Mark9

Can we get some colourful rides in the UK please. (Not that I like this orange particularly but its better then black, grey or white)

These two are the gold standard in unpopular opinions.

Someone remind Merlin that theme parks are supposed to be fun. We've got burning people alive at Alton Towers and Zombie apocalypses mixed with torture porn at Thorpe.

Wasn't Nemesis advertised as a European first whilst Air was definitely advertised as worlds first. This 'worlds first' stuff can only work so many times and when its wheeled out for every. single. attraction then it just looks like overblown bluster. Especially when they get more and more tenuous. I think marketing worked for Thirteen at first, it backfired and now because of its low height restriction, is available to a lot of people as a first step towards the more intense rides. Thats how I see Wicker Man going down, people love wooden coasters which is why its so frustrating that its been so long to get one built.

So there's no denying that some are cred chasers. So here's the cred thread. Talk about any cred aims here and stuff. I'll start by asking, whats your coaster credit that you think no one else will have? Mine are Gebirgsbahn(12) and Grand Canyon Bahn(13) which burnt down at Phantasialand in 2001. I rode them in 2000 on a school trip. (RCDB) Burn baby burn.

They're refurbishing it. (I was just going to leave it there but I'll be nice) We don't really know although if there was to be a change in the rides theme I think we would have known about it by now. They've said the tours will continue when it reopens. There's been rumours that the Vincent Price voice-over would be bought in and I'm assuming the exterior will get a repaint as it was looking a wee bit bare when I last went. A new rumour has emerged that Tower of Terror will no longer be getting the Guardians makeover. Instead, a new story will be developed for the Tower and it will lose all references to the Twilight Zone. It's structural refurbishment will still happen this year.

I bet you're really jealous that I get to do both Peppa Pig lands this year. Admit it Baron.

I really like the Wicker Man promo stuff. It's just a bit unnecessary to declare it a worlds first when it's actually tenuous. Still, I'm pretty excited to get a woodie for the first time in two decades. This should be a pretty solid family rollercoaster too.

It's kind of a disgrace to be honest. Their reasons are utter bollocks (excuse my French) also because this is a park that prides itself in fitting things in. Big One, Icon, Steeplechase all rides that knit and weave between other structures and something that made Pleasure Beach unique. Saying they are making room for future development, yeah I'm not buying it. We're not talking about a run of the mill Vekoma or a kiddy coaster either, we're talking about one of the UK's oldest coasters and its like they couldn't care less.

NOOOO! (If True) then this is very sad news. I loved that ride.

Who know that the Netherlands would be one of the most exciting coaster countries of this decade..

God I hope not. I rode Colossus at Magic Mountain backwards and it wasn't enjoyable at all. That trailer Charlie posted is such generic Merlin, I find the whole thing so tedious now.

It's a good example of how cold hard facts like that don't take into account context. Voyage of the Damned, screened as a Christmas special when viewing was still high, it had Kylie Minogue in it and Doctor Who was still new and riding a wave of popularity. That episode was still not the most watched programme of the day (Eastenders 13.9 million). Eaters of Light, third to last episode of the season, screened in the middle of summer, during a heatwave.

Whilst the viewership has fallen (for a number of reasons), don't just take the absolute best and compare it with the absolute worst. The Christmas special 2017 for example has a final rating of just under 8 million, making it the fifth most watched programme of the day. It beat anything ITV put on all day. I agree with a number of posts above mine but to put it into perspective, Doctor Who throughout its history has seen highs and lows. I haven't enjoyed the tale end of the Moffatt written era and feel like Capaldi was completely wasted with stories where people stand around talking to each other. Ironically, if Capaldi had left with the Cybermen two parter I'd have been far more impressed then having to go through the Christmas special where nothing actually happened. Indeed. Id love for the show to go back to how it was during the Peter Davison era where the Doctor isn't a legend or for all intents and purposes God. I'd love for him to return to being just a man in a box who uses his wit and intelligence to beat enemies, not tell them what he's going to do but never actually do it.

Great *Drives straight past to ride Icon.

Am aiming to get rides on the rest of the European B&M's this year although Liseberg and Toverland have messed that up somewhat. Gardaland and Miribilandia in April Heide Park and Hansa Park in June Six Flags Great America, Cedar Point and Canadas Wonderland in August Probably a Disneyland Paris trip at some point to say goodbye to their Hollywood Tower Hotel as well as the return of Space Mountain and Phantom Manor Blackpool for Icon Towers for Wicker Man If I can afford to I'll head out to Liseberg for Valkyria and Efteling/Toverland/Walibi Holland are definite maybes.

I agree. The End of Time was a bit of a mess though, now Parting of the Ways or the Caves of Androzani. Thats how you send out a Doctor.

