Mark9

Nope.

I went on Tuesday and had a fantastic day. I'm so biased towards Chessington though. I completely wear the rose tinted glasses. There's clearly issues across the park but sometimes, just sitting back and enjoying the day means more.
 
+ Four laps on Scorpion. Why did I love it so much?! I have no idea
+ Mexicana looks great with all the new little props in the area
+ I love Grufflalo so much. It stands tall with Wallace and Gromit and Hex as one of the best dark rides in the country
+ Dragons Fury now sits in the under-rated category. What a fantastic rollercoaster
+ Great to see the investment in the park. New rides, more announcements on rides, new music.
+ Croc Drop is fine but doesn't spin anymore. 
+ Bought loads of merchandise because it was the original 1987 logo. Shameless
+ Free food for the Lorikeets now. 
- Blue Barnacle was almost as good Black Buccaneer. Surprised how high it went actually.
 
 
- Very few boats on Tiger Rock. Park needs to invest in new boats now, it's going to be awful in Summer
- Tomb Blaster was rough. I don't like the new story or the guns it uses.
- Queue boards inaccuracy. Said 40 for Fury, was on the stairs, Said 40 at Vampire, was 5 minutes. 
- Lots of the Zoo area closed for refurbishment. Pirates Cove was very loud from construction.
- Maybe its my Disney exposure, but how thin are the queues. Vampire can only be walked single file for examples. it's so tiny!
 
 

To be honest, I don't think size has anything to do with quality of a ride. My two favourite B&M inverters for example are Katun and Nemesis. One is absolutely mahoosive and the other is tiny. Quality normally holds out so GCI for example, generally are a excellent manufacturer whether thats Wodan or Wicker Man. 
 
B&M Hypers, I think at the end of the day is personal preference. Not much separates any of them, in fact for me the only 300ft one I've done is Leviathan and that was nowhere as interesting as Behemoth in the same park. 
 
The highest ride I've done I hated. Much love Dragster, but I hate everything about you. 

To be honest, I don't think size has anything to do with quality of a ride. My two favourite B&M inverters for example are Katun and Nemesis. One is absolutely mahoosive and the other is tiny. Quality normally holds out so GCI for example, generally are a excellent manufacturer whether thats Wodan or Wicker Man. 
 
B&M Hypers, I think at the end of the day is personal preference. Not much separates any of them, in fact for me the only 300ft one I've done is Leviathan and that was nowhere as interesting as Behemoth in the same park. 
 
The highest ride I've done I hated. Much love Dragster, but I hate everything about you. 

If you like rollercoasters Cedar Point.
 
If you like everything else Europa Park. 
 
I chose Europa but will happily say both are fantastic places to visit. I just value immersion to loads of rollercoasters.

Thorpe is a four hour park.

1. Loggers Leap 51 times. Sure this could be cheating as we were doing it for charity and didn't have to get off the ride but I think it still counts.
2. Nemesis Inferno 48 times. Back when Single rider was a thing and you could notch up loads of goes back to back in the first couple of hours. 
3. Rameses Revenge 15 times. But I think this was back when you automatically got a second ride after the first and it didn't require a minimum amount of riders. 
 
This was all back when I was a youth though, There's very few rides that I could be bothered to ride more than a handful of times. Driwvelwind & Velocicoaster for example. Everything else is a one and move on.

The Extra special, lock down rollercoaster, pandemic 2020 - February 2022 top rollercoaster list that I forgot to do last year because there was barely anything new ridden.
 
1. Velocicoaster - I'm shameless. This is the stand out rollercoaster from the past two years of coaster desert. If you like your Taron's but you also like your Helix then this is the perfect in between. 
 
2. F.L.Y. - I think the biggest part that makes this a stand out ride is how it weaves between Rookburgh. This is a ride that I would point to if I was to explain why European parks are miles better then American ones. From its 10/10 soundtrack to its extra special details all across the area, the beautiful surroundings and surrounding hotel make this an absolute must do. 
 
3. Hagrids Motorbike ride thing. - I didn't think this was a stand out ride really but in the middle of a coaster drought, things like this will rate highly. I remain amazed that it works at all. 
 
