Mark9

I kind of agree. I didn't watch Blackfish, I don't need to be emotionally manipulated into thinking animals like whales should be in tanks those sizes. My problem has always been, why in particular are Seaworld the targets? They've advanced marine animal research and saved thousands of animals from death over the years. Why just whales Miles? Why not dolphins, manatees, turtles, polar bears, walruses and countless other animals at Seaworld?

To be fair here, iSpeed is a lot more then just a top hat and a dodgy break run. When all you have going for you is height and speed, it's a bit odd of a decision to have your idiotic barrel monkey rollercoaster launch faster then your new mini-parks icon rollercoaster. I love that pic of the wobbly track. Makes me think the owners of PortAventura threw as little money as possible at Intamin. Would explain why Baco is so awful.

Bye Bye original Star Tours. (Pic from InsideDLParis) https://www.facebook.com/InsideDLParis

Good. That thing was terrible. And the rides on the hit list. Perfect. All way past there best.. if they even had a best.

In short yes. Thats why The Swarm is considered a failure for instance when for me it's Merlins most complete attraction.

I'm glad you're letting us all know how unacceptable it is just in case there was some that thought it was fine.

Well... sort of. My understanding is that you only slow to a crawl on the lift hill when the initial part of the break run isn't clear. The Swarm does exactly the same thing if a dispatch has been particularly quick. The ideal way they run Air from what I've witnessed is that as a train comes into Station 1, in Station 2 that train is already assuming the position and dispatching.

Agreed. VR severely reduced Alpen Express's throughput at Europa Park, and that only uses it for about a third of the train. Towers staff are going to have to really fight to get Galatica a high throughput.

What is it about newness that excites? Its the unknown really. Not knowing how an experience is going to finish or affect you emotionally. This can be true on clone rides such as SLC's where they can ride quite differently. How important is story to a ride? It's not completely important at certain parks, for instance I wouldn't expect a Six Flags park to go all out on stories. At some parks like Disney or Universal it's essential and a ride can fall down on this aspect alone. Are there rides that give you the same enjoyment each time? There are very few that can match that first ride. And in some ways a lot of rides actually increase there enjoyment over time such as Nemesis Inferno.

Today marks the tenth birthday of Stealth. Yay.

It's against Health and Safety to go mad.

I was up for this one but I'm in Budapest. Thanks Peaj for yet another meet arranged for when I can't go.

What an awesome looking addition to Paultons. They've always been severely under-rated by enthusiasts but I really do think they are the best the UK has to offer for families right now.

They've always thought of second to Disney as in visitor numbers and not experiences. At least that is how it used to be portrayed and based on how their paint jobs and annual pass days have gone this year, this is definitely still the impression portrayed. Thing is for me, Rita's wooden fencing is hardly the most offensive thing they've done. The bland paint jobs are far worse then this.

Best queue of the day.

Expecting a flood of Facebook complaints in 5....4.... Although to be fair whats the point if Inferno and The Swarm are closed.

I quite literally don't even know if I'm being serious or taking the piss anymore. You crack me up CJ. I hope you all enjoyed my 5000th post. It was an invaluable contribution to TPM.

I like the new sign. I also like that you can see part of the old Forbidden Tomb writing sticking out.

Good work Thorpe. =)

After all the years of telling us that areas were no longer around, here we are back to park areas. Flip flops more then a Conservative government.

This yes. The price should have come down to reflect the loss of six rides. That was never going to happen. We were never going to see an all guns blazing theme park in 2016. Hell, even without the Smiler incident we were going to see the loss of Ripsaw and possibly Log Flume. I'm not surprised we're seeing more ride closures, but I am amazed at how many we've got. From four dark rides to one in less then five months and I've no doubt that if Duel required more staff to run it, that would be closed too.

Social Media is a source of misery. We'd all do ourselves so many favours by not reading too much into the complaints on official fb pages.

Park has its worst year on record, losing millions of pounds for the company with threats of further cuts and payouts to come and you're expecting what exactly? The expectations of theme park enthusiasts in particular are so high it amazes me. The awful look from last year has gone, an attempt has been made to make it look nicer on what's probably a budget that is minuscule and it gets nothing but derision. No wonder our parks were left to run down to decay, the work they're doing will be un-noticed by the public and just derided by enthusiasts. I like the signs and fences more then the meshy look from last year so I guess I'd better hand in my enthusiast card because unless we get a teacup ride hidden by a castle or flipping Hogsmede then nothing will ever be good enough. /soapbox

That time will be such a long time coming and I can't be fussed with moaning about an area that I try to avoid whenever I visit. You've got an under-rated gem hidden being one that never really fitted in. I could be angry about it but when the park actively doesn't care, why should I.