Mark9

Top ten B&M Inverters. 1. Katun 2. Nemesis 3. Oz'Iris 4. Black Mamba 5. Monster 6. Nemesis Inferno 7. Montu 8. Silver Bullet 9. Hungarian Hungtail 10. Chinese Fireball The ones who didn't make it:- Batman: La Fuga and Batman the ride at Magic Mountain

Oh no, I completely understand why people do the 1/2 day at a park thing. It's just not for me.

This is kind of the reason I don't do the credit running thing to be honest, if I'm only going to treat a place like a tick box exercise, then I don't see the point in visiting.

Of course. However look at the list of parks that the OP has been on, Thorpe would be a 'credit' run at best for him with the limited time he had back in May. Nothing at Thorpe really stands out.

Oz'Iris seems to be the most marmite of B&M's out there and for every person that loves it, I can find another that despises it. Ive loved it ever since my first ride and my trip this year only cemented that love. I like its unconventional layout, its near perfect zero g, the way it dives off the lift hill through the first drop.

I believe there is a difference between park and funfair versions. Thats a horrific incident and by the sounds of it, this funfair has very strict health and safety as several rides weren't open due to not passing inspections. That footage of the gondola hitting what looks like the floor/barrier is haunting and gut wrenching.

(Still better then 90% of Intamins and Gerstlauers)

I'e noticed this in a lot of parks, the B&M inverter always seems to become the support coaster. Whilst the newer rollercoasters grab all the headlines and long queues, rides like Nemesis, Inferno, Montu, Mamba just do what do they do best.

Are people finally coming round to the fact that Inferno is by a country mile Thorpes best rollercoaster? Not only in reliability but in quality of ride too.

I don't think anyone is particularly surprised by this. I've never seen them higher then a 5 minute queue and without the duelling aspect, they really do have a lot of dead track where highlights used to be. It's a shame that a ride that must have taken so much planning and precision to get right is going to be replaced by yet another Harry Potter attraction but lets face it, any park who would want the hardware could probably get it cheap.

People who say how great opening hours are in America compared to Europe and how 10pm closes are the norm. Yes of course they are because the parks spend half the week fricking closed. Holiday World for example only opens for guests for 8 days in the whole of September. FRICKING JOKE!!! Makes planning a trip there impossible outside of August.

It wasn't exactly outstanding with the duelling as it was but at least it had a hook. Now it's just two very uninteresting B&M inverters that run next to each other. I never want to see quality ride systems like B&M's scrapped so hopefully somewhere else will take them although that does seem really unlikely.

I find Winjas very frustrating, its self defeating. I hate the trick tracks as they completely destroy the 'flow' of the ride. All momentum just dies. I don't like the claustrophobic queuing experience. I hate how I have to queue double the length for this over Taron and Mamba. I find them less interesting and fun then Fury, Tarantula or Spinball. Glad I have both credits as I never want to go near Force again, its so boring and meandering. Thank god the queues for Force are always longer then Fear. I'm not a fan of wooden racers to be honest, the only one that feels like any fun is Grand National IMO and thats more because the trains follow the same route. With others like Joris and Stampida I don't enjoy much.

I'm very excited about the change in direction, the series has been coming across a tad stale for a few years now.

Think of all those beautiful sheds and simulators. Just imagine.

That picture of Diavlo cracked me up. Thanks for the trip reports so far.

1. For the amount of money spent on Fright Nights and the hype it receives, I find it a complete waste of time. Dreary mazes and only the really low chance of actually being scared. Not even the rides in the dark is enough as queues are normally ridiculously long or rides are unreliable. 2. Disneyland, for all its heritage and significant importance is really not an enjoyable theme park, all its star rides have better iterations in other theme parks. California Adventure, across the plaza is a far better and fun theme park. 3. The Incredible Hulk and the Dueling Dragons are the most over-rated B&M's out there. Complete dross. 4. Car-park coasters don't deserve the hate they receive. Silver-Star, Scream, Medusa are great rides. Come to think of it, neither does Six Flags. The two parks I've done were great and whilst not representative of the entire chain, Discovery Kingdom was just like a better run Chessington. And better rides.

