Mark9

People who overlook out-dated social practises just to ride rollercoasters =/

Thorpe Park X1 Alton Towers X3 Blackpool X2 Drayton X1 DLP X12 Gardaland X1 Miribilandia X1 Heide Park X2 Hansa Park X1 Liseberg X2 Cedar Point X2 Six Flags Great America X1 Canadas Wonderland X1

I won't hide my sexuality to ride a few rollercoasters. Being flogged, imprisoned, tortured or murdered just to ride Flying Aces isn't worth it in anybody's book.

Disagreed. They actually harm no one (apart from the people stupid enough to stay in them) and if there is a market for them, then that's what's being tapped into. They're literally on the same level as something like the Tipi village at Europa Park.

Can I jump on the slag off Alton Towers new pods bandwagon too?

Same as everyone else really. Helix, I'd forgotten how incredible that ride was. Blew me away. The sheer force of pacing on the thing is extraordinary and the launches get completely overshadowed by inversion after air time hill after inversion after air time hill after inversion. Its such a tour de force for Mack, just an amazing ride and the second best ride in Europe. Valkyria, I get the feeling I'm suffering from dive machine fatigue as I wasn't as blown away by this as others but it is a good ride and one of the longer dive machines out there. Definitely better then Krake and Oblivion the Black Hole.

This is certainly true. Merlin need to take a long look at Thorpe because right now, its really not in a good place.

You guys are absolutely brutal this year.

I didn't say it was a good idea. I didn't say it was a bad idea. I stated the facts that when you're losing money you find ways to save money.

When your theme park is flopping beyond believe, haemorrhaging money at an alarming rate and seems unable to attract people.. you close the rapids.

Concept of it is fine. Execution of it in a park like Towers is just not going to be good.

Oh I knew. I just feel the UK at its highest point was between 1996 and 1999, around twenty years ago. Imagine it, Megaphobia, Oblivion, X No Way Out (;) ), Rattlesnake, Samurai. ?

Is it?!

Welcome back. ? After a week of travelling miles and miles across states and countries it was time to relax. Two years ago my fiancé and I had taken a cruise around the Med and we were instantly hooked. This time we wanted something a bit different and we chose the Alaskan cruise which sets sail from Vancouver. The ship this time is the second in the chain, the Disney Wonder. This is the sister ship to the Disney Magic and whilst sharing a lot of similarities as some minute differences such as Tiannas restaurant instead of a Tangled restaurant and has a different art styling. Aside from the obvious differences, this one isn't taken in beautiful Mediterranean sunshine. It instead features cold, ice and a lot of rain. Launch day is a very special time on a cruise in general as you start to settle into the ship. You meet your entertainment team, your cabin cleaner, your restaurant team and your dinner friends. We recognised a few crew members from our first cruise. Entertainment Joe Slow is a wonderfully Northern lass from England, her co host from Wales. That gave us lots of moments where they would make jokes that only English people would get. This made the cruise feel very personal. We also learnt they don't have halloumi in America. What the hell?! Day one, sailing away day and our first meal was in Animators Palette, a restaurant where the screens around the room change depending on the course of the meal before ending with Sorcerer Mickey dances around the music to Fantasmic music. We got to meet our dinner pals which were a dutch married couple who were on their honeymoon. When marooned in America, with kids and crazy proud patriots all round you, it's quite nice to have some European sensibilities around you. It was like a nice break from the crazy and we got along very well. They turned out to be theme park enthusiasts to boot and were visiting Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Knotts Berry Farm and Walt Disney World before flying back to Amsterdam. The days at sea are ironically the best days as you get to enjoy all the facilities on board. The views from the ship as we went into Alaska are absolutely spectacular. For all the good that the MEd was, this is something else. GLACIER! We also met Mickey, Donald and Minnie because.. it's a Disney cruise. The stops allowed us to get very close to nature. Whether that be the salmon doing their run up the river (which was absolutely amazing) or wild Black bears a few metres away from us or orcas swimming alongside the ship the link with the wild was something I'll never forget. BEARS! ORCAS! Alaska is a beautiful state and such a contrast to other states I've done. Whether that be glaciers, waterfalls, forests or beautiful towns that look like they've not changed in decades. And when it comes to the last day.. well. It's not like a Disney theme park where even if you don't want to leave, you know you can come back. A Disney cruise is something different. The people you share the ship with whether that be the hosts, the people you eat with or the entertainment hosts, that will never be the same. I found it hard to hold back the tears on day 8 because it really is a special week and the idea of not being on the seas, completely relaxed and free with wonderful people is something hard to let go. This for me is probably the purest Disney experience because you are around or near the ship 24/7. And I wouldn't want it any other way. We've already booked our 2019 cruise around the Bahamas and for anyone that wants to holiday a little bit differently, a Disney Cruise is something I wholeheartedly recommend. Till we meet again

