Mark9

Shares in Merlin dropped 20% shortly after that announcement so I guess markets weren't that impressed.

Agree with all the sentiments above Marc's post, when one of the best things you can say about a park is the express pass system, you know its got problems. Shambhala and Dragon Khan are great rides but if you have to encounter so much rubbish to get to them, it really isn't worth it.

Nemesis being so far away from the entrance helps as well. It's always where people get to last and the first area to empty out near ride closure. I simply love how the best ride at Towers has the shortest queue, makes re-rides so easy.

I'd have asked those questions before buying it to be honest. I don't think £125 on a fastrack package can ever be worth the money, regardless of how many rides or mazes you get to do.

To think, how much shorter those queues would be if Rumba was open..

I've only felt ill on one ride, this disastrous contraption at Walygator Parc. It's the combination of swinging and spinning that really didn't agree with me. I once felt sick after eating a Mcdonalds and then immediately single riding Dragons Fury but that was my own stupidity, not the ride itself.

Indeed. Although busy days are a gamble, but I think at least you get better operations. The gamble is how much fastrack is sold I guess but then that also affects the 'off-peak' days to.

It was truly ahead of its time. As coaster enthusiasts we go all over the place to get on different rollercoasters to try new things. No ride this year has been as pleasurable or as intense as Nemesis last night. I'm genuinely surprised because I always knew it was a good ride (one of the best) but it surpassed itself.

Wonder what happened to the second train for it to be out of action for so long.

First post since March, wtf has happened to Alton Towers interest of late?! I know that hundreds of articles and blogs have been written about Nemesis over the years, I'm still going to gush because Nemesis was in a league of its own over my five rides yesterday. It was running on a level that I hadn't experienced before and I had the biggest smile on my face from beginning to end. I've been on quite a few inverters this years and not one can hold a candle to it. It looks in the best condition it has for years and the operations were simply, perfect. Utter joy.

Something that amuses me about Smiler now is that people are point blank terrified of riding the front row. Means its the easiest ride to get the best seats in the house.

First post for three months, woo. It was an absolute pleasure to get back on Hex, I think it is by far the golden standard dark ride in the UK. Everything about it is just pure magic and harks back to the days when storyline and atmosphere was king. I only got one ride but I was completely ecstatic after my ride. It looks in fantastic condition and even though it didn't need a year out, at least some work has gone on and it looks brilliant. I loved seeing the reactions from people during and after the ride, trying to work out what had just happened to them. It's just wonderful.

Indeed. Why make the parks you already own better when you can buy other places and ruin them instead.

I don't think either of those reasons are enough for the ride to be unceremoniously scrapped (although both are probably the reasons that they were junked). The first for example, an engineer for the rides has gone on record that whilst both needed some work, had at least twenty years of life in them. B&M give out life-time guarantees to their attractions for a reason. The second is just pure selfishness. Why couldn't they have gone to another park if that other park was willing to refurbish them? Relocating them to China, Europe, any park in Asia isn't going to affect business in North America in the slightest. Begrudging guests and future guests of the experience of two well liked B&M's is kind of insulting to be honest (well as insulted as being a coaster enthusiast can be). Maybe no one wanted them? But then that begs the question why not put them in storage. Or maybe they were worth more in scrap then they were as a re-sell. This is probably one of the reasons I really don't get on with Universal. Too much dross like Jimmy Fallon or stupid simulators and their obsession with the money maker that is Harry Potter just leaves me completely cold.

I can see where the Fury one would come from, Spinball has got stuck at the top of the immelman turn so it's not impossible for Fury to do that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwTKyLLp4EQ

What a sad end to two such iconic rides (even if I wasn't their biggest fan..)

Gotta maintain that drunk at 3am in a London night club vibe after all.

Good value for money though.

They are everything you want from a rollercoaster. Blue Fire, Helix and Alpina Blitz (does that even count btw?) are all in my top ten, just sheer quality from beginning to end.

I am excited but I'm reigning it in until we start to see track going in. It's exciting to finally be getting a top drawer coaster again in the UK, it feels like ages.

Virtual queuing could work at Efteling, it has enough around the place and it's big enough for people to be spread around without affecting other rides queues too much. It was doomed at Thorpe but it has a chance here.

I loved the Freezer entrance.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-41285046/one-theme-park-s-trick-to-cut-rollercoaster-queues The first theme park to introduce a ride and reserve system ey... Nice bit of exposure for Efteling though.

Probably more a case of how PortAventura looks after it rather then Khan ageing. This is a park with Baco and Stampida after all.

I feel bad for Dragon Khan now. A proper old school B&M with real intensity and force being over shadowed by Baco, Balder, Baron and Black Mamba. Maybe you just like rides beginning with B?