Mark9

Welcome back to TPM britcitchris. It's good to see someone come off of Saw: The Ride and really enjoy it. The fact that I disagree with pretty much every point you make is neither here nor there. Out of interest have you ridden Thirteen at Alton Towers?

Are they going to...To be honest though, the strength of a friendship survives all kind of distances. It's tough for you but its going to be far tougher for them, leaving their friends and family behind. Big hugs needed all round really.

About 700 on Runaway Train once650 at Fury but that was with a stunningly good team.250 at Griffins (I KNOW?! )

So I went to Chessington for the weekend, 1) because I haven't been for months and 2) It was Benin's 21st Birthday.I had Chris in hand and off we went. Got there on Saturday about 1 o clock and went straight for the Skyway. Wonderful ride but Chessington, how many times must it be said DO SOMETHING WITH IT. It's a wonderful unqiue use of a transportation system and it is going to waste in its delapidated state. Got off and went to ride the Bubbleworks. It was starting to rain so it was sort of the right choice. We queued the whole length of the queue and it took 20 minutes. Lack of fastrackers at the park it seems, even since they changed what each fastrack offers, people seem less willing to purchase.. excellent.Bubbleworks staff were on something, trying desperately to pair up twos with whoever they damnest could. Now the rain was coming down hard so spent half an hour in Caffe Nero soaking up the atmopshere. With the rain starting to die went and rode Tomb Blaster. You can say what you want about the ride, it certainly has a sense of scale and is actually quite epic in terms of scenery and props. It fails on pace but its theming is top notch.Came out and the sun was out in full bloom. So off to Kobra and the delightful Wild Asia. There's something about this area that makes it so special but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe after several years of nothing, it was a breathe of fresh air. Whatever it is, Wild Asia works and is a real asset to the park. Kobra is lovely to, although.. a little short. Seemed to only go over the hump twice despite only a 15 minute queue.I noticed a new bit of theming in the queueLoved it. It's amazing that after years and years of Thorpe Park flat rides, one flat ride at Chessington knocks them all out of the park in terms of theme. Kobra is a delight.So afterwards, we'd had enough of rides and went for a long journey through the zoo. You guessed it, its brilliant and adds that little extra dimension over its Merlin stablemates. All animals seemed out in force, ready to pose and eat dead rats. I particularly loved the ostriches which looked ready to kill. What the area needs is some more animals though, I'd love to see giraffes on that land, they'd really suit the park to.Next was off to Rattlesnake. I love what they've done to Mexicana this year, actors seem to be roaming, wanted posters are dotted around and was it me but are some effects on Rattle now working again to? Was working well to, only a 10 minute queue. After our hotel jaunt we decided to go check in at the hotel. For Benin we'd decided to get views overlooking the safari area. We got upgraded to an executive room, top floor, overlooking the area and it was a gorgeous place to stay. I could watch animals all day long to be honest. Met Benin and Nicky and had food downstairs in their new restraunt. Great food even if the service was slightly bizarre. Much coaster chat was had before bed times. The Ostriches were watching us in the dark, very creeeeeepy.SO next morning, had breakfast (So Expensive!) and went into the park. Rattlesnake, Runaway Train, Tomb Blaster, Monkey Swinger and Dragon Falls were done before Benin and the Nickster headed home. Chris and I stayed and queued 45 minutes for Vampire (good work by the team in the station) and took advantage of a Fury breakdown and queue evacuation to only queue 10 minutes for the Fury. We took one last wlak round the zoo before leaving.It was a really nice weekend to be honest. Chessington is such a cozy little park. You don't need to rush around from ride to ride and you certainly don't require huge ride counts to have a magical experience. I want investment in the park but I also want them to stay true to the way they're running the park at the moment. Little touches and theme effects are being added all over the place such as extra theming on Dragon Falls or talking gravestones at Vampire. It really adds to a top day out.

God, if Fury or any other ride goes down for the rest of the season then Vampire is going to be FUN this summer. Ah well, it will be worth it for the money saved from running the extra train.

Inferno had a dodgy start. it worked but had moments of downtime which is expected when new rollercoasters open.

Love the nod to the old railway that used to run through that part of the park. It gives me a small geekish squeal when parks nod to their past attractions. The beauty is not why it's there but that it is there.

The worst part being an Aquatrax doesn't even really go anywhere near the water, it just happens to have parts over water... Seems utter pointless to me.Won't be an Aquatrax, will never be an Aquatrax.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLyTzIslEQk

You clearly read to fast, I did my post edit in about 30 seconds. You cheeky monkey.

I said Their babe

Thats right, they grew up in Staines. Feltham is singing out is also one of my favourite songs. Their latest single.

It's all about Hard Fi, The Feeling and Noah and the Whale for me at the moment. Love a bit of the British flavour

Euro Maus judges you fever

I had a dream last night where the new woodies was the most orgasmic experience ever. So thats how much its infected my mind, if not my posts.

The only park I can think of that has replaced its Log Flume with a better model is Drayton Manor.Honestly though, why should the park stay in the past with Flume Unplugged when as one of the premier parks in Europe they could do a hell of a lot better. If you know me, you know I believe parks should retain their history and their identity but Flume isn't one of those rides. Its popular but only because its a flume ride. For years, enthusiasts have been saying Flume needs removing for something like an Aquatrax or a water coaster. Why now, when its part of a rumour, do people come out and say they actually like it.

I to hope it's not a B&M wing-rider, however I'd like it to be a working roller coaster... so not Intamin please Alton.

It's spelt 'really' and also please don't use shorthand, you've used its when it is either it's or it is and please use the word seconds instead of sec.Honestly, if you are going to go round correcting peoples grammar mistakes, please make sure your posts are up to scratch as well...Anywho, I like the look of this coaster so there

Some rides do more in 10 seconds then others do in ten minutes.

I read this at work earlier and got really excited. Never dreamt of a rollercoaster, particularly a B&M in that location. Already excited, sorry Swarm

Hmm. Seems we're seeing a very different B&M of late, one thats become far more about breaking their own bondaries. Good on them though, proving they don't just play it safe when it comes to rollercoasters.

I stand by what I said a long time ago, Neptunes Beach creates a very odd feeling to entering the park, by chucking a flat ride at the entrance you immediately feel swamped by rides and not going on any kind of journey into the park.I'd personally hate to be greeted by a ride immediately. Lost City works because its slightly to the side of the Dome but by having ou come out those doors and a giant flat ride greets you. euch, hate the idea of it. I really wouldn't be surprised if we lost Neptunes Beach though, I'm surprised its lasted this long at all frankly.

Well knowing B&M's history with rides that get very close to each other, I've no doubt that they and Thorpe are callaborating on how to create the plane effect and how to get the train through safely. It should be a very impressive effect once pulled off though. There shouldn't be a need for arm plates, afterall Merlin have already got trains through tight squeezes on Raptor.