorpe fanboys then.

Seems fine to me. Power hour at the rides busiest hour, trying to get the highest throughput recorded on Inferno. Not a "we will work poorly for the rest of the time then really hard for an hour" like some of these ex-ride staff seem to be saying.

I'm reposting this from Dar on Towers Street, it represents and epitomises the problems that are like a rampant curse at Chessington these days. it's proove that the park desperately needs another high capacity rollercoaster more then any other investment currently.

100% Agreed. I'd spend a long time at Oakwood just for Speed and especially Megafobia.

I'm only semi serious. I just couldn't begrudge £5 for what is essentially 5-10 minute queues for the parks main rides. I find it hard to think of that as poor value when you could pay £6 to ride Brighton Piers Turbo once or the amount people pay for Chessington to get on Seastorm and Skyway. What Thorpe offer looks like great value to me.

Would you mind answering my question on how many rides you got on please. MY GOD NO! NOT A TWO MINUTE WAIT FOR A ROLLERCOASTER! No wonder you are outraged.

Wait hang on. How many rides did you get on exactly?

Batman La Fuga and Superman de Acero in the same park is 132 centimetre height restriction and Oz'Iris had a sign saying it was 1.3 metres So they are out there.

Literally just explained that isn't the problem. You can have 15,000 people in a theme park getting on several rides but if the operations are rubbish then they aren't getting on anything.

I quoted your whole post because.. well I can. Thing is, I Disagree. B&M have proved that they can cater the hyper to smaller sizes, take Hollywood Dream at Universal Japan. That's a maximum height of 144 feet and takes many of its air time hills just above pathways and buildings. Thorpe, if they wanted, could easily ask for it to be similar height to The Swarm, make the trains shorter and then woolah, you've got a mega coaster. B&M are not against shortening trains or fitting into tight spaces either, take Dæmonen with its six row floorless trains or the way it was wedged into Tivoli Gardens. The thing with Universal and Busch is that it doesn't hold much weight. Universal built Rip Ride Rockit which does intrude on that side of the park, Busch Gardens (I know you specified Tampa, but I'm talking the company in general) have the stylised Apollos Chariot or Kumba and Sheikra. Even Disney has the high rides but it has the dollars to build a ridiculous amount of theming to hide the height. They even sold Expedition Everest on the back of its expensive installation costs. The Sore thumb. Mack can surprise you. Back in 2009, no one thought Blue Fire would be able to be as fantastic as it could be and there is absolutely no reason why they couldn't build a mega coaster if they were asked to. Afterall, rides with air time are in vogue at the moment, the success of Shambhala, Leviathan, Intimidator305 and the likes of Piraten won't have gone a miss.