Mark9

It is bad for a B&M to be on one train and have seats not in operation on that only train but a bit of perspective is needed. Saw decided to commit suicide on its first day of public operation followed by a lengthy stint on reduced capacity. Stealth spent the whole of its first summer in 2006 closed by order of the king. The Swarm having problems isn't uncommon. It's a ride in its first season and whilst the company has experience with a B&M wing rider, Thorpe does not. The Swarm will settle, it is just unfortunate that its chosen the parks second busiest period to do so. Fastrack on the other hand is appaulling. The biggest aspect I hate is sellers at the rides entrance. There was one outside Inferno the other day. The queue wasn't even 30 minutes long but the little kids ran up to her with pride buying the one shot pass.

Disagree on the basis that both Rock'n'roller and Rita are launch rollercoasters and start with the letter R. It would be like comparing The Swarm with Furius Baco. Both very different rides, but both comparable.

Happy 25th Anniversary to Chessington. Which also means.. Happy 25th Birthday to Safari Skyway, Dragon Falls, Runaway Train and the Flying Jumbos which are the only original rides left at the park. (Unless you want to count Tomb Blaster but it isn't really the same in the slightest these days)

The weather and the recession is also playing a part.

Isn't Nemesis Inferno running well at the moment?! It's just a joy to ride all year round. Really has improved with age

Whatever they've done to Saw.. I love it. The ride felt like it did back in 2009, fast and intense but not rough in the slightest. Really enjoyed my ride actually.

A huge thank you to Thorpe Park for hosting the event and treating us with real warmth and kindness. The lift-hill walk was quite scary if you don't like heights, however it really was a unique way of seeing the park.. even if the whole lift wobbles quite a lot in the wind. Very impressed at the turn out, particularly when you consider how short notice the event was planned. Had a great time and really nice to see everyone again and only managed 10 of the 11 goes on the ride, reaffirmed to me that I am ratehr fond of the old-timer still.

Unfortunately you are wrong although this being the first week of July, it won't be as bad as the next two weeks. The thing with school groups is they all follow the same pattern so at certain points, a particular ride will be packed. For instance, I went to Chessington last week and for the majority of the day Rattlesnake was empty. However once the school groups all found it, the queue shot up to 45 minutes. You just need to be smart and not follow everyone else, maybe do the park in the opposite direction.

I want that game.

http://mark2262.wordpress.com/2012/06/29/dragon-khan/ A smallish, slightly more emotional piece on Dragon Khan. Comments welcome and much appreciated.

HES ONE OF US MAN!

Disagree with Liam here. Love the way the Nemesis train disappears up the lift and only appears as it rockets through the trees and into the first corkscrew, before diving underground. Theme park theatre at its best.

Count me in for this one =)

Getting really bored of this now. It makes Towers management look ridiculous and ineffectual if everytime they make a cut they reverse it 5 days later.

Mid way through the season, my top ten rollercoasters. 1. Expedition Everest. (2011) Seems odd to have a Vekoma as my number one rollercoaster but it's the perfect ride in my opinion. Fun, themed, interesting queueline, mildly thrilling, good interaction with scenery and surroundings, effects. 2. Superman de Acero. (2007) Has been my top B&M for five years now and I think thats mainly due to the excellent of its layout. From g-force to air time, giant inversions to ground hugging helixes. It's the perfect combination of everything I love about a rollercoaster. it loses out on Everest because its theme only extends to the rides queue line. 3. Katun. (2011) Simply awesome. A ride with class, thrills and all that old school B&M G-Force. It was enough to cement Miribilandia as a truly classic park in my head and I can't wait to go back out to Italy for another ride. 4. Nemesis (2004). Everyone knows Nemesis and why you should love it too. 5. Oz'Iris (2012). Completing the B&M inverter triumvirate is Oz'Iris. The only reason this doesn't beat the others is purely it's layout as a teeny weeny bit less pace to it then the other two. It's a very strong rollercoaster though and has the best B&M queueline I've encountered. 6. Manta (2011). As only my second flyer it didn't have to do too much to beat Air. The fact it did it in such style impressed me a lot. It's such a nice ride and quite bizarre thanks to the pretzel loop and its amazing aquarium queueline. 7. Blue Fire (2010). What I think most impressed me about Blue Fire (and what continues to impress me) is how Mack outdid Intamin's efforts with its first attempt. iSpeed, Baco, Stealth and Rita can't hold a candle to Blue Fire. It's fantastic. 8. Shambhala (2012). Fantastic ride that is an utter joy to ride. For me, if its queueline hadn't been so soul destroying, I think it would be my number one ride. 9. Oblivion (2004). I never understand why this makes it into my own top ten until I reride it and then I remember how excellent and polished the ride experience is. It never loses its kick, no matter how many times I ride it. 10. Black Mamba (2006). It's been a while since I've been on the German B&M so its testament to its quality that I remember the ride so vividly. Love its station, love its queueline. Suffers from a lack of pacing towards the end. Nonetheless, worth a visit to Phantasialand for.

Thanks to PA community. Shambhala's queue yesterday, 2 and a half hour queue. Thats with all three trains running as well.

