Mark9

I would love if this poster came true. Thanks to Go Merlin. Ah.. 2010 speculation

Seems they are going for a Disney style "here's our plan for refurbishments, plan your trips around it". Except, of course if you ignore the fact that Disney has year round opening and Chessington has five months where nearly all the rides are closed giving ample time to do the changes and refurbishments they need to do. This thing would be more helpful and more interesting if it showed future refurbishment plans of closures that may occur during this season.

Pretzel Loops. What Air needs...... is more pretzel loops.

Thanks to AidanCKY from Towers Street I like this picture, it's almost like Oblivion is saying "Yeah.. I work properly"

That music. Makes me want to take the risk of having a closed Smiler just to hear that music. :give_rose:

First with the negatives. The mist no longer works so its back to travelling through a shed with some red lights And now the positives. Inferno is running at the best it ever has done and its hard to believe the changes it has gone in ten years of operation. Somehow it feels faster, it feels more intense and its zero g roll has some real power and kick to it. Yesterday it felt much nicer to ride then Nemesis which had a bit of a jerk to it. Inferno's finale such as the corkscrews feel great and the final helix has a real intensity to it. For me at least, it no longer resides down at the bottom of the list next to Batman La Fuga and Dæmonen, its fighting the big boys like Silver Star, Hulk and Sheikra.

Had my first ride on X yesterday, very peculiar ride experience. Once the novelty of it going forwards wears off, I'm not sure I'll be going on this very much at all. With a forward facing indoor rollercoaster it is immediately competing with Euro-Sat and Space Mountain at WDW and X doesn't come off very well at all. it's main problem is because of the new lighting rig, too much of the indoor section is visible so you know where you are heading at all times and nothing is surprising. That being said I approve of the new lap bar system and that the park has done something with the ride.

A clear example of... Intamin face

Thanks Spider, for me Djurs Sommerland was the best park. it's not all based on the top rollercoasters, it felt like a park that a lot of care and love has gone into and for me that counts for a lot. My next European parks are Disneyland Paris in September and then PortAventura, also in September. My next real aim for countries to hit is Sweden, Holland, Norway and Belgium as despite being so close, are all relatively ignored by UK enthusiasts and there is nothing better then arriving at a park and having no idea how its going to go. As for country trips, I've only done South Germany, Italy and Denmark and the easiest by far was Denmark. It's a relatively small country and the parks are all very close to the two largest cities so trips are relatively easy if you are able to drive. Italy was a challenge due to the way Italian drivers are and the huge distances between Rainbow Magicland, Miribilandia and Gardaland. With that being said, it's worth the effort when you get on things like Katun and Raptor and discover absolutely fantastic rides that really raise the bar.

I'd love to know why the Incredible Hulk is your favourite rollercoaster in the world.

Well impressed that I've been on the worlds first 7 looping, 8 looping, 10 looping and 14 looping roller coasters. Take that Alvey and your "I've been to China" rubbish.

It's valleyed again.. https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1001636_10151732412883185_1288651133_n.jpg Thanks to Ash3 from TTF

Hats off to Thorpe staff yesterday they were running the park like it was a capacity day. Every single rollercoaster was running at the fastest speed possible. For example, the Colossus team were exemplary, the train barely stopped in the break before rolling into the station, The Swarm staff were sending out trains out as the other train was heading through the barrel roll above the station and Inferno had zero stacking. Despite all this, no downtime or problems. Adding to that, Inferno and Colossus are also running better then they ever have done. I shocked myself by declaring Inferno's ride this week, better then Nemesis on Monday. It just felt so good and enjoyable to ride. Colossus for me, luckily has not one jolt of roughness. Sublime job.

I think its testament to the ride that people are willing to wait 2 and a half hours for the ride.. for a second time. That was certainly the case for when I went and a lot of Towers forums are doing exactly the same. I think part of its success is the length of the ride. You do feel like you are getting your monies worth for every minute spent queuing so when getting off, the quality of the ride makes it all the more satisfying. With Thirteen I wasn't in a rush to get back, but thanks to the Smiler, I am as eager as ever to get back to ride it. Alton deserve a lot of credit for Smiler and finally, after 15 long years they've built a ride that can stand up to Oblivion and Nemesis.

Lets just get a Mack mega coaster instead and be done with it. I've no idea why Merlin continually ignore Mack rides as a ride similar to Storm or Blue Fire would suit our parks so well.

Interesting. I noticed on Monday that Nemesis is starting to take the zero g roll quite awkwardly. I swear before it used to be a smooth continuous feeling but on Monday it felt like the train was jerking from side to side through the inversion, particularly on the front row. It's something that the newer inverters such as Inferno and Oz'Iris don't do so maybe its just an example of how a 19 year old inverter ages. That said, I'm actually really fond of the Swarm's zero g, especially when as you say it almost grinds to a halt at the top and you then see the fire coming out of the fire engine. Shame it doesn't happen on every cycle because the fire really helps that inversion become a memorable moment. I think what you say about the wing rider in general is true. As Swarm is one of the earlier models, it clearly hasn't been enhanced or the ride position taken advantage of yet. Look at Air's relatively simple layout compared to Tatsu and Starry Eyed Ripper. At some point, a park will really go for it and put the wing rider through its paces. Raptor came close.

Great idea for Thorpe to do this. Instead of trying to push people out the door, let them chill out with a meal and a drink. Good move by the park here.

Ah sorry. I can't believe you called Euro-Sat rough.

Can't believe you called Wodan rough.

Wasn't a lot of those pictures actually the staff doing it themselves and nothing to do with budget from Merlin?

Now the thing is... At this point only Oblivion and The Smiler are closed. Considering that over the last four days, Oblivion has been largely ignored by the public (We queued five minutes yesterday at 3pm whilst the Smiler was advertised at 3 hours), the only reason these people can be complaining is because of The Smiler. Does it not seem ludicrous to anyone that people are willing to wait in that long a queue outside guest services to have a moan. To have a moan when everything else is going, when there is beautiful sunshine all around them. The queues are displaced of course because of the Smiler valleying but even so it just seems beyond me that people travel across the country for the sole purpose of wanting to ride one attraction.

You'd get worked up if you were going and got spited by the Smiler because a train stalled. You'd understand but it is still frustrating for those that go up there. Just saying

My UK top ten. 1. Nemesis 2. Oblivion 3. Grand National 4. The Smiler 5. The Swarm 6. Speed: No Limits 7. Dragons Fury 8. Nemesis Inferno 9. Megafobia 10. Stealth