Mark9

Hey gorge

It's frankly outstanding that Olympia Looping has finally made it to the UK for the next two months. I'm very pleased and really looking forward to riding it

If you're going next work, definitely do the fastpass. What with it being a holiday week and thanksgiving, I'd expect the park to be extremely busy although you'd have to ask on American forums to see if this is the case. I really liked magic Mountain on my visit, if you're looking for a load of thrill rides, this is your best bet. When I went, the only ride we queued for was Full Throttle and that was only because it can only run one train. Everything else was walk on. Tatsu, Scream (guilty pleasure), Apocalypse, Riddlers Revenge, Ninja and Goliath are awesome. I'm not really a fan of Knotts frankly, it gets more visitors per year then Magic Mountain and has nowhere near as many decent rides. Silver Bullet is okay if you like your slick and forceless B&M's and Xcelerator is nowhere near as intense as Stealth. I like Disney California Adventure and would recommend it, however it will be absolutely joyless in Thanksgiving week.

The ridiculous thing is, the turntable/switch track idea are such common sense that its amazing it's taken so long for a company to do it with this type of ride. I love it though, the same rollercoaster with three different ways of riding. So I guess Europa have just thrown us a bone at their next potential rollercoaster I hope...

The dreaded closed season. A time when the ride games return, the silly season occurs with people making the same jokes about Colossus being repainted or Rumba being rethemed. Just be glad the Intamin aquatrax joke hasn't reared its ugly head. I like to think of closed season as a time of opportunity, a start of planning trips for 2017 and I thought I'd just put together a few blogs to maybe, inspire. Denmark. A road trip around Denmark is surprisingly easy. Start your trip in Copenhagen which features Tivoli Gardens and easy access to the rest of Denmark follows. Along the way you can discover the fantastic Djurs Sommerland, the original Legoland and Farup Sommerland. If you so desire, visit Bakken which is easily my least favourite park in the whole of Europe. Djors Summerland A park with two of my absolute favourite Intamin rollercoasters, this relatively small park in Denmark is a must visit. Along the way discover a topple-tower, a Gerstlauer bobsled and with a new rollercoaster in 2017, it's sure worth a visit. Piraten This fantastic Intamin mega-lite is a wonderful example of how you don't need to top 250 feet to be a decent rollercoaster. This air-time machine is genuinely one of Europes best rollercoasters. It warms up too an irresistible level the more it runs and must be ridden. Juvelen I have a lot of love for Juvelen. It was an absolute surprise on my visit From its twisty layout and head-choppers to the unexpected force of its second launch, it's a wonderful example of how a family rollercoaster can deliver so much more then just another thrill ride. Tivoli Gardens The thing with the Gardens is emphasis on wide open spaces and the beautiful scenery. Admittedly I visited in torrential rain but this doesn't dampen spirits. Dæmonen This tiny B&M is shoe-horned into the gardens and yet still packs a punch. Featuring three inversions, it is also one of B&M's shortest. It looks beautiful at night and with it's two train operation, queues are kept to a minimum. A sure-fire favourite. Farop Sommerland Towards the end of our trip, the final park was Farup which features a Gerstlauer launch coaster which despite some jerky moments, was a hit. The wooden rollercoaster Falken was also a hit, despite its slight oddness. Lynet Falken I heartily recommend a trip to Denmark. Not only do you get some fantastic rollercoasters, you visit a culturally rich country with beautiful scenery (and beautiful men and women) as well as a country that truly caters for everyone. Whilst a trip here can be expensive, planning ahead and accordingly can really save you money. Thanks for taking a look, next time, the very exciting Italy.

Inferno is awesome. It deserves to rule supreme in a crappy forum game. Tidal Wave is a worthy second place too. You guys have good taste. Edit to Add:- And the Swarm third. yay.

This game is just the ultimate spam. I wouldn't put too much thought into it.

You'd rather the 70 jobs cut rather then say, Enterprise and Blade closing instead.

It's an extremely rare incident yes, which means it got hours of press time and even this season, every time a ride stops, it gets an article or a THIRD ALTON TOWERS RIDE BREAKSDOWN IN A YEAR news story. It was a major news story, one that ran and ran and ingrained itself into public consciousness. Anyone can work out millions ride, but it can take one incident to shake that foundation. You live in a delusional world. Throwing more money down the drain would see more staff being let go then already has been. 2015 and 2016 were complete write offs whilst Towers attempts to rebuild its reputation. With the court case now over, 2017 can really start to get the resort back on track.

People thought they'd get injured or die if they went on an Alton Towers rollercoaster. What part of that do you not understand?

I do not, within the context of the Smiler crash.

Of course visitor numbers are down, one of their biggest rollercoasters crashed!! No amount of Hex or Log Flume would have bought visitors in.

It's this reason you should definitely get an Annual Pass for 2017. You provoke the best discussions.

Because Disney also leave things they don't care about to rot. We don't know that there isn't a replacement being organised for Loggers. We don't know anything beyond a few choice words from Thorpe.

Go Tidal Wave

It's not disgraceful. It's just something you disagree with. These parks don't just close rides for the fun of it. They are fully aware of how popular Loggers Leap was and Thorpe have shown time and time again that they have patience with disobedient rides (Slammer and Samurai I'm looking at you). There is a fundamental reason why Loggers closed in 2015. Admittedly Thorpe saying they plan to redevelop/refurb it aren't helping matters but maybe, potentially, even they don't really know if it will ever re-open. You'd have hated 2005 when Rodeo, Boneshaker, Dynamo & the whole of Cred Street closed. Not to mention the countless Blackpool rides that were SBNO at that time.

This post is never going to get the appreciation it deserves.

I've heard that so many times over the past ten years that I'll believe it when I see it.

It's the inevitably that saddens me. Peoples xenophobia, homophobia, prejudice against people with disabilities validated. The self declared most powerful nation on earth turning in on itself. I doubt a Clinton win would have ever caused things like the picture I've uploaded to happen with such vigour. And it's only the start as well. A Nation with guns thinking that anything but white and straight is wrong. Christ.

Just like immediately after Brexit, tweets and Facebook posts from all over the US about downright racism from people. *sighs*

Presented without irony.

Like the right to bear arms? Or the right to discriminate based on gender/sexuality/race. Gee, what freedoms they were fighting for.

It's the silent majority thats what it comes down to. You can do poll after poll after poll, it doesn't really reflect whats truly going on. Social media never truly tells a whole story either. With both shocking results, younger generations are always on the losing side. They make the loudest noise but are in truth, the minority. You have whole older generations who feel like they being marginalised, that 'their' country is being lost and want to return it to a condition that never really existed. Words like liberal leftie luvvies and elites are thrown out to justify decisions. This doesn't feel as damaging as the Brexit stuff, the writing was on the wall for Clinton over the past few weeks.

Yeah do it. Your Merlin rants have been entertaining over the last few years and provoke debate and strong feelings. We need you.

True. The optimist in me truly hopes that behind all the bluster and xenophobia of his campaign, that in reality all his hate for Mexicans and Muslims doesn't go anywhere, just another broken promise from someone wanting to be president. The French and German government elections next year will be truly interesting if you look at the way our referendum and the US elections went.