Wish he'd learn how to edit though. I watched his Magic Kingdom vlog last night. Had to endure 5 minutes of him talking about milk, coke, water and hydration and yet he edited the hell out of watching Happily Ever After. I was outraged. It's a beautiful poetry for me personally. I first rode G Force on its opening year, didn't go back until this year which has turned out to be it's last year. I won't miss it.

It's more a case of seeing what you want to see. Our parks build new rides with original IP's (Icon, Smiler, The Swarm in the last six years), Europa Park are building IP rides (Arthur), refurbishing old rides with IP (Jim Knopf) or adding popular characters to VR and meet and greets (Paddington). Besides, the 90's were a near 20 years ago and European parks have just caught up. I agree the UK is strangled through a lack of competition but I think that does a discredit to our parks which have been doing good stuff of late.

Nothing convinces me that enthusiasts/fans hate their chosen subject more than being on internet forums (although typing that out, that seems a pretty obvious thing to say). I remember the hate for Gruffalo when that was announced and it turned out to be a vast improvement on what had gone before and a great ride. Sometimes it's utterly miserable being here, especially when reading anything coming in the future. Fright Nights also got an absolute mauling for weeks before the event but oh look, everybody is having a great time.

I just want a high quality attraction. If it's an IP then so be it.

It's exactly the same with one big difference. I've seen fan outrage about this as is always the way with these things. But the way I see it, it's in a space that wasn't used before, its bringing people down to that area of the park and it's an incredibly enjoyable show.

Whilst the American Disney parks are cutting things left right and centre and increasing prices, Disneyland Paris just seems to be adding more and more. I was impressed by my visit at just how alive the place seems compared to my first visit in 2013. The new Halloween parade is a slightly retooled version of the one that last appeared in 2016 but it feels more dynamic with the calvacade stopping in the Hub for a small dance off. The new Mickeys Illusion Mansion float is amazing with three different Mickeys appearing through doors. Philarmagic was also an excellent addition to Discoveryland and sure it doesn't fit the Jules Verne theme, neither does Star wars.

Not sure if that post is aimed at me but I'll be more clearer. When we were there, Raptor, Rougarou and Gatekeeper were on three trains. Each time, one train was stacked outside the station whilst one loaded. It doesn't make a ride have a higher throughput if a train is stationary, doing nothing and it doesn't improve dispatches. America in general (outside of Disney) has far more stringent and harsher checks on it rides which means there is no point running three trains if the safety procedures take longer than a ride cycle. Maverick was running six trains but it could have run four and would have still had the same people per hour. The main reason I felt it necessary to praise Towers and Blackpool is because their dispatches were near perfect. Minimal stacking on full capacity is hard work but they did it near flawlessly.

What competitors? STOP TALKING BRITAIN DOWN CREEK

So here we go... enough people have ridden both to vote now so which do you prefer? Is it Mack's finest at Blackpool, an airtime filled machine that dives in and out of other rides at Blackpool or the intimate, well themed, atmospheric Wicker Man which sees a return to form for an Alton Towers rollercoaster. Which is your favourite?

Oh god thanks for that Steve. That takes me back to a time when each new track at Thorpe was a hit after hit after hit.

I pretty much agree with all your viewpoints here, Helix in particular is a good ride but I've never found it to be the amazing ride that others do. I too prefer Icon. I think stacking is just an inherent trait of dive machines, I'm yet to ride one that doesn't stack in some way. I find Balder incredibly repetitive and I don't find the air time that interesting. I think I prefer the out of control woodies like Wodan and Wicker Man too the more controlled way Balder rides.