Lots of news from D23 last night, the best news being that Tower at Hollywood Studios seems to be safe from Guardians. Phew. Firstly, a Tron coaster is confirmed for Magic Kingdom, to open in 2021 for the 50th anniversary. https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/07/tron-attraction-coming-to-magic-kingdom-park-at-walt-disney-world-resort/ Secondly, Ellens energy Adventure will be closing in August for a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction and Epcot will also see Paris's Ratatouille dark ride in the French pavilion. https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/07/guardians-of-the-galaxy-ratatouille-attractions-coming-to-epcot/ Thirdly, the Great Movie ride at Hollywood Studios will be closing in August to make way for Micky and Minnies Runaway Railway. Not sure how I feel about this one. https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/07/first-mickey-themed-ride-through-attraction-mickey-and-minnies-runaway-railway-coming-to-disneys-hollywood-studios/ As well as all this approximate open dates were announced for the Toy Story land, Summer 2018 and a brand new Star Wars themed resort concept for Disney World was also unveiled. It seems that after years of Walt Disney World resting on their laurels, they seem to be firing on all cylinders. What do we think?

Haha indeed. Rotational operation is hell for any operator, I wish them the best of luck.

Big Bad Wolf and Eagles Fortress are the only rides that really spring to mind. Whilst I'd love to have ridden the original Space Mountain at DLP, I don't feel that really counts. Rides I wish would come back for nostalgic purposes only. 1. Professor Burps Bubbleworks 2. Rodeo 3. Corkscrew 4. Clown Coaster 5. Fifth Dimension

When did the weighing scales actually appear out of interest? Back when the three adult rule was introduced, it was to do with cars weighing over the maximum which was 195 kilograms. That was in 2006 and back then, there was nothing about cars slipping through block breaks. I'd be amazed with the ever more stricter rules imposed on the ride that it was that reason alone.

Thats exactly the problem, it actually gives off the impression that they are scared of their rides. I think its worse that they leave riders stranded in cars on break runs either in the boiling heat or the pouring rain. They seem to have forgotten they can do both. Rides constantly stuck in break runs or closing consistently does not give the impression of safety that they seem to think.

I believe a platformer broke them, the park removed them to keep Bucaneer open, the metal gates that are now on there were added and that was that.

I used to operate Black Bucaneer so I get the poor operations thing. I think they now have at least tried to address some issues even if its still a far cry from the days of air-gates.

I visited again after three years away from the park and had a few observations. Throughput/Capacity - I've heard a lot about how dire it has become, nothing can prepare you for just how awful everything seems to be now. Having operated Dragons Fury for three years for example, I know what the ride is capable off, 500/600 people per hour with good platformers. I was completely taken aback at how the throughput seems to have dropped to at best, 100 people an hour. It was running six cars but sending cars about every two minutes. The way they insist on running it, they only need two cars because its not like they dispatch with any immediacy. Rattlesnake, exactly the same. It's painful. What have they also done to Tomb Blaster in this regard, can someone informed on Tomb indicate why the stops were taken out. I liked this change but it did surprise me. Vampire was embarrassing too, waiting for train two to return before even beginning to check restraints. No need for that level of slowness. Merlin would probably say safety is more important then throughput but the thing with these constant stops on Fury/Vampire/Rattlesnake is that people immediately presume the ride has broken down. Ride changes - This was something I was far more impressed with. The first immediate thing is Gruffalo. What a great ride and was really pleasantly surprised. I've heard people criticise it for being a bit dark but I was okay with this and most kids around us seemed fine. I'm so glad Bubbleworks V2 was ditched, that thing was terrible and now has a vast improvement. Other changes included new metal bars attached to Bucaneer. I'm glad of this change as that ride had become a bit of a rule ridden nightmare and now that you enter/exit the boat on the same side, there seems to be better control of batching or exit riders getting on. Vampire had new(ish) queue line announcements which were delightfully amateur, the new theming in the queue was a step up from the run down Abdab animatronics. I liked the addition of a single rider to Dragons Fury and the change to that rides queue line. Scorpion Express, I still think is a decent attempt at doing something with Runaway Train, the best we will get out of Merlin in any case. Rattlesnake desperately needs a refurbishment. The climbing animatronic for example is just metal arms with completely degraded clothing. I miss Skyway and the older Carousel. Zoo changes - The jewel in Chessingtons crown in my opinion, it was by far the most enjoyable part of the day. All animals were out and roaming on a beautifully hot day and we got up and close with the giraffes. I like the continued investment in this area which most of the time seems completely uncommented on. The news of a potential move for the tigers gives me confidence as integration between the zoo and the rides is a good step and is Chessingtons biggest asset. On the whole I had a good day out the park although it has to be said the place was incredibly quiet so therefore we didn't need to rush the place. With the way the rides are now run, I think I'd lose my mind on anything higher then a ten minute Fury queue.