Of the 11 Gerstlauers I've ridden I only dislike Saw. That's a pretty good hit rate in my book. For Intamin, for them to be right is completely luck of the draw. For now they are being completely destroyed by the Mack equivalent which provides a smoother, more reliable experience. And thats the thing really, whilst B&M are smooth, Vekoma are adaptable, Mack are technical perfectionists and Gerstlauer are daring, Intamin don't provide anything that the others don't do better IMO. Intamin probably get things a bit more right now because they have far less projects to build. Back in the 00's they were building rides left right and centre but now the accelerator boom has ended they do less and less big projects.

The Important word here is 'for me'. Gerstlauer has this poor reputation in coaster circles which I think is undeserved whilst Intamin have always received a lot of praise which I don't think they justify through their ride designs. For every Taron there's three short rough rides out there. Just for fun, heres the Intamins I've ridden and how I feel about them. Colossus - People say this is rough. I don't necessarily agree but lets face it, that reputation is out there. Shockwave - Short and rough Rita - Short and some would say rough Stealth - Short Expedition Ge Force - Long however painful for some on the legs Tornado (Madrid) - Been too long since I've ridden. Thirteen - This is a good ride iSpeed - Good ride, albeit, slightly jerky. Furius Baco - Rough, short, in essence, The worst rollercoaster I've ever ridden. Cheetah Hunt - Dull as ditchwater. It is long though and isn't rough so there's that. Tornado (Bakken) - Rough. The second worst rollercoaster I've ever ridden Mine Train Ulven - This is fine. Piraten - Very good once it gets warmed up. Juvelen - One of the best family rollercoasters in Europe. Indianna Jones - Rough and jerky RC Racer - Short, absolutely pointless. V2 - Short, unreliable, absolutely pointless Superman Escape from Krypton - Short, absolutely pointless Green Lantern - Short, rough and jerky. California Screamin' - I really like this. Its basically a Vekoma at this point though. Xcelerator - Short. It's not bad but its not great either. Kanonen - I actually liked this short and rough coaster. Sad its gone. Balder - It's long, it's not rough. But I don't love it because it's kind of repetitive. Taron - I love it. Long and smooth. It's boxing day, I'm bored.

Best of 2017 Film - Coco Song - Cut to the Rhythm by Queen Carly Rae Jepsen TV Show - The Good Place Ride - Alpina Blitz Favourite Moment - Theresa May losing her majority at the 2017 Election.

Nemesis isn't over-rated, you just don't like it as much as others do. Nothing in this world is actually over-rated, after all Nemesis is just a rollercoaster in a pit doing its thing. Anyone that likes it isn't doing it because of hype, it's because they genuinely enjoy it. It's the same with Expedition Ge Force (which I don't really like), PortAventura (which is the absolute pits as a theme park IMO), Cheetah Hunt (launch, slow to a crawl, launch, slow to a crawl, drop into empty, concrete ravines at slow speeds, yawn). Some controversial opinions from me to you this christmas time. Seaworld Orlando's B&M collection is far superior to Altons B&M collection. Animal Kingdom is the best Disney park in America. The only top tier ride that has been introduced to the UK in the last fifteen years has been The Smiler. Thank god for Icon frankly. Intamin are now for me the worst of the big five coaster manufacturers. Whether its rough rides or ones that are too short and don't reach their full potential. Things like Taron and iSpeed are the exception, not the rule.

I had fond memories of it I guess, we rode it 14 times through the day and I was really impressed by it. It was my first real aggressive, big B&M and after all the talk I'd heard about floorless rides being over-rated, I found it far better then its reputation implied. Ten years later, I'm not sure if it is really that good but thats purely because it's been a while and I really don't want to go to Madrid again to ride it. I fear Katun may be the same although I do plan to go to Miribilandia again in 2018 so I guess I'l find out if it really is as good as I remembered.

The official 2017 top ten rollercoasters of Mark9!!!11!1 1. Nemesis 2. Blue Fire 3. Katun 4. Alpina Blitz 5. Wodan 6. Oz'Iris 7. Tatsu 8. Manta 9. Superman de Acero 10. Helix I've had a bit of rejiggle of my top ten. For a while Superman de Acero was at number 2/3 but after ten years since I first rode it, I think nostalgia and rose tinted specs are definitly playing their part. Nemesis and Blue have taken the top two, both solid rides and years after my first ride still impress and excite me. Wodan also rise through the ranks as I think it really delivers. Shambhala is the only ride to fall out of my top ten. Having ridden on several air time machines this year, I don't think Shambhala is really that good to be honest.

Love Gay boat rides especially when they are rainbow coloured.

FINALLY! Europe needs brighter coasters. I'm sick of Black, White and Grey.