Search the Community

Disclaimer: I apologise in advance, as this post is quite long. There is a TL;DR at the bottom for those who would like one. Hi guys. As many of you probably know, Duel, Alton Towers’ interactive haunted house-style dark ride, recently closed for a retheme and is reopening in 2023. Speculation is rife throughout the UK enthusiast community about what this retheme could entail and what it might be like, but one thing I’ve noticed is that there are a considerable number of people who wish for the park to go down the nostalgia route. These people are clamouring for the ride to be returned brick by brick to exactly how it was when it first opened in 1992, as though the 2003 Duel revamp never happened. There’s quite a considerable group of people who believe this, and it’s part of a wider trend of nostalgia that seems to have gripped the UK enthusiast community as of late. There are now quite a few different nostalgic calls to “bring back” old rides being made around the community, including: “Revert Duel back to the Haunted House” “Revert Galactica back to Air” “Revive Pirate Adventure” “Revive Rocky Express” “Revert The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure back to Professor Burp’s Bubbleworks” “Revive Ripsaw, Boneshaker and Dynamo” “If Project Horizon isn’t a Black Hole revival, they’re missing a trick” My basic point is; a considerable wave of nostalgia seems to have gripped the UK enthusiast community as of late, with clamouring for old attractions from the 90s and early 2000s to return being quite commonplace at the moment. So my question to you today is; what are your thoughts on the use of nostalgia within theme parks? What are your thoughts on parks “bringing back” old attractions, or making nods to the past? Personally, I’m a bit mixed on nostalgia myself. I’m perfectly happy with minor displays of nostalgia at parks. Subtle nods to the past scattered within a new attraction? Great! Loads of old artwork and concepts being displayed, like in the Rollercoaster Restaurant at Alton Towers? Love it! Wanting to sell retro merchandise? Go for it! Relatively minor nostalgic touches are nice for those who look for this sort of stuff and don’t really affect the experience at large for the average guest, so these can certainly be pretty good when done well, in my view. However, I’m not so keen on the prospect of more major scale nostalgia, such as “bringing back” old rides. Personally, I think parks should move forward into the future rather than stay in the past when it comes to new attractions, and I am personally sceptical as to whether “bringing back” old attractions would have a happy ending, for multiple reasons. Basically, my thought process is that “bringing back” an old attraction would please relatively few people, because the average guest likely wouldn’t know what the old attraction being “revived” was, or even if they did, they likely wouldn’t understand why the park was “reviving” an old ride that closed years prior. I also have a concern that the ride of old may not resonate with modern crowds in the same way as it did with original crowds, no matter how good it was when it originally operated. Whereas I fear that the enthusiasts and die hard nostalgics whom such a move would be aimed at would be critical of the fact that the “revival” wasn’t enough like the old ride, because let’s face it, a “revival” can never be the exact same ride as the original attraction being “revived” was, no matter how good the intentions of your creative team are. That’s simply impossible due to technological advancements, part of or all of the old ride having been scrapped, and simply due to the fact that no matter how hard you try, you cannot rewrite history to pretend that the removal of the original ride never happened. That’s why I always say “revival” in inverted commas, because it wouldn’t be a true “revival”, but rather a new experience with the same name. For instance, one of the main nostalgic wishes as of late is for Duel at Alton Towers to be reverted back to the Haunted House exactly as it was in 1992, with all of the original props being kept, the Swamp finale being rebuilt and the Graham Smart soundtracks and original facade being fully restored. My concern here is that the original HH closed 20 years ago, so there is likely a considerable number of Alton Towers guests who don’t know about it, and even those that do would probably be somewhat bemused at why it was “returning”. I also have concerns that the ride as built in 1992, as good as it was back then, might not resonate with 2023 guests in the same way. On the other side of the coin, I fear that the enthusiasts such a move would be aimed towards would be critical that a “revival” of the HH wouldn’t be enough like the original 1992 ride. Given that I’ve heard “it doesn’t even