Mark9

As Pluk said its just a blown motor. It looks dramatic but thats about it.

Anywho, the park has opened as usual today with the affected areas the only parts of the park unavailable. Three firemen have suffered from mild smoke inhalation but thankfully, no other injuries.

I guess if your ride isn't running faster then expected it isn't going to have as many teething problems

Can't believe you say things like that frankly.

I feel so gutted for the Mack family, Europa Park is their pride and joy, a true work of art in a world full of race to the bottom attractions and sell outs. They will bounce back of course but the short term loss for the park cannot be under-estimated. I understood that Pirates of Batavia was one of the next rides to see a big retheme/refurbishment. Hopefully out of the ashes of this incident, something even greater can be born.

It's almost like they're a normal theme park again!

Yeah, stupid Cedar Point.

Musical heaven. Pick any track from Tropical Freeze and its just beautiful.

Some things we just don't get compared to everyone else. I didn't experience a ride built only for 6-8 year olds and I think people really underestimate how much scares kids can take.

Just try getting the Central line from Tottenham Court Road on a Friday night. The two experiences sound very similar.

The park had a rather frank 'InsiderEars' presentation last night with some interesting things announced. - Ratatouille will be closing for three months for building works. There's subsidence. - The pipe that supplies the smoke at Big Thunder Mountain has a leak and they are working on a solution. The ride is running faster then pre-refurbishment. - The Mark Twain riverboat will be returning to operation in 2020. It's been in dry dock since 2011 - Philarmagic will be opening in Discoveryland theatre in October. - A new Phantom Manor float will be added to the Halloween parade this year. It will feature three different dressed Micky Mouses - Phantom Manor will be returning in the 'Fall' with a slightly retooled storyline. The whole thing is being refurbished top to bottom with new effects. I'm personally really excited for Philarmagic, it's one of the more under-rated attractions in Florida and I never leave a showing without a smile. DLP really is on the up at the moment.

If this was counting down to their announcement of a new rollercoaster I'd be all excited. But its probably counting down to a scare maze announcement and I don't give a toss.

Kind of irrelevant. After the Smiler incident they built giant fences all over the place and after the rapids incident at Drayton last year, the Rapids was closed and that was the time to update their signage board. If they are going to call someone out like this, they have to have all their legalities in check such as the front entrance board or they just look stupid. So a parent could in theory be ejected from the park for photoing their kids on 'In the Night Garden'.

Run from it, hide from it. Ride cutbacks still arrive. ( (The person who tweeted this put a smile on my face)

Thank god they got that second boat ready in time for a rainy weekend.

I'd say its the complete opposite actually.

They don't need a new ride anyway. They have the best and scariest attraction of all time in the Walking Dead. Why try and beat that?

Tower of Terror has an even lower height restriction and thats far more ominous then any of Wicker Man.

Kids love being scared don't they?

The top 25 rollercoasters in the world (according to Theme Park Review) 1. El Toro - Six Flags Great Adventure 2. Lightning Rod - Dollywood 3. Wildfire - Kolmården 4. Medusa Steel Coaster - Six Flags Mexico 5. Outlaw Run - Silver Dollar City 6. Maverick - Cedar Point 7. Expedition GeForce - Holiday Park 8. Intimidator 305 - Kings Dominion 9. Phoenix - Knoebels Amusement Park and Resort 10. Skyrush - Hersheypark 11. Millennium Force - Cedar Point 12. Helix - Liseberg 13. Fury 325 - Carowinds 14† Mega-Lite/Kawasemi/Fly Over Mediterranean/Piraten 15. Balder - Liseberg 16. Storm Chaser - Kentucky Kingdom 17. Superman the Ride - Six Flags New England 18. Boulder Dash - Lake Compounce 19. New Texas Giant - Six Flags Over Texas 20. Taron - Phantasialand 21. Twisted Colossus - Six Flags Magic Mountain 22. Wicked Cyclone - Six Flags New England 23. iSpeed - Mirabilandia 24. Shambhala - PortAventura Park 25. Iron Rattler - Six Flags Fiesta Texas

I think it generally looks okay to be honest. There's clearly things like the Dragon which should have been left alone (what were they thinking) and it's kind of frustrating that the bits that haven't been cleaned or replaced (like the bamboo hanging off the trough after the final drop) haven't been given attention. But in general it looks perfectly fine and I really like the tiger rock. Mixing the Zoo in more with the rides is the right direction for Chessington.

I know that. I also know there is far more out there that is completely under the radar that deserves attention. Plenty of big name parks in Europe and yet the same three are the only ones talked about.

There's slight hero worship behind Europa Park, Phantasialand and Efteling. Almost to the extent that other places don't get a look in. Which is a shame. Parc Asterix, Miribilandia, Tivoli Gardens just to name three are fantastic theme parks that get completely overlooked for some reason. #CONTROVERSY

I don't know why but the support structure really bothers me.

YAS! I have never seen a UK ride receive this much love and excitement for since well, Nemesis. It's an absolute pleasure to ride and it to me is the single most important ride built this century. (hyperbole necessary). I'm so glad it comes across as so middle of the road because when you get off the thing, you're blown away by how good it is and Alton fully deserve the praise. And here's what bugs me. Wicker Man is excellent but it cannot paper the cracks of poor decision making. On a hot day the park should never close at 5. Oblivion only runs two stations on absolute peak days, thats crazy. Wicker Man is clearly having a big effect on the park, more people are visiting and therefore the park should be reacting quicker to this stuff. Galatica is a mess. The quicker the VR goes the better. The sad thing is Saturday was a travesty but I went on Monday and at one point WickerMan only had a 5 minute queue, was running three trains all day and had no breakdowns. Thats the kind of guest experience the park should be delivering every day and a 4/5pm close to me seems no longer warranted or excused.