4. Storm Chaser - Whilst I don't think is an outstanding ride per se, I think its testament to Paultons that its theming and integrity are what holds this up as one of the better rides in the UK. I hope this ride pushes the success that this park fully deserves as its rides like this and Cyclonator that younger people will ride and begin to love rides, the same way that vampire and rattlesnake were important to me.
 
5. Gringotts Coaster - This is a rollercoaster in the loosest sense of the word. If you like effects happening around and endless screens then boy have I the ride for you.
 
Special mention to the Hulk, which whilst isn't an entirely new rollercoaster, was riding much better then its older version. 

Who has time to stop and watch the people dancing on these stages? When you lose an hour to the Smiler or the Wicker Man, you aren't left with long to get on everything especially with the size of the place. 
 
There's not enough filler to spread people around. I felt the same as Madi Gras last year. There's just not enough hours open in the day to spend watching the stage. 
 
I just do not understand why the golf or the water park have the same opening times as the theme park. They've done that for years and its stupid. 
 
As I said in my trip report, there's no point visiting in 2023 with Nemesis closed. The park is just thread bare in attractions at the moment.

I'd have preferred a B&M hyper too. Frankly, whatever park they get added to, they are an incredible crowd pleaser and would have really hit a market not really catered for at Thorpe or indeed the UK. As marketable as Exodus will be, I personally think it's a shame that something a little more 'safe' wasn't chosen. 

I went on Tuesday and had a fantastic day. I'm so biased towards Chessington though. I completely wear the rose tinted glasses. There's clearly issues across the park but sometimes, just sitting back and enjoying the day means more.
 
+ Four laps on Scorpion. Why did I love it so much?! I have no idea
+ Mexicana looks great with all the new little props in the area
+ I love Grufflalo so much. It stands tall with Wallace and Gromit and Hex as one of the best dark rides in the country
+ Dragons Fury now sits in the under-rated category. What a fantastic rollercoaster
+ Great to see the investment in the park. New rides, more announcements on rides, new music.
+ Croc Drop is fine but doesn't spin anymore. 
+ Bought loads of merchandise because it was the original 1987 logo. Shameless
+ Free food for the Lorikeets now. 
- Blue Barnacle was almost as good Black Buccaneer. Surprised how high it went actually.
 
 
- Very few boats on Tiger Rock. Park needs to invest in new boats now, it's going to be awful in Summer
- Tomb Blaster was rough. I don't like the new story or the guns it uses.
- Queue boards inaccuracy. Said 40 for Fury, was on the stairs, Said 40 at Vampire, was 5 minutes. 
- Lots of the Zoo area closed for refurbishment. Pirates Cove was very loud from construction.
- Maybe its my Disney exposure, but how thin are the queues. Vampire can only be walked single file for examples. it's so tiny!
 
 

I went on Tuesday and had a fantastic day. I'm so biased towards Chessington though. I completely wear the rose tinted glasses. There's clearly issues across the park but sometimes, just sitting back and enjoying the day means more.
 
+ Four laps on Scorpion. Why did I love it so much?! I have no idea
+ Mexicana looks great with all the new little props in the area
+ I love Grufflalo so much. It stands tall with Wallace and Gromit and Hex as one of the best dark rides in the country
+ Dragons Fury now sits in the under-rated category. What a fantastic rollercoaster
+ Great to see the investment in the park. New rides, more announcements on rides, new music.
+ Croc Drop is fine but doesn't spin anymore. 
+ Bought loads of merchandise because it was the original 1987 logo. Shameless
+ Free food for the Lorikeets now. 
- Blue Barnacle was almost as good Black Buccaneer. Surprised how high it went actually.
 
 
- Very few boats on Tiger Rock. Park needs to invest in new boats now, it's going to be awful in Summer
- Tomb Blaster was rough. I don't like the new story or the guns it uses.
- Queue boards inaccuracy. Said 40 for Fury, was on the stairs, Said 40 at Vampire, was 5 minutes. 
- Lots of the Zoo area closed for refurbishment. Pirates Cove was very loud from construction.
- Maybe its my Disney exposure, but how thin are the queues. Vampire can only be walked single file for examples. it's so tiny!
 
