Mark9

Love it, Love it, Love it. This is the beauty of being a coaster enthusiast as you put it. We're all so different and little things make us tick. The joy and love you hold for Antelope is the same that I hold for rides like the Runaway Train and Safari Skyway at Chessington. You've put it so eloquently, awesome blog Josh. =)

I agree with what you are saying, however I wish there was a little bit more to the blog.

People who are happy to bitch about others but aren't able to accept tounge in cheek comments. Also, 2 faced people.

TOP SPIN!

Ah, this feels like old times.

B&M supremacy, with a bit of Gerstlauer on the side.

THOSE DARN INTAMINS AGAIN I love the end of season Thorpe unravel actually. Without fail each season.

Olympic Orbit clone?

People seem convinced they need a new top scan. But why would the park invest in something that will run into exactly the same problems. This isn't like Zodiac where Thorpe bought a thirty year old knackered enterprise and tried to make it work, this is a relatively newer ride which was pushed far beyond what it should have been and now Thorpe have paid the price. Like Slammer, its astounding and worth complimenting to the park for consistently trying to get the two rides working at all costs. But how far will they take it before enough is enough.

I think my problem with Saw is down to the idea that it's trying to be an immersive experience and fails. It's nothing to do with the inside piece of the ride, to give Saw full credit, the use of darkness and the small drop is one of Thorpe Parks best roller coaster experiences. It never gets tiresome and always takes me by surprise. It's as soon as the ride goes outside that nothing works for me. The first drop is blase, the inversion boring, the turn around bordering on tiresome, the air time hill has a rattle to it that its brothers don't share, the turn around into the mcbr is randomly jolty. The final inversion is very forceful but it doesn't save the ride for me in the slightest. I think we compare to other euro fighters because the concept has legs, far more then many other types of coasters. You can have them utterly themeless like Speed and Rage or they can be epically themed stories like Fluch or Mystery Mine. The fact that Saw is not amazingly themed or badly themed put its between the others and means comparisons come quickly.

Samurai is the fairground version. Bring in one fresh from a funfair and it will run into the same problems. The machinery just isn't up to being in operation constantly.

Good point. But I'm not convinced that putting a charge on it will reduce the queues for it, considering a trip to Thorpe during Fright Nights turns into a "pay for fastrack or only do two things all night" scenario, essentially pay per attraction anyway. Thing is, I'm not a scare maze expert, I'm not paid to come up with new concepts for Thorpe and Alton to use. Experiment 10 was a step in the right direction, despite turning into actors running at you towards the end. But to me Thorpe are not addressing the issues of capacity with the mazes at Fright Nights.

Thats it really. We've lost Bear Hunt, we've lost Samurai, we've potentially lost Slammer for the whole event and we've lost a free maze for a lower throughput, up charge attraction all the while the park cuts the hours and will probably rise the prices for its fastrack offering and entry fee. Screw em.