smell like it did in 1992” being banded about as a criticism of Duel, I think the nostalgics would be keen for every little detail to be restored to exactly how it was before in the event of a “revival”, which I fear simply wouldn’t be possible. The entire 1992 finale was demolished prior to the Duel revamp in 2003, Keith Sparks (the original designer) is dead, certain technologies used in the 1992 original are now obsolete and have long been succeeded by modern alternatives (for instance, the ride would have to be lit very differently nowadays, which would make the original scenes look very different to how they were originally supposed to look)… there’s a lot of factors that mean the ride simply would not be the same ride as it was in 1992 no matter how hard the creative team tried to make it the same. You cannot rewrite history and pretend that Duel never happened; there was only one of the original HH, and it closed in 2002. A “revival” of the HH would be a totally different attraction that simply shares the same name; it wouldn’t actually bring the old experience back. But what are your thoughts on the use of nostalgia in theme parks, and the prospect of “bringing back” old attractions and themes? TL;DR: Given the recent clamouring for many old attractions to return within the UK enthusiast community, I’d be keen to know your thoughts on the use of nostalgia within theme parks. Overall, I have a mixed opinion on the use of nostalgia within theme parks. I don’t mind minor displays of nostalgia, as these can be fun for those who look for such things and don’t really affect the experience at large. However, I am less keen on major scale nostalgia, such as “reviving” old attractions and themes, simply because I feel that you can’t rewrite history no matter how hard you try, and that a “revived” ride would never be the same as the original attraction. I also feel that a “revival” of an old attraction wouldn’t really resonate with the average guest.

Welcome to the new Theme Park Memes Topic! Where you can post all your favourite Theme Park Memes and show them off to the community and make your own memes ect.. I thought why not make a topic on theme park memes as I have seen some out there and thought it would be fun to see all of them here and new ones!. Post your memes or jokes on Theme Parks below!! Have a Thrilling & Memeful day!

The Closed season is here, Christmas music and decorations are around everywhere and the sight of new year isn't far away. This means one thing, time to review 2016. This year will be a two part edition, with part one focusing on the UK and part two on the wonders abroad. The Merlin Machine/ Given the circumstances of 2015, it was fairly imminent this wasn't going to be the best year for them. With Park-wide budget cuts, ride closures and controversial decisions, there has been a fair share of negativity. However, not everything they've done has been unacceptable. Alton Towers As expected, 2016 was not going to be Towers's year as a result of ruthless management operations to lessen the bleeding of 2015's unfortunate events. This resulted in budget cuts, leading to staff redundancies, closures of shops and food outlets , knee jerk safety precautions and the closure of seven attractions. Whilst Hex is the only major casualty here, closing down a family park staple, sufficient flat ride and more has certainly left a big gap in the family market. Galactica for me feels like an attempt at shoe horning a gimmick onto what was already a popular ride just so it can be marketed as a new major attraction. The VR element leaves something to be desired, although I did find the audio descriptive version highly amusing. That being said, I do really like the new space styling, soundtrack and station enhancements. However on the upside, the new Roller Coaster Restaurant is a fantastic addition to the park, featuring much character and a flagship park restaurant. The Steak I had last time was remarkable. The TLC scheme has certainly enhanced run down areas of the park such as Forbidden Valley and Towers Street which look noticeably better. Though some areas are still fairly run down it's a start and if this is the only way for Merlin to do upkeep, so be it. Fingers crossed they can keep a similar scheme in place Post 2018. The Galactica fireworks were highly enjoyable too and made for a great end of a season. The park still has magic but it may be a little drier for the time being. 