Mark9

What I would give for Merlin to head away from the box park concept and into something more interesting and dynamic.

Had my first visit this past weekend. This had become a bit of a bucket list park over the last few years and was glad to finally get out there. Great rollercoaster collection to start off with. I thought Kondaa was fabulous, an outstanding attraction. Intamin were really cooking around this time. I've seen it described as a modern day Expedition Ge Force. Well yeah, it has similarities but whereas EGF always left me feeling underwhelmed, Kondaa was sublime. Also loved Mecalodon. I love family Gerstlauers, there's just a lot of innovation and experimentation with the model. This being the latest one, it just has so much for family groups and is so much fun. Tiki Wawa is okay. It's not an amazing version of the ride type unfortunately. Not worth the regular 45 minute waits. Turbine is amazing. Absolutely loved it. Great theme, great ride. Pulsar also impressed. I didn't think it would be my kind of ride but actually, it was really fun. The backwards air time was lovely and it wasn't too wet. Just enough. Calamity Mine was great, Boomerang was a boomerang. the SLC was fine, I'm now pretty used to riding these defensively so therefore I know when to brace. I still really like the layout on these things, even though the trains really do make them a battle. Loup-Garou was a big reason for the trip, I wanted to get on it before it says goodbye at the end of the year. To be honest, I'm a big defender of these horrible janky woodies. This was hilariously bad. I can see why its being renovated by RMC, but it still has a charm. The dark rides were also of really high quality. I shall be back..

Yeah kinda. I personally don't feel that hard done by though, the amount of investment that is going on across Europe right now, even here in the UK, says to me that Thorpe is just a bit dormant right now. These things come in waves and the reality is, Hyperia needs to be the big thing for a while. At some point they have to address Rumba and the Slammer sites as well as the flat ride section of Lost City. Vortex and Zodiac just seem pretty dead right now with Quantum not far behind.

PRESENTING SLKSTN LIVE!!!! It's a vibe.

False alarm everyone. Sorry Aerie Force One, into the bin you go.

Rest in piece. We can scrap it and Thorpe can buy Aerie Force One.

It's coming to the end of its life thank god. Hopefully Thorpe can send the spare anti-roll backs to Paultons to help them with their broken ones.

Am I? Out of Thorpe's coaster line up, Stealth is the most likely to leave first. I have no doubt that Thorpe will keep Stealth running for as long as they possibly can however the consistent posting about its reliability on here suggests a few others do have the same thoughts that I do. We aren't constantly hearing about Swarm or infernos being closed again for example

It's time to get rid of Stealth.

I must admit, I wasn't particularly excited for Drakon either, I think euro-fighters are kinda boring and things like the Mack big dipper are far more versatile and interesting. That being said, Paultons know their target audience incredibly well and have built a ride that caters to that. Obviously Drakon is a massive step up from Storm Chaser in terms of thrill. To be honest I'm far more excited for Serpents Curse. I cannot believe that no other UK park has chased the UK's first water coaster title frankly and I think it's a brilliant choice for Paultons for 2027. One thing I really like about Paultons is how each caters for the different family members. Take Valgard, it has the thrill coaster, the family coaster, the family flat ride, the play area for kids and in 2027 the water attraction as well as the kids water ride. They pack so much into small areas and theres no wasted space.

Woo. Everyone's talking about it. Brand new theme park focused on Minecraft. Theres no way that intamin is going to have a high enough capacity for the crowds this area will attract.

The benefit comes from cost saving. Ever since the death on Drayton Manors rapids, the amount of staff needed to run Rumba was slightly ridiculous. There's the training of staff for a ride that runs for what 4 months if that. There's the amount it costs to run a water ride. And frankly riding Rumba over the last few years has never been great. Constant announcements reminding you to sit down, PA announcements every 30 seconds aimed at particular boats where people are clearly disobeying the rules, risk of death signs everywhere. A void of atmosphere as you go through the shed of silence. It should have been put out of its misery years ago.

I know its not exactly a big priority for the Merlin parks but I will never understand how even Six Flags in its bankruptcy era was able to repaint their coasters and yet inferno still looks god awful and they can't even finish a Colossus repaint. Baron 1898 just got a massive refurbishment and repaint and that's half the age of Inferno. I find it incredibly frustrating that they don't mind if their parks look like a dump.

This is the wrong topic but Chessington in particular should be at near all year round operation now. They had Mandrill open through December (it was running on xmas eve) and Fury and Rattlesnake being open in February is a real first. I'm amazed Fury hasn't vallied.

£492 for two nights at Chessington?!?! Puts my £510 for Europa Park for three nights into perspective 😂