Mark9

Few quick words from me. This is a great little coaster and will hopefully open the doors for smaller parks who were maybe thinking of getting a woodie and weren't sure if the hunger for one is there. It's great to see guests loving a ride like this, something that's accessible for all and full of great moments. For many UK people this will be their first modern wooden coaster and it really nails it. Great theme, great use of effects and really solid ride. Once the reliability is sorted out, I can't wait to get lots of rides on it as it's very enjoyable and the park is onto a winner.

I think they're quickly learning that their cuts are too severe. Yesterday was supposed to be a 4pm but from the very beginning, the park was advertising a 5pm close and they've already announced this weekend will be 6pm close. I still think Rita and Thirteen should be open at 10, there's absolutely no back up if Wickerman fails to open on time.

Sounds like a lot of faff though.

This is the battery I wish to charge on this garbage ride.

They even added to gay boat ride? Holy moses.

Yesterday showed two things that are now pretty obvious. 1. Wooden coasters can drive demand. Yesterday was probably the busiest day on park since before the Smiler crash. 2. This open rides late thing/have limited capacity should never be the case at the weekend. All having Nemesis, Galatica, Rita and Thirteen closed until 11 did was put Towers at risk because with Wicker Man having reliability issues and Smiler/Oblivion open late was causing nothing to do for the first hour. It then forced Towers to add an extra hour on till 6pm anyway negating the initial first hour of limited offering.

We've got two high quality rollercoasters being built, one from a manufacturer that hasn't opened a rollercoaster in the UK for years and a ride type that hasn't seen any attention since 1996. Regardless of which is better, I'm glad that the mould has been broken and that something different is now there. Wicker Man is probably more important to me to be successful, I'd love to see more woodies open in the UK whereas the chances of another Mack like Icon opening are pretty remote.

From this.. to this...

I wish Disney weren't destroying all the things that I liked about California Adventure.

Such a size queen.

And with that the 2018 season is finally really here. Go Nemesis (and to a lesser extent Rita and Spinball).

I mean, where to begin. It's so brilliantly amateur. The worst part is knowing this is going to boost attendance massively and is going to be the most successful ride since Storm Surge. Ah well, it's the ride the British public deserve.

Thats the sound of Matt just completely giving up.

It wasn't just a couple of people though was it, it could have been up to two trains worth of people when there was issues in the bag hold room. I don't remember the Smiler carriages being particularly labour-some to walk through and I don't recall the Smiler exit platform being that narrow either. In theory Oblivion is even worse then Smiler but the staff take bags from you there. There's no reason that this couldn't happen on Smiler (although I concede it probably won't).

YES! I'm ready.

I'm not a fan of the snake skin either, looks a little bit cheap. Hopefully the front of the train will be so amazing that I can ignore the odd look on the rest of it.

That moment you think something looks good until you realise Intamin....

If the next coaster isn't an RMC I would be very surprised. Thats if they ever get a new rollercoaster.

I hate the bag rooms. Complete waste of money to man and causes silly bottle necks all around the entrances and exits to stations. It only ever really worked at Stealth. At the Smiler, it was my absolute dread as everyone just pushes past through you whilst you wait to put your bag in. My only thing is the awful look they've left it with. But I can deal with the death of the bag rooms.

Anyone remember when Silver Stars entrance used to be this? Perfection.

There's no two ways around this. It looks awful. Remember when Thorpe's biggest problem was all the Lost City rides being blue. I yearn for those days now.

It's so grim.

So quite a lot then.

I'm so sorry.

Oh my god. It was genuinely one of my favourites at Europa Park. RIP sweet Prince.