2017 seems to be another year CBeebies land add ons, with a round ride and indoor attraction being installed amongst it's own hotel. None of the above is appealing to anyone over 6, however if it's successful let's see what happens. SW8 construction is where it all lies though. Thorpe Park 2016 has been very divided for the park with lots of positives and negatives happening at the park this year. The park has continued an acceptable level of small improvements in places from updating the Amity toilet block to refurbishing the main Burger King which is good to see. The Tidal Wave improvements also look nice. That being said a major TLC scheme could really benefit the park as lots of park areas have been neglected for a while now, including Colossus, Rumba, Canada Creek and even Inferno (to a lesser extent). Breakdowns have been inconsistent this year with some rides such as Stealth and Samurai suffering major lengths of downtime but other rides like Swarm, Slammer and Rush remaining generally reliable all season. Some rides of course are out of the park's control when it comes to issues, but it would be nice to see a better consistency on reliability though. Derren Brown's ghost train is where things become more complicated. The ride now offers the park with a much needed indoor/dark ride. The pre-show and live action elements (though without their faults) are the best elements of the attraction for me. Providing amusement and excitement that may controversially be the best we've seen at a UK park in the post Hex days. The virtual reality (VR) element however I am not a massive fan of, the first section is okay but the second one feels disjointed and almost anticlimactic but that may just be the ride's reliability. Speaking on reliability, the attraction hasn't been great, with the attraction constantly breaking down, headsets failing and other issues. The state of the attraction last October was shocking to say the least and that's before I mention the two month plus delay. Let's hope 2017 does wonders to this ride and it can finally prove to be a solid addition instead of the embarrassing handful it seemed to be this year. Losing Loggers this year feels like a massive blow for the park, which despite it's age was still a popular and firm favourite for people of all ages. 2017's confirmation has only dampened the doubtful reopening of this attraction further which is a shame. Ending this on a positive, the street food and temporary outlets in Old Town were decent additions to the park's catering lineup. The chip place place proved to be great and a very quirky idea at the very least. The I'm A Celebrity improvements were also acceptable. The kiddie rides in Old Town is a bizzare one but if they enhance the younger guest offering which the park lacks, it can't be all bad. Chessington Right, remaining optimistic here may be a little more difficult but let's see what happens. Tomb Blaster (the park's veteran dark ride), was set for what was supposed to be a major refurbishment, giving the ride much needed TLC and restoring it into the best state in years. How wrong could we be? The new lasers are blocky, tacky and ruin the look of the attraction and the scoring system makes no sense. And not only this but the new UV lighting (which was supposed to enhance the ride) has actually ruined this. As a result of exposing out of house areas and the metal warehouse the ride resides in. The removal of ambient sound effects has only added insult to injury and goes to show what a shoddy refurbishment this was to begin with. The reduction in car stopping has only added to the rot as a result of the ride being less in sync. In the contrary, the Bubbleworks was shut down forever to make way for the next revolving door IP attraction. Whilst many will disagree here, I still had a liking for the attraction even to the end as it provided a fun ride for all ages and was an amusing experience. From the whirling fairground rides to the fountain finale. The ride may be gone but it will always have a place in my heart. Especially my last ever ride. Where my girlfriend and I shared our first kiss in the fountain finale. The rest of the park is still a mess. Bits of theming looking worn and neglected, Vampires station is still a mess, Falls is still naked and breakdowns seem to be happening more frequently. Skyway was also spited after barely surviving the last few seasons. Shame they didn't maintain or rebuild it as that would've been much better than an animatronic panda show. Glamping won't save the park either sadly. Only good things I can say about Chessington this year are the small TLC bits were acceptable, the Smokehouse place is good and I met my girlfriend here. 2017 will be interesting to say the least with Gruffalo re-theme and new Market Square carousel. Let's see. Legoland Windsor Despite turning 20 years old, 2016 has been a quiet one for the park, as a result of adding anything major or notable. The Lego Movie 4D was the main new attraction this season and is a fantastic addition to the park and one of the most amusing 4D shows I've seen. Featuring the return of many of the lovable original characters and more from the original film. 2016 also saw the Star Wars