Mark9

On the other side of that, it's because UK guests are just generally thick. Once I was at fury and someone got off and decided that the lift hill was the exit to the ride... No wonder UK parks are so damn H&S critical if UK guests are going to try and jump into ride areas or get themselves into trouble.

(Long Trip report)It's trips like this which make you see how pitiful the effort is in the UK. Yes, Wild Asia for British standards is pretty good and Alton Towers even bothering to do a single 30th birthday event is pretty commendable. But all of it falls down when Europa do this on a daily basis. I haven't been to Europa Park since 2006 and back then I was far more into rides then the experience. I've been known to say Europa doesn't have a signature ride, what it has is loads of really solid rides that come together to create a complete day out. Well now, in Blue fire they have a ride that is an icon ride, it is single handedly more enjoyable then any B&M or Intamin rollercoaster.During my visit they were only running three trains. Now if this was any other park that would be full capacity but oh no, not at Europa. This thing can run 4 trains and has a spare train to boot. The throughput of this thing on three is astonishing and to have one train come in just as another goes out makes you feel like you never stop moving. Blue Fire is in the Iceland area of the park and is themed around escaping gas pressure which launches through the volcanic ruins of the area. If this thing was an Intamin rocket it would shakle you to hell, be painful and would cut your neck to pieces. Instead, this being Mack brilliance, the restraint is more like a lap bar. In some respects, it's simialr to Maurer Sohnes lapbar, except works better because you aren't crushed to death. Blue Fire is incredibly smooth and very fast. The inline twist near the end of the ride is a particular highlight, I had a smile beeming from ear to ear. I can't believe this is Mack's first upside down, with this model they deserve to sell and sell as Blue Fire for me, is a pure 10/10 ride.And yet, we're stuck with Stealth and Rita. Fabulous.The new ride for 2010 is Whale Adventure. It's essentially a Splash Battle where the effects all work, as do the guns, the theming and water effects are all top notch. It has an amazingly long queueline and hanging from the top is a huge whale. It's an amazing piece of work and I believe is the same layout as Battle Galleons.Now.. if you can tell me whats wrong in this picture you win a prize.Yes thats right, there's no need for checking bars (or even having bars down in some cases). Germans have theme parks so much more sussed then we do. They don't rely so much on Health and Safety as we do so when that MikeyT bought up the Tomb Blaster thing in the other topic I facepalmed so much. Alpine Express, for those that don't know, is an amazing powered coaster which journeys into a diamond mine, up and over the log flume and past a giant robot dragon. This ride opened in 1984 and yet it still looks brand new.So to take a break from the rides, we stayed in Hotel Colosseo. The park has four hotels which are all themed immacuately. The main attraction at Colosseo is the water feature in the centre of the circle. Water shows occur regularly and are very impressive and worth a watch. Our room overlooked the circle.So back into the park we go and to celebrate 35 years of Europa Park, a new show for year has appeared in Greece. It's basically an ice show. At the end a huge champagne bottle is wheeled out, lifted to the top of the tent and out comes Euro Maus. This was such a magical experience and just another element of Europa Parks charm. Their themed characters do more then get wheeled out on busy days, they are constantly in the area.Another part of the celebration is a small museum in the Italy section of the park showing some of the past rides and elements that are still in the park to this day.A few other park facts. The park runs Early ride time for Hotel guests, this starts at 8:25 and features Alpine Express, the Spanish spinning rides, the Log Flume, Atlantica Supersplash and the Whizzer ride. The park then opens at 9-6 pm every day (unless hours are extended). During our visit we only saw one ride not available. Considering Europa Park nearly has 50 attractions this is incredibly impressive. If all rollercoasters at peak capacity there hourly throughput is 15,000 people. That's Chessingtons max capacity and Thorpe nearly at capacity. Considering the coasters are 1/5 of the park that is incredible, so when you go you will always be able to get at least ten rides.I won't list all the rides we rode, I'll just show how many rides we got in during the day.Day One - 36 ridesDay Two - 27 ridesDay Three - 23 ridesIt's an awesome park, anyone that has even a small interest in theme parks needs to go because its an incredible, magical park.