 

I went on Tuesday and had a fantastic day. I'm so biased towards Chessington though. I completely wear the rose tinted glasses. There's clearly issues across the park but sometimes, just sitting back and enjoying the day means more.
 
+ Four laps on Scorpion. Why did I love it so much?! I have no idea
+ Mexicana looks great with all the new little props in the area
+ I love Grufflalo so much. It stands tall with Wallace and Gromit and Hex as one of the best dark rides in the country
+ Dragons Fury now sits in the under-rated category. What a fantastic rollercoaster
+ Great to see the investment in the park. New rides, more announcements on rides, new music.
+ Croc Drop is fine but doesn't spin anymore. 
+ Bought loads of merchandise because it was the original 1987 logo. Shameless
+ Free food for the Lorikeets now. 
- Blue Barnacle was almost as good Black Buccaneer. Surprised how high it went actually.
 
 
- Very few boats on Tiger Rock. Park needs to invest in new boats now, it's going to be awful in Summer
- Tomb Blaster was rough. I don't like the new story or the guns it uses.
- Queue boards inaccuracy. Said 40 for Fury, was on the stairs, Said 40 at Vampire, was 5 minutes. 
- Lots of the Zoo area closed for refurbishment. Pirates Cove was very loud from construction.
- Maybe its my Disney exposure, but how thin are the queues. Vampire can only be walked single file for examples. it's so tiny!
 
 

Who has time to stop and watch the people dancing on these stages? When you lose an hour to the Smiler or the Wicker Man, you aren't left with long to get on everything especially with the size of the place. 
 
There's not enough filler to spread people around. I felt the same as Madi Gras last year. There's just not enough hours open in the day to spend watching the stage. 
 
I just do not understand why the golf or the water park have the same opening times as the theme park. They've done that for years and its stupid. 
 
As I said in my trip report, there's no point visiting in 2023 with Nemesis closed. The park is just thread bare in attractions at the moment.

Sure we love rides but lets face it, the music is the best part of the theme park experience. Rides make up ten or so minutes of the day, music is all round you, encompassing you, selling you the experience. No one has been in that Baron 1898 queue and not hummed along to the tune.

Back when I operated Runaway Train at Chessington I used to have a regular recurring dream that I was operating and couldn't get the train to park in the correct part of the station to open the restraints. So the train just went round and round relentlessly for hours. Even to this day, I have this dream once or twice a month. 
 
A pretty good dream I had once was that Southends Adventure Island got a B&M Floorless but it fell apart and into the sea.
 
Most of my dreams these days tend to revolve around getting on Disney Cruise ships. 

I love being wrong. 

I love being wrong. 

I'm not against a thrill park, the issue is that the park itself has to near constantly refresh itself and that takes a lot of money and resource to do. You also have to ensure your thrill rides have a wide range of appeal. Thorpe's coaster line up, the only real outlier is Stealth. The others are just a variant on an upside down rollercoaster. You kind of made that point for me Inferno, Thorpe a little bit of a s**thole because it hasn't changed that much. If it wants to be 'the thrill park' the demands of its target audience constantly want more, the new, the bigger, the better. The new coaster is not going to be enough to change that perception for the rest of the resort. 
 
A family park is far less focused on constant updates and investment because the line up itself has universal appeal. I see it on forums and social media all the time 'Thorpe gets no investment, its last rollercoaster was 10 years ago.' Whilst forgetting Chessingtons last rollercoaster was 18 years ago. And we don't talk about the removal of Vampire or Dragons Fury in the same way that we talk about Colossus going to the skip. So yes, I think family parks are far easier to manage and run and actually more profitable. A 13 year old visiting Thorpe with his school pals just doesn't have a disposable income, whereas a family going to a theme park, will. It may be stretched in the current climate but it exists. And they spend money, all those little extras such as toys, ice creams when it's hot. A meal for everyone at the fast food outlets. it quickly adds up
 
And thats before we even get to overnight stays....
 
