Mark9

I'm aware of that. I'm just pointing out that the two names have become interchangable and that 'Merlin' as a company did not replace Terror Tomb or Bubbleworks. The people still working there may have done, but Merlin didn't.

That was a Tussauds decision, not Merlin.

Having seen Tidal, Loggers and Rumba operating in minus temperatures and the snow, there isn't a reason, operationally why Thorpe couldn't open in Winter. The issue they have is getting people to go to the park when traditionally, the parks are dead September onward, Fright Nights excluded.

Make them then.

A lot of those are ride entrances, not ride signs. Helix qualifies.

I haven't been on it yet. I have been on some pretty awesome dark rides though so I'm qualified to post in this thread.

I'm with you. The theme parks become utter write offs for me during Halloween events. The guests turn into absolute idiots, the reliability falls apart, the weather is just wet, cold and miserable and the mazes swerve from either mild curiosities to stereotypical follow the leader bore-a-thons.

All it needs is one more information sign and then it would be perfect..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37561226 She's got a great lawyer and must be raking it in from the media now.

I'm still mega hyped for this. It will be exactly the shot of adrenaline the UK needs. It's just shocking that its taken nine years for the ride type to make it over here.

15 minutes on the Jubilee Line, 45 or so minutes from Waterloo. About half the time it takes to get to Disneyland Paris.

I liked Medusa I like Discovery Kingdom as well. I felt it was a tad a shame that Roar got RMC'd, it was a pretty good and wild woody and had itself only just been refurbished on my visit in 2014.

That will be a long wait then. The closest we've got so far is either Blue Fire at Europa or at a push Manta at Sea World. The UK will probably never get a well themed, story based Mack Mega. Blackpool doesn't need a story for this ride, it just needs to be good which I have no doubt that it will be.

I think it will be fine to over-hype this personally. I'm allowing myself that pleasure as Helix and Blue Fire (and Taron although of course an Intamin) are excellent rides, I've heard the same of Alpine Blitz. With the level of quality that Mack products contain, I have no doubts here. I'm excited.

It looks great. Seems to take a little bit of inspiration from Taron and Helix. Good on Blackpool for taking the plunge on a lengthy coaster.

I was more along the lines that the last time Pleasure Beach built a rollercoaster specifically for them was 22 years ago. I hope you aren't looking to be picky CJ, I think this is the most exciting project in the UK for a good five years and anything I say in this topic from today onwards will be one of optimism.

My thoughts exactly. This run down look that Thorpe in particular seems to get off on is tedious now.

The lack of write up for Chiapas disappoints me. I hate Log flumes but that ride does things to me that no other water ride does.

Yes Blackpool, yes! Most exciting ride project since the Swarm for me. Of all the parks to get it, Blackpool was probably the most unlikely but I am glad that they are.

I thought DIC bought the Tussauds group in 2005. Tomb Blaster was redone at the end of 2001 for the 2002 season.

Probably not an issue as such, The Smiler being a relatively new ride would not have the procedures as ingrained as say, Nemesis where rules and guidelines are twenty years young. If we remember they closed all their multi-car rides too to update procedures, procedures they thought were adequate before the incident. Certainly when I operated Fury and Rattlesnake, there was a lot of reliance on visual checking combined with the CCTV to ensure all cars were counted for in a shutdown. The 5 million figure sounds low but I suppose if we think of the amount of money that will paid to the victims for potentially the rest of their lives, the profits that were massively hit across the UK theme parks and that Merlin from day one have never said they were innocent shows that the fine was appropriate. I know some have laughed when it was said that Merlin wasn't an emotionless, corporate entity, but lets face it, other companies such as Six Flags would rather have endless court appearances and not take the blame for incidents in their park. Merlin did the right thing by saying they were at fault and I find that commendable. Just a shame it took the loss of limbs to see that.

As if SeaWorld need an excuse to make the throughputs lower then it already is. The positive I suppose is that Kraken is a relatively long ride so the staff should have time to clean the headsets in between cycles.

Thanks for taking a thread about a Swedish theme park and making it all about Merlin. This dive machine is a perfect fit for Lisberg although I find it rather amusing that Northern Europe now has three dive machines in a relatively small area, in fact you could include Oblivion in Northern Europe if you felt so obliged. I'm not sure I completely agree here. Helix is a great ride but (hiding from the pitch-forks and rotten veg), as a ride experience I think the Smiler is superior; although I will concede thats a minority opinion. In fact, I'd go and say that Thirteen and The Swarm are top quality rides as well with enjoyment levels just as high as Helix. You don't realise how spoilt that sounds do you?

Dive coaster makes sense for Lisberg, it's not exactly a park with massive room for an invert; not that a smaller invert couldn't be made of course.

As they've pleaded guilty, I doubt there will be much they will say.