Mark9

A Mack or an Intamin would suit the park to a tee. it pains me to say it, but a ride like Expedition Ge Force would fit into Oakwood like a glove.

I would but last time I was in Blackpool, this man and his stag do kept calling me a ******. So I'm not fond of Blackpool.

Yeah Saw, nice try in upstaging the Smiler.

Hmm. It looks impressive zooming around that tangled track. The on-ride video doesn't inspire much hope that it will be a ride that matures with age. Her head was flapping about like mine does on Saw at several points during the video. Still, always remain positive, it looks like a very fast ride and takes you all over the place.

I think Benin, more then most on TPM can comment on Cedar Point considering he has been to the park in the past. I can only judge by pictures and what I experienced in Florida which is what I'm doing. Besides, apart from Dragster, Millennium Force and at a push Mean Streak, Cedar Point have never been a park that goes "LOOK AT THE SIZE OF MY DROPS". Thats always been Magic Mountains job.

You're right, it can't be a destroyed Church. It could be an underground bunker, it could be an eagles nest, it could be a godly sanctum where you, as the rider take on an almighty quest to discover the hidden gate keeper creature. As I said, it's a typical American coaster. Stylised and modern but not themed as such.

Double Post but it's been four days so meh. It's good news for anyone wanting to ride Monster at Walygator but was afraid the park had closed for good, it has new owners who are looking to invest properly into the park. Rides that have been dormant for a while are being reopened and Monster itself will have a station and it's third train reinstated for the 2014 season. For those that don't know, Monster originally opened in Japan as Orochi, but when that park closed due to safety concerns (and a fatality on a togo stand up coaster), Monster was put up for sale and its safe to say french enthusiasts were stunned when Walygator purchased it. Since then, Monster left the park crippled financially and it looked like Walygator may have closed down for good. Fortunately this hasn't happened.

Whilst I don't deny I'd sell my family to go out to the point and ride it, I do admit that when watching the video, it just strikes me another big and brash but ultimately bland American B&M coaster.

The majority of the parks target audience would want free entry for everyone, unlimited fastpasses and 10,000 foot high rollercoasters with twenty inversions. They can have their radio tunes on Vortex, Zodiac, Quantum, Rush and Flying Fish as long as they keep the themed music on Colossus, Inferno and Swarm.

Whats more stupid is peoples obsession with taking their shoes off in the first place.

Yo Spider, I went to PortAventura last June (the 12th-15th) and to be honest its a gamble on how busy it would be. When we arrived on the Tuesday, Shambhala and Khan were on one train operation and there was barely anyone in the park. On the Wednesday, Shambhala and Khan were on two trains and queues ranged from 10-30 minutes. On the Friday, the park was packed out with hour queues for the majority of the big rides. If you're staying in the hotels (which I'll get to in a second), the best bet is to get the fastpass package. Benin and I are going in September and we have fastpass included and whatever you pay is for the whole of your stay. We opted for the front row package as there are no proper front row queues at PortAventura. As for hotels, we stayed in the Western themed one and it was really nice and quite relaxed. There wasn't many small kids around as I think the family groups tended to go for the other hotels which are slightly cheaper. The Western hotel had an awesome view as well like this:- which for a coaster geek like me, kept me entertained for hours.

The majority don't, hence why it's been stuck on one arm operation for ten years.

Zodiac (the I) was a knackered old funfair ride. Zodiac (the II) was a brand new model from Huss. And lets be frank here, the motions an enterprise goes through are nothing in comparison to a top scan being run on even a low setting. We would literally be seeing history repeat itself if a new top scan was to be introduced.

It was 'buggering' about after 4 years of hard operation at Chessington, for example it spent a lot of 2003 closed for maintenance as it was being run into the ground. They thought the refurbishment would extend its life a lot longer then it has proven to. Whilst a new one would make sense, I would hope that Thorpe are slightly more ambitious with a replacement ride.

Batman the ride is pretty well rated. I didn't think much of the clone in Spain though, too many sections where the train is just coasting slowly between inversions.

Ironically, it's you and EC that are the haters.

I had someone say that on Griffins Galleon. I wouldn't read anything into that one persons opinion.

The Worlds first stuff works unfortunately. As was proven with The Swarm, if you don't capture the publics imagination with these epically large tag lines, they don't visit in their droves. The 14 inversion record may only last a year (unlikely considering the track record of Goudurix, Khan and Colossus), but it will be enough to secure The Smiler for the public. Really though, this is a rollercoaster that so far has something for everyones. Its got enthusiasts tongues wagging with the videos and the promos and the public will become aware of it far more with the 14 inversion tagline.

Seems to be a general attack on Merlin over the last page or so. Can we keep in mind that for 20 years, Tussauds did next to nothing with Runaway, Falls and Tomb and when they did do something with Falls, they just destroyed the rockwork with no intention of replacing it. I am sad for the loss of all the fantastic theming but that is nostlagia talking. When we talk of 2012 Runaway for example, decaying rockwork and scaffolding barely standing is not fit for purpose. I truly hope that Merlin are going to do these original rides justice because without them the park wouldn't be where it was in the 90's and the park would be a far worse a place to visit.

Any ride that tries to make Submission make sense needs all the praise I can physically muster. Edit to add - Just watched the first video and actually jumped at the end.

Train is the best way from Strasbourg in my opinion. You need to be warey though, when I went three years ago you have to to buy one ticket from Strasbourg to Offenburg and then when you are there you buy the next ticket to Ringsheim. You can't buy a single ticket from Strasbourg to Ringsheim.

And why not?!

My friend James and I rode Loggers Leap for 7 hours in 2004. If you get in contact with the park they can advise you on what rides they will let you do it on and so forth. It's good for the parks as they get publicity and what with it being for charity, everybody wins. Anyone in their right mind who likes theme parks should be aiming to go here.

I can't see this thing opening on the rumoured 18th. That support issue and the fact a car hasn't even gone round yet. It's two weeks away. If the park did manage to get it going in two weeks time I'll take my hat off to them.

I don't think there are many people in the UK left who aren't going to PortAventura this year