Working on a ride doesn't mean you have to like the theme. Out of the 12 rides I operated, only Runaway Train and Rattlesnake were well themed. The rest were ****e.

I sometimes wish Merlin had gone for a "decent" manufacturer like B&M or Mack. This is no disrespect to Gerstlauer or Intamin but what they build are cheap ride systems. Yes they get the people in the park and they are awesome looking rides but when one can't build their rides to be comfortable, the other can't build reliable or/and 'safe' rides then it's just beyond believe. Ryan, you are incredibly lucky to find Saw smooth. I have a high pain threshold so can take the pain from Vekomas and jerky rides like Eurosat and Coaster Express but I just can't do front row Saw without getting a headache.

A few plaudits? He got more praise then anyone else!

God, you've all gone for the boring phsyics answers Has anyone thought that maybe Thorpe only requested 7 rows for the coaster. Parque Warner Madrids Batman clone only has 7 rows, when normally they have 8.

It's absolutely mad that a one year old coaster is so rough. I mean after 18 months, it's aged terribly so I'm scared to know what it will be like even next year.

That can only be Micheal from Chessington that was on Fury last year. Unique is definitly a word I would use to describe his dedication.

Thats exactly what I was thinking, considering the size of the park and the long queues, getting on 10 rides in any park is very good.

That is so cute

Oh I loved old Runaway Train queueline! I just cannot belive the queue ever got that long!

I'd also like to point something out that may not be that obvious to you. If you go with the intention of riding the big rides then thats all you are going to get on. I noticed in your trip report that you went on pretty much only the big rides. Why didn't you try Duel, Blade, Ripsaw, Charlie, Runaway Train?People make such glaring errors whenever they visit theme parks and then complain when they get on very little because of long queues. To be honest with you, it's your loss not ours. If Th13teen (a high capacity rollercoaster with a fast moving queueline) wasn't enough for you, then nothing Alton adds will be.

For a brief time in 2005, Rodeos control box was used as the break rota room for rides area 2 before it was deemed an unsafe structure.

Nah that was The Impossible Planet/Satan Pit.The next story is about an ancient race known as the....SiluriansSee I liked Series 4. The family and love crap was mostly gone and it was just Donna, the Doctor and the Tardis having fun in the universe. It wasn't all this bollocks about who Amy prefers and how Rory is envious of the Doctor..Which has never been done before has it...

There's nothing quite like rushing something to open is there.

Mark's choice is to stop watching Doctor Who.Frankly the stories this year just aren't enjoyable, they aren't hitting the right spot with me and frankly, Amy Pond is just annoying. Which is a shame as I loved The Eleventh Hour and The Beast Below.

I think bribes are more appropriate

I'm tempted to start Platinum again and go for it with Piplup. I haven't started with Piplup since 2007 and I didn't realise it was part steel back then. So everytime I sent it out against a fire type it was obliterated. I prefer Mudkips water/ground combo when it becomes Masrhstomp as electric trainers become a breeze and he has the highest base stat.For cuteness, Totodile thrashes them all..Definitly starting with FIREPIG on Black/White. He just looks so happy!

I have a few friends who may disagree with that.........I HERD YOU LEIK...MUDKIPZand finally

I love Pokemon, I really do. Anyone that calls it a kids game has obviously not played it recently. It's far more then that and it is the only reason why I have ever owned a Game Boy Colour, Advance and the DS.I love FIRE PIG, however David Cameron and the water one who looks like he has downs syndrome are rubbish.

I hope everyone just remembers what he said about helping the elderly and the poor. Thats the one I'll be hoping the coalition delivers on.

Again I'm on the other side of the fence here (seems to be a worrying trend). I would absolutely hate a dark ride at Thorpe. Not because I don't think it suits the park but because I would bloody hate queuing. It feels like everytime you put teenagers in No Way Out's indoor queue line they have to scream and start being anti-social.So I would actually despise a ride in the dark at Thorpe.

I'm actually entirely on the opposite side of the fence here I think. Nemesis and Colossus can get away with looking rough as one was already designed to look aged, the other is a lost city and doesn't need to be brand spanking new.Maybe Vampire would get away with it if the area wasn't looking so run down. I don't expect Vampire to look perfect in its 21st season but on the other hand looking like its falling apart is an entirely different matter.