It's been a long seven years since I last visited the Pleasure Beach. Back when I was a 17 year old I hurt my back viciously on the Big One, got thrilled within an inch of my life on a rainy Grand National, spun on Spin Doctor, Dazzled by Bling and thrown into another galaxy on Space Invader. But how had the park changed since 2005? Compared to my 2005 trip, the weather was beautiful. Sure it was dark and gloomy compared to the sunny South but it wasn't raining which really helped the atmosphere. One thing though, the park was very busy but thanks to the huge amounts of rides, shows and attractions queues were kept on the lowish side. So where to start? Oh yeah The Big One - Sponsored by Pepsi Max Back when my park experience extended to Alton Towers, Drayton, Chessington and Thorpe Park, the Big One was a ride to be admired but after riding it, it quickly became my least favourite rollercoaster. A first drop that felt like my back had been shattered to pieces and air time hills which made rolling down a hill look intense, the Big One was pants. But.. since then I've been on some truly diabolical rollercoasters. Furius Baco, Sequoia Adventure, Shamu Express, Saw the ride have all helped me develop my coasters interests to the point where you know what, The Big One ain't half bad. Sure, it still retains many problems such as the stupidly long drawn out hills or the helix fresh from RCT2. But I really feared that Shambhala would make Big One look worse and it didn't. I came off happy and fulfilled that I enjoyed it because thats what rollercoasters are all about. And plus.. I love its new livery. Big Dipper Last time I visited Blackpool, The Big Dipper was closed all day. This made me upset because it was a ride that I had always known about and I had read the reviews on Coaster Kingdom. My appetite for it remain disappointed. This time though, the ride was up and running and I can confirm my love for this classic attraction. By todays standards it is completely medieval. Tonnerre de Zeus and Megafobia leave it for dust, even Grand National and Nickelodeon Streak make it look a bit old fashioned. But I don't care for that because when seeing that blue train turning around behind the Big Dipper sign, the thought of generations of thrill seekers enjoying a roller coaster by the sea, in the sun, through the ages bought along some real nostalgia. Thats the thing with the Pleasure Beach, you can feel the history eminating from every attraction. Whether its the Derby Racer or the 70's shine of Steeplechase. Big Dipper is little to write home about in that respect. It's a beautiful wooden rollercoaster with gentle air time and roughness. But I love it and would be very upset if the Pleasure Beach ever decided to dismantle it. Grand National Back in 2005 this was easily my favourite attraction at Blackpool and quickly made it into my top five rollercoasters. It was the one I was most worried about riding as memories can cheat. Would it be able to retain its relentlessness and its simple element of racing? Of course it could. For all those that were so desperate for a wooden rollercoaster at Alton or Thorpe, well you could just go to Oakwood or Blackpool for some of the finest wooden roller-coasters invented. Grand National is an absolute wonder of an attraction. Unlike Stampeda which cheats its riders, Grand National keeps the trains together through each turn, every moment, one train pulls ahead of the other before the other makes its presence felt on the next turn around. It's sheer beauty is that the ride is so simple and yet so much fun to ride. The double dip is inspired and I truly love this attraction. Irn Bru Revolution Back in the days when this was orange and blue I really enjoyed the relatively simpleness of the ride. A hill, a vertical loop then all again in reverse. Now in 2012, the ride has had a rather tasteful refurbishment and looks all the better for it. Really fun attraction too actually. More air time in that drop then the whole of some German Intamin and B&M mega coasters. Infusion Compared to our European brothers, we've managed to escape the curse of SLC's quite well. Infusion's only real comparison for me is Blue Tornado at Gardaland. They are both the same ride and well.. To be honest you get what you pay for. Infusion, despite its misgivings is a well paced, fast, action packed rollercoaster and it only really got un-pleasent at the double corkscrew. The rest of it is all pretty manageable with a tightly packed layout showcasing the best of Vekoma ( ). (My JoshC tribute. ) Nickelodeon Streak and Blue Flyer I'd just like to say I'm not a fan of the new colour scheme for Streak. It looks garish in bright orange and green. Rollercoaster is good though if unremarkable. Straddling the perimeter of the back of the park, it is probably the roughest of the larger wooden roller coasters with bruising moments on the first and second drops. The final air time hills towards the end of the layout are very fun. The Blue Flyer (Or as I prefer to call it, Zipper Dipper) is a great starting rollercoaster for children. Nickelodeon land on the whole was very popular on our visit and the park had certainly done the company justice with a large bustling, brightly coloured area. Steeplechase and Wild Mouse I'm really not sure about Steeplechase.It just seems so unwieldy compared to the other Blackpool roller coasters. That being said the concept of danger is probably part of the attractions appeal because it doesn't do much that is particularly remarkable. The same can be said of WIld Mouse which is the perfect small roller coaster. It says a lot for a ride when you can feel the wheels coming off the tracks as it flies around corners at break neck speeds. Definitely should be ridden even if it will probably bruise you. Flying Machines and Derby Racer I love these attractions. They are another example of days gone by and that is why I love them. It may just be me but on Time Machines, I felt like I could hear the screams of thrill seekers 100 years gone by. No other park has given me that feeling of nostalgia and pride, atmosphere and love by a family for their attraction. Whilst other parks may pride themselves by being at the forefront of technology or the best in the country, the Pleasure Beach sits there with rides that bruise you, hurt you, throw you from side to side in their rawness. It astounds me that rides today like Perilous Plunge, Slammer, Big Bad Wolf, even Nemesis are seen as ancient but rides like Big Dipper, Grand National, Flying Machines have been going since before World War 2 and still bring smiles to the faces of many a visitor. And long may that continue.

Was it seriously worth making that post EC?

Yeah, forget it Thorpe. First you reduce the time you get in the park for Fright Nights and then you start to charge for the mazes. Saw: Alive and The Curse are hardly amazing either so coming to your event, queuing ages for everything and paying for the new maze. No thanks.

I'd say get rid and not replace. Whats the point of bringing in a new one which will begin to suffer the same problems after five years. Just yearly occurances for theme parks although having Slammer and Samurai being bad bad rides must put question over to how long they both have left.

Why do you keep saying Thorpe in capital letters?

Best way of taking out a ride ever.

What I love most about Nemesis is that the ride itself doesn't look almost 20 years old. The theming is one thing but the track and trains themselves are timeless. Vekoma and Arrow rides 10 years younger look ancient.

All credit to him. One ride on that would be enough for me.

Which one? As for Perilous Plunge, well we have Hydro Drench if you really feel the need. I do wonder about a B&M though, Silver Bullet wasn't exactly a hit and isn't Knotts a small park and very close residents.. Benin?

Can't believe its all over. Maybe we should just make our own events up, The British Games just so fill up that beautiful stadium

Intamin problems.