miniland extended,in the form of the Death Star occupying space previously part of the Star Wars store. The new addition is fantastic and the combination of interactive features and vast models, makes for an excellent finale. The Star Wars store has also been renovated as a result of the updates. The model makers workshop has also been refurbished marking the return of the brick busts on the top floor which is really great to see again. Whilst much of what the park has done this year, even with the opening show (it's location also resolving the terrible entrance bottleneck), one word. Farmer Joes Chicken Shack! Theming aside this is one of the worst theme park eateries I've been too as the food tastes dull and barely edible; Was rather expensive too. Change however is on the way for the park, with Dino safari and Loki's Labyrinth being demolished in the same year. A major Ninjago dark ride and area will replace the latter with the former becoming home to the park's second hotel featuring a castle theme. Blackpool Pleasure Beach The historic seaside amusement park turned 120 this year making it the oldest operating U.K. Park and one of the oldest in the world. Apart from that, not much else really happened this year, although the new bridge and ghost train scene are both highly acceptable additions. The park still retains it's charm and character well amongst remaining one of the better kept UK parks. That said, the operations over my two day visit did leave something to be desired as National and Avalanche were on one train operation over the weekend joined by the Big One on day two. However given circumstances and they're an independent park they are solely forgiven. 2018 will hopefully be the year to bring wonders here, but there's still a while yet. Paultons Park A place I've always wanted to visit for a while and somewhere I can safely say is the underdog of UK parks currently. It's not so much the big things that make paultons, but all the small touches from park tidiness, staff friendliness down to the organic feel of the place. No HB leisure or in your face upselling here. The Lost Kingdom area has done wonders to this park and set the bar high for future investments on this upcoming park. The theming is of a high standard whilst the two coasters provide the perfect family thrill consistency amongst the other great attractions. Paultons is definitely the park the watch in the coming years and once they bring in a decent water ride, woodie and dark ride, they will for sure be one of the best parks in the U.K. If they are not already. Drayton Manor Yet another place I've been longing to tick off my check list, but past opportunities encountering misfortune resulting in me not able to visit. Maybe that's an omen? Drayton is the perhaps the blandest park I've ever visited. It lacks style, atmosphere and boasts the worst main coaster double act I've seen at a park. With all that negativity said and done on to the positives. Thomas Land is a loverly charming park area and one of the parts with atmosphere. Their flats rides such as Apocalypse, Maelstrom and Air race are all enjoyable and the Haunting was actually an acceptable attraction too. So is Ben10. Still won't be rushing back there yet, until they add a major attraction or receive enough persuasion. Still it's been ticked off the checklist right? Other not-so theme parky bits Went heights of Abraham in Matlock Bath which consists of a cable car, numerous caves and ruins.The views are fantastic and the caves were intriguing to say the least, especially given one actually featured an animatronic figure (sort of). Matlock bath is also pleasant enough with countless fish and chip shops, independent stores and a mediocre aquarium. It's almost like a Sea Side Town, away from the sea. With Bikers. Thanks for reading part 1 if you managed to not get bored. Part 2 will follow shortly. Adios

Hello enthusiast pals. Over the past few weeks I have come across something known as 'CoasterCrate'. Think lootcrate, but for a different kind of geek! Here's some info extracted from their website which can be found here "CoasterCrate is a monthly subscription box that celebrates theme parks, roller coasters and immersive themed experiences. Our boxes will include a mix of hand picked official merchandise straight from your favourite theme parks as well as CoasterCrate exclusive items inspired by your favourite parks and attractions." They've recently released a pre-order for BoxZero, which'll be the *pilot* essentially of this to see how well it kicks off! I've pre-ordered mine which should be here by December so I'll be sure to throw a lil' review up, but I though some of you might be interested if you're into merchandise and all that stuff! I'm not affiliated with CoasterCrate in any way but if they wanna hit me up (hint hint) they can.