I do love a good OzIris review and I agree with all you said. OzIris's queue really is one of the most pleasurable ever for a B&M. Such stunning detail in every corner of the inside queue and the views of the ride from the outside are fantastic. OzIris

I'm not always right.. but I love it when I am :wub:

Divertical looks ridiculous. Cars Land is amazing. Gulf in quality.

Bitches don't know how cultural I am.

Europa Park for me is like the theme park benchmark. So whilst I think the ride selection is pretty good at PortAventura, I don't just visit a park for it's ride selection, it's about the whole experience. And PortAventura left a lot to be desired. I genuinely think Europa Park is perfect. Theming, shops, shows, ride queue lines, variety of rides. It's all there.

The final part of the trip report. Temple de Fuga Now this is more like it. I adored Temple de Fuga, just epic and awesome and with some fantastic effects and sounds to accompany the action. Well recommended on a visit, you will not be disappointed. 9/10 Silver River Flume A typical Log Flume. It first has a hoorendous queue (which I came to expect from PortAventura) but the ride itself is a good one. Three drops, including a very good last one. Very compact ride and well hidden in a park as open as PA. 8/10 Grand Canyon Rapids A very good Rapids ride with a real pace to it and genuinely wet moments. Shortish queue as well and very enjoyable. 9/10 Tomahawk Essentially a kiddies wooden rollercoaster accept its very painful and far to intense to be called just a kiddie woodie. Very strange seating style, each row seats one adult only for example. It has good interaction with Stampida 6/10 El Diablo Wins the award for stupidest mine train going. It really is like Arrow just lost grip on reality as they built it. From the clunkiness of the trains, to the second lift-third lifthill section and the way the train just seems to lose all momentum very quickly. Daft but not awful. 5/10 And with that all main rides are done. The park fortunately has a lot of attractions going. From 4D shows to Pirate ships and onto well themed little flat rides here and there, it certainly has the variety. Now.. whilst I didn't spot any Swarm damaging Marquees dotted around the park, there was scarcely a well designed queueline, polite staff member and the late opening of the majority of rides really puts a dent in your day. The worst part is before you get to the park you have no idea that this is how the park runs. If it wasn't for the queue boards which are located at every main ride entrance we would have just gone to Shambhala and not realised the ride wasn't due to open at 11. Poor communication from the park. Luckily, the hotel we stayed in was a pleasure. The restraunts for example are very good value, as is the bar where we watched Ireland Vs Spain. The room was also nice and spacious and I will never forget that stunning view of the park. Unfortunately though, the park just has too many flaws. Whereas I come away from Miribilandia or Parc Asterix, knowing I will visit again in the future, I won't to Port Aventura, not until they add another decent ride or rollercoaster. Thanks for reading.

Thanks for the round up Dan. It's safe to say that if the park can't be bothered to run its park properly, then I'm not prepared to do the drive up there for a disappointing day. Really sad for the park. I've stayed in the hotel every year since 2005 but frankly, I don't see the place as value for money anymore and don't deserve my custom.

Stampidia Stampidia is a racing woodie, designed by John Wardley in the 90's. One accident and new trains and 15 years later it opens at 12 and remains one of the parks most popular rides. Unlike the majority of queues at the park, there is very few opportunities to queue jump. You choose your wagon, red or blue, and emerge up steps to the station. Your first real challenge is to ignore all the graffiti, placed on every square inch of wood, even on the floor. If that isn't enough to distract you, the way Stampida is operated is truely baffling. Sometimes the back three cars won't be used, sometimes they will be full of express pass users, sometimes you can fight through adversity and get a back row seat. It's staggering that with an hour queue the staff on either side of the station aren't more alert to what is going on. It is so frustrating. And then the ride. The cars are lovely, roomy even. Now the thing with racing woodies is that you would hope the two would be allowed to race fairly. Grand National at Blackpool does this perfectly. Stampida does not. Because of the ridiculous blocking system used and the fact the distance the trains travel from break run to station is different on the rides, you will either stop on the lift hill while the other train continues or slow down to a crawl while the other speeds. It isn't helped that the red side also gets a boost from the lift hill as it falls into a far steeper drop whilst blue train ambles off slowly into a steady descent. So ignoring the racing element which is basically non-existant, Stampida is a wonderful ride. While it lacks the relentless action of Tonnerre de Zeus and Megafobia, it has a far more steady, rackety rhythym to it. Both sides are equally as fun and the point where the two sides seperate and fly past each other is a true highlight. Stampidia - 7/10 Hurakan Condor If you know me, you know I am a huge fan of Detonator. At a modest height, it is truely a sensational drop. Very few drop towers come close. And so we come to Hurakan, a 300 foot behemoth. I'm going to come clean and say it is the closest contendor to Detonator so far. What it lacks in intensity, it makes up for in buckets of fun. My only real annoyance is that you have no choice in where you get to seat. If you are going to have sides that differ, at least let your guests have the choice of experience. And with that, advertise that each row offers something unique to entice guests in. It's nowhere near as intense as Detonator, but it is heaps of fun. Hurakan Condor - 9/10