 
 
 

I'm not against a thrill park, the issue is that the park itself has to near constantly refresh itself and that takes a lot of money and resource to do. You also have to ensure your thrill rides have a wide range of appeal. Thorpe's coaster line up, the only real outlier is Stealth. The others are just a variant on an upside down rollercoaster. You kind of made that point for me Inferno, Thorpe a little bit of a s**thole because it hasn't changed that much. If it wants to be 'the thrill park' the demands of its target audience constantly want more, the new, the bigger, the better. The new coaster is not going to be enough to change that perception for the rest of the resort. 
 
A family park is far less focused on constant updates and investment because the line up itself has universal appeal. I see it on forums and social media all the time 'Thorpe gets no investment, its last rollercoaster was 10 years ago.' Whilst forgetting Chessingtons last rollercoaster was 18 years ago. And we don't talk about the removal of Vampire or Dragons Fury in the same way that we talk about Colossus going to the skip. So yes, I think family parks are far easier to manage and run and actually more profitable. A 13 year old visiting Thorpe with his school pals just doesn't have a disposable income, whereas a family going to a theme park, will. It may be stretched in the current climate but it exists. And they spend money, all those little extras such as toys, ice creams when it's hot. A meal for everyone at the fast food outlets. it quickly adds up
 
And thats before we even get to overnight stays....
 
 
 
 

Had a pretty miserable time at Towers this week. Things feel like they are sliding. The retro squad were bought in to help capacity but in actual fact they are now just replacements for Enterprise and Hex which for all intents and purposes have passed away. Thirteen was running the best I've seen it for about five years with three trains, all seats full and staff working hard. Can't say that for a lot of rides. Smiler was a nightmare and I'm questioning in myself whether I will ever bother with it again. I love the ride but operationally it blows and there's only so much patience I have with it. 
 
There was a distinct lack of energy across the resort. Slipping standards. We got a lovely upgrade at ATH because our apparent room wasn't passing health and safety (Whatever that means). So we got upgraded to the Smiler room. Yay. It was a bit dirty with dust and the sheets had marks on them. The complimentary water from the previous guests wasn't replaced so we lost that perk. The shower was awful to use, stiff. Definitely not worth £500 a night. 
 
Nemesis was amazing. With it being closed all of 2023 I won't be visiting Towers next year. Without its star ride and so many operational issues, Towers really has a lot to do to turn around the decay.

Most relaxed
 
Disneyland Paris Parc. Wonderful park. I've been with Thunder and Space mountain both down all day and had a wonderful relaxed day
Animal Kingdom - Fantastic park to get lost in an animal trails or having a nice drink at Nomad lounge. 
Chessington - Yes Chessington is a lovely place to unwind in. Forget 40 minute Fury waits, just go around the Zoo or watch a show.
Efteling - I love this place. Its just so charming and easy to get lost in.
 
 
Most Stressed
 
Magic Kingdom - Way too stressful. Completely broken park which will take a lot to fix. I don't think it can be mended to be honest
Disneyland - So small, so cramped, so many rides to do but not enough time to do them. Great history but painful to visit. 
Port Aventura - Awful park to be in. Full of queue jumping neanderthals and unbearably hot and humid..
Cedar Point - This is here for Top Thrill Dragster alone which is the most stressful queuing experience of any major rollercoaster. Will it work properly, will it make it over. Awful.
 

Its amazing how when I wrote about Colossus in 2012, I spent more time discussing Thorpe Parks history than Colossus itself. Maybe it's important to realise the sea change that this ride was. I can't imagine visiting Thorpe in the future without hearing that lift hill noise as the train disengages at the top or the odd shuffling noise the train makes as it travels the circuit.
 
But then in 2008 it was unfathomable to imagine Alton Towers without the sound of Corkscrews motor echoing over the valley. And that was 14 years ago.
 
 

Its amazing how when I wrote about Colossus in 2012, I spent more time discussing Thorpe Parks history than Colossus itself. Maybe it's important to realise the sea change that this ride was. I can't imagine visiting Thorpe in the future without hearing that lift hill noise as the train disengages at the top or the odd shuffling noise the train makes as it travels the circuit.
 
But then in 2008 it was unfathomable to imagine Alton Towers without the sound of Corkscrews motor echoing over the valley. And that was 14 years ago.
 
 

Nothing gives me greater satisfaction in knowing kids have to wait longer because me and my friends are taking up several row on the octonaughts rollercoaster.