So, as some on here might be aware, myself, scarycoasterboy (Adam), J.S217 (Jack) and Peaj did a bit of a European road trip at the end of last month / beginning of this month. 8 days, 7 parks, 3 countries - it was a big'un. Parks we visited were... Plopsaland de Panne (27th June) Bellewaerde (28th) Walibi Belgium (29th) Phantasialand (30th) Toverland (1st July) Efteling (1st-3rd) Bobbejaanland (4th) As we were visiting Belgium, Germany and Holland, we squished the three countries together to get the working title of 'BelGerAnd' for the name of the trip. Unfortunately, that terrible attempt just sort of stuck (much like Stealth's project name ey?). So that explains that. (PS: Any feedback on the style of this would be great. I do plan on writing up reports from all the parks, so would be nice to do it in a way that people would want to read it!) Anyway, enough set up, let's get down to TR-ing... An early start beckoned us - leaving to get the 5:15 ferry from Dover. Naturally, this meant we arrived at Plopsaland - a realtively short drive from Calais - ridiculously before the 10am opening... The entrance area looks very nice. We wandered around the local area to pass the time, and about a 5 minute walk away, we found a Belgian War Memorial. It was somewhat surprising to realise that a theme park was so close to a place like. We had a wander around and it really hits home... With our respects paid, we ventured off to the world of Plopsa. First up was the coaster I was most looking forward to off the day, Anubis. It's the first launched Gerstlauer I've done, and indeed the first rolling launch I've done. I was looking forward to it, after hearing many good reviews. After a near walk-on through the nicely themed queue, we were on. Simply put, the ride is fab - the launch is great fun, and then the ride that follows mixes pops of airtime, inversions and bits of force nicely together. I found going up the initial hill quite intense too. The ride flows really well and it's very smooth too. It's a little on the short side and lacks any substantial outdoor theming, but at the same time, it doesn't leave you feeling short changed. All in all, a great ride that is really enjoyable. A somewhat understated entrance. Couple of ride shots. We then moved over to Rollerskater, one of the park's family coasters. This immediately caught my eye for one reason - the random theming. From a giant washing machine, bird in a cage to a turtle on a plate, the ride seemed a bit wacky. The coaster itself is fun, but the random bits of theming just make it a right laugh. Lift hill The infamous washing machine Station building We then ticked off another cred, by doing their powered coaster, De Draak. It's got an extravagantly themed queue line, but it also has a long layout that interacts nicely with the surroundings. Picks up some decent speed and it's nice that it goes round twice too. De Station. With temperatures soaring, we decided to cool down on De Boomstammetjes, the park's log flume. It was okay, had a nice double drop finale, but didn't get you wet enough really. By now we had realised something a bit odd - the park itself felt very very busy, but the queues themselves didn't really reflect that. Not sure if that's the norm for Plopsaland given their target market or not, but we weren't really going to complain, as it gave a nice atmosphere to the park, but meant we could try out all that the park had to offer. With this in mind, we did a few of the filler rides, including Waterfietsen; some pedal swan boats. Was a very nice tour round the lake, though have to admit my legs were aching after a while! Two filler rides that we didn't get done during this little period, however, were their Teacups, which is still being given its awesome-looking retheme, and Rox-Flyer, their Star Flyer. Ah well. Two rides of spite. With some flat rides done and lunch out of the way, we moved over to Supersplash, the 'water coaster' which anyone would have a hard time calling a 'coaster'. It was probably our longest queue for the day, at about 20-25 minutes - quite nice that it was indoors too! Following an interesting lift sequence, the ride does a drop underneath a bridge, before coming back up and then giving a nice-looking splash and then meandering back to the station. The lift sequence is nice, but lacking anything substantial really. The drop I found a bit rough in all honesty, but the splash was nice - not wet of course, but was refreshing. I'm a bit unsure on it as an attraction - it takes ideas from a couple of different rides, but doesn't really do anything with them. A bit of a shame. A shame I didn't get a shot with a boat in really. We then planned to tick off the two remaining creds on park - Vleermius, the random suspended coaster, and Viktor's Race, the park's kiddie