Mark9

Sorry about that.

Make that two successful trips so far Mark

Frankie and Bennies? Better start selling my friends again.

Of the one I have ridden I thought it's powerful start was let down by its disappointing ending. That and it travelled through concrete troughs which I'm not much of a fan of.

Your wish is my command Josh C. I have to admit that coaster battles are difficult things to write. As you say each ride has its own different factors, different budgets, different goals and can be effected by weather, age of the attraction and even park efficiency. That is why I try to keep the rides fairly similar. As for the battle of the B&M inverts.. well I decided to just go for it and write a piece on Nemesis VS Katun. What with their placings in the Mitch Hawker poll, I thought it was an apt time to compare the worlds best inverters. http://mark2262.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/coaster-battle-2/ As always feedback is more then welcome.

I also went last season. Love Shambhala, such a fun ride.

An all expenses paid, three night stay in the Crash Pad

An all expenses paid three night stay in the Crash Pad

We've been through a period where very few rides at Thorpe Park and Chessington have been removed. From the list of rides in the poll, please select all the rides you have been fortunate to ride before their closures. I have kept this as Chessington and Thorpe Park as there are too many rides at Blackpool and Alton Towers that have been removed.

http://sfneonline.org/2013/03/05/six-flags-catapult-removed/ Just the confirmation of the end of Catapult for any doubters out there. It has been cut up and is likely to be heading to the scrap yard. Slammer is officially the most unique ride at Thorpe Park.

I love how you are planning all these meets for my weekends off work. I'm definitly this one, the last Chessington meet in 2011 was fantastic.

I truly admire Thorpes engineers on their determination to keep Slammer working.

I genuinely thought Depth Charge was on its way out so I'm a bit taken back that they've given it new boats.

Everything I thought about this group of sheds has turned out correct so far. Unless the inside are actually TARDIS's and they hide the shed look with beautiful architecture, beautiful fountains and acres of trees and grass, flowers, sculptures, the Crash Pad will change very little. Unless you are saying there is more to come Marc..

SOme more pics thanks to Tina/Beans from Coasterforce Worst. Hotel. Ever.

I think this just proves that Thorpe adore and love their B&M's far more then their Intamins and Gerstlauers. So they do something right at least

Sounds to me like the Swarm backwards, for all its marketing and hype is 100% effort to make the ride experience that 1% better. And the majority so far seem to prefer facing the rides natural position.

Can we not have a tunnel and a working ride? Or is that just too much? Oh, the dreaded budget and profitability argument again. It's a bit of a leap (pun not intended) to suggest that Loggers getting a new tunnel would make the park un-profitable or plunge the park into an economic spiral that they could never ever escape. And all because they maintained a tunnel and some effects, god darn it. It's just from a riders perspective very odd for the bit that is scary (ie the drop in the tunnel) has gone, whereas the meandering to the second drop retains the tunnel. Of course. Thats true. But how that means a tunnel on Loggers Leap's first drop is out of the question is still just that little bit beyond me.

A point of contention. When was a Colossus repaint ever on the agenda? There's a lot of outrage against something that was never rumoured about, never promised. I see a whole heap of rides that desperately need attention, some far more then Colossus such as Tidal Wave, Vampire and Nemesis, the list goes on but it always comes down to Colossus. We asked about Colossus being repainted at last years ERT event and they said they would love to do it but would people come for a new (read marketable) ride or to see Colossus back in bright blue and yellow? Oblivion took 15 years for its repaint and that is solely down to The Smiler next door, it might take something of that size for Colossus to get its proper refurbishment.

The Crash Pad looks so good. Best addition since Storm Surge.

It would be nice to have lots of things. Losing trees would just open Oblivion up to more criticism from the Ropers.

I lost my love on the metro

I'd like a place please Peaj. I'll try and get some shifts swopped for it and will hopefully be there. If anyone wants to give me a lift from Feltham/Staines, that would be much appreciated.

Yay for Theme Park Review supremacy! The Mitch Hawker poll results are out and it's not all bad. Expedition Ge Force has been voted the worlds top steel roller coaster (somehow), followed by lots of American and Chinese rides. But then what gets interesting is Shambhala is 6th beating the hotly tipped Skyrush, iSpeed is 8th and in joint 9th is Katun, Maverick and the excitingly named Mega-Lite in China. Then follows Nemesis at 12th. The first time it has been out of the top ten and beaten by a fellow Inverter, however with the American/Chinese supremacy that TPR has a liking to, for Nemesis to be that high is a good result. As for the other Uk/European rides of interest:- 13. Piraten 15. Blue Fire Megacoaster 31. Black Mamba 34. Oz'Iris 37. Dragon Khan (Major fall for Khan) 43. Superman de Acero 45. Monster 48. Speed Monster 53. Shock 58. X-Flight 68. The Swarm 76. Silver Star 78. Anubis: the ride 82. Winjas Fear 87. Wild Eagle 98. Winjas Force 111. Stealth 113. Raptor (At Gardaland) 114. Heize Faht 116. Furius Baco 118. Krake 119. Oblivion 123. Nemesis Inferno 124. Daemonen 127. Speed: No Limits 130. Air 132. Tornado (At Bakken) 143. Formule X 144. Big Thunder Mountain (Paris) 145. Dragons Fury 146. Divertical 148. Abismo 149. Euro Mir 157. Tarantula 170. G'Sengte Sau 173. Rita 179. Kanonen 185. Saw - The Ride (OUCH) 196. Colossus 200. Thirteen 202. Vampire 218. Ultimate 228. Salama 230. Steeplechase 235. The Big One 246. Sonic Spinball 253. Avalanche 278. Cobra 279. Shockwave 326. Caligostro 344. G-Force 359. X:/ No Way Out 360. Sequoia Adventure 365. Goudurix Poll results here:- http://www.ushsho.com/detailedsteelrollercoasterpollresults2012.htm So there we have it. According to the coaster world The Swarm is the second best B&M wing-rider, second best UK roller coaster and the best roller coaster at Thorpe Park. Not such a great showing for Merlins other coasters (Krake, Raptor, Saw the Ride and Thirteen) all being lower then expected. I've got a big congratulations to Dragons Fury though, for a Maurer spinner, 145 isn't something to be sniffed at, particularly when you look where the other spinners ended up in the poll. Farcical poll or absolute proof of quality.. you decide?