Mark9

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?

Open Rumba Rapids to increase ride availability by 12%

The irony being it would never do a Smiler because they would only run one train anyway.

I'm not sure that only having eight rides at some points of the day being change for the better (One of those being Tidal Wave) but then that's why we're lucky to have European parks so close by. We don't have to put up with this dross.

Thorpe has been plagued with Colossus train problems since day one. At this point, shouldn't Intamin be a little bit more aware of what the problems are or is it a case that the ride itself is causing issues to the trains and no amount of fixing will ever solve the problem.

I'm pretty calm to be honest and I don't think I'm being that over dramatic. Fright Nights has always been an incredibly popular event and with rides running at lower throughput levels, the park being more sensitive to wind levels and more rides closed then usual, I don't think I'm far off in my assessment. All they need is for one of the big coasters to have a major issue and then the park will really struggle.

At what point does it become an issue? When nothing but the Rockin' Tug is open?

Why are we giving Thorpe a free pass over this just because it's Thorpe and they are always like this and Fright Night's are always busy etc etc. We wouldn't accept it at other parks and at Thorpe, the situation is worse because throughputs are generally down across the board, there's literally nothing else to do there apart from rides and the mazes have tiny throughputs. If they have a bad day of reliability, which is all too common at Thorpe, thats a lot people to annoy. It's going to be hell.

I genuinely fell asleep reading that post.

Slags off Bubbleworks and then says Zufari is the best experience in the park despite that ride being the only one that feels like an actual Animal Kingdom rip off. Eesh. Nostalgia is a powerful thing and it depends on your point of view. It was only ten years ago when the wheels were starting to come off at Thorpe and a lot of theme park geeks were saying they enjoyed Chessington more because it felt like a proper theme park and had a more pleasant and enjoyable atmosphere. So it's not just 90's nostalgia coming into play but for only a decade ago. Love how you bought up Circus World though, an area that few on most theme park forums wold have ever visited and an area that barely lasted. Finally, did you visit Chessington in the 90's?

Brexiteers generally holiday at PortAventura, not Blackpool.