coaster. Unfortunately, it became apparent that Vleermius would spite us - it was closed with no obvious work being done to it. Shame, as it's something I did want to try out, but I'm sure I'll get to try something like it in the future. Viktor's Race, however, was open. Nothing really to say about it, merely one done for the coaster count. Neither ride was very photo-worthy for me, it would seem. More wondering round the park was done afterwards, and getting in some rerides along the way. We were planning on heading over the to Wickieland to try out the Disk-o and splash battle over their, but noticed the Disk-o was closed due to it stalling, so we decided to leave that area till later. Instead, we worked our way over to the indoor area Maya Land, near the front of the park. It's a great area for kids with some fabulous looking rides. The one that caught my attention the most though was De Waterlelies, a Zamperla Demolition Derby. After not getting on the one at Drayton for the past two years, this simply had to be done. Certainly a fun little ride, though it does sort of feel like it drags on a bit towards the end. We also did the slide in Maya Land before leaving to explore the rest of the park once again. Spinning waterlilies <3 After a couple more rides on Anubis, we then headed over to Het Bos van Plop, an indoor boat ride. I really enjoyed it to be honest, the theming was lovely, the music was catchy and it was just a nice way to relax. Such a simple ride executed so well. We then did the train ride around the park before heading over to Wickieland again... The Disk-o was still closed, but the car had been bought back to the station-area at least. Instead, we decided to the splash battle - Wickie The Battle. It was very nicely themed, a good length and got you to a good level of wet. Great water ride all in all! With park close nearing, we dashed over to Supersplash for one more ride (majority vote over-ruled me unfortunately!). We then stayed in the park for a bit longer, looking around the entrance and such, before hitting the road. An hour-or-so drive later, we arrived at our French hotel, and after realising the hotel owners were out for the night and eventually being given our keys by other guests, we were finally in. A quick McDonald's and some French TV bought an end to our first - and fortunately longest - day! Final Thoughts: I really enjoyed Plopsaland. It's a fab little park, with some nice little gems and great theming. The addition of a woodie next year is definitely music to my ears - one more family thrill coaster would complete the park's line up I think. It's certainly a park I want to go back to soon, and the proximity to me is a bonus!

Hey Guys, Just wondering what everyone thinks of theme parks using mobile apps nowadays e.g. Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Legoland etc.. I think a lot of American theme parks use mobile apps as well like Disney and Universal, but anyway.. If anyone has used a theme park mobile app before then let me know, I'm curious to find out how the experience was. Thanks

RestrIctIon Welcome to Restriction, a tricky yet fun forum game. The object of the game is to create normal everyday sentence (or in this case, theme park chatter) with certain restrictions on certain letters. This means, every member has limitations of what they can type using the letters they have available. Their will be 3 rounds, each round has a different restriction to cause different problems for each user making it more unique. Also, their is a variety of ways you can win each round and only one winner will be announced at the end of each round. Then shortly after, the new restriction will be announced How to win The game will continue until one person makes a mistake (As in, breaks the restriction set in their post) meaning the person above (the last to post) would win. OR, if a person has posted correctly and nobody responds within 3 days, they also take victory of that round. . Rules The rules are simple! Don't break the restriction is key! Also, each post must contain at least 2 words relating to what the other person has posted which makes sense! If any rules are broken, the person above wins the round. RestrIctIon Round 1 For the first round of posts, the restriction is your not allowed to use any letter used in your forum name! (Example; Username: EndlessDayz - Cannot use the letters (E, N, D, L, S, A, Y and Z) Let the chatter / game begin! I'll start you guys off Hi TPM

Welcome to the 83 game The 83 game is a simple and fun game, (also an interesting one). All you have to do is comment on what the number 83 resembles in your life, from your house door number to even the amount of pets you have (very unlucky). Nothing more to be said really, so get thinking how 83 has affected your life!