Shockwave

First of all I apologise for not have any photos of this trip. Stupid camera broke on me at Pleasure Island and hasn't been working since! So anyway, I got to Cleethorpes for about 2pm and went straight for Pleasure Island. The park was very quiet, so I got a few good rides in before I made my way down the coast. Boomerang - Standard Vekoma Boomerang. Plenty of headbanging regarldess of where you sit. Rode this twice as the queues were short. Hyper Blaster - A 90ft tall S&S Double Shot. This thing is tiny, but it's got the best airtime out of any Shot Tower I've ever been on! Shame it ended so quickly, but a good ride Alakazam - Huss Body-squasher...I mean, Fly-away. I felt very weak after getting off this ride, it was much more intense than any Enterprise I've been on. Condor - More Huss rideage. Got a good view of the town from 100ft up, even if the ride felt like it was about to fall apart. Pendulus - Huss Frisbee. And a good one at that. The spin at the end of the ride is insane, with some great airtime as well. It was all too much for one poor girl, who's lunch came up to see the light of day again. The ride then closed for 10 mins after so they could clean it up. Runaway Train - A small Vekoma Roller Skater - good ride for the little ones, and a lot smoother than the Boomerang. Paratower - Never done one before, so didn't know what to expect. Turned out to be a nice gentle ride with a little pop of airtime when you drop. Gravitron - If my neck was feeling weak after Alakazam, it was nearly snapped on the Gravitron. I knew these ride span around fast, but this one was spinning really fast! Quite a shock when the backrests shot up halfway through the ride. Terror Rack - Pure evil? Well it's getting there. A bizarre program which wasn't very smooth, and having something poking up my ass for the whole ride didn't make for much fun. At 4pm, I decided to give Cleethorpes Beach a miss and began to head south. The weather looked like it was closing in, so time was now an issue. Got to Mablethorpe an hour later, after being delayed by a car that had been pretty much been totalled in a crash in one of the villages along the way. Did my Runanway train credit, ate some waffles, bought some sweet stuff and then went to Fantasy Island. Fantasy Island looks really impressive from a distance. They've got some big rides, and I was really hoping that Odyssey would be be good. But not surprisingly I was wrong. Very wrong. Odyssey - Vekoma "Super" SLC. Quite possibly the worst ride I've ever been on. Brutality just fonud a new definition. Here's a brief run-down of the ride: First drop was really good. Then comes tha pain. The bottom of the first drop gave my midrift a serious pounding. The Cobra Roll, Horseshoe, Sidewinder and Corkscrew left my ears almost as bright red as the track. At £4 a pop, I wouldn't recommend doing it more than once. I rode it 4 times - they gave me a free run in the front seat on my last go as a testamenmt to my bravery! Definetly an A-list for the Worst Coaster Ever category. Millennium Roller Coaster - Vekoma Looping Coaster. How can one company build two such contrasting rides next to each other? If Odyssey was Hell, MRC was Heaven! Unbelievably smooth all the way around, good Gs through the loops, I was laughing all the way! The track after the last loop is a bit lacklsutre, but a ride that has the spurious title of "Europe's tallest looping coaster to encircle a building" does make you wonder. Also has a £4 price tag, so only worth one ride. Absolutely Insane - S&S Thrill Shot (I think). Not absolutely insane. But good fun all the same. I was expecting a more intense launch, but the face-down descent was good fun. It also pulls you higher on the second bonuce which I wasn't expecting either. Also only worth one ride with it's £4 admission charge. Program 4 was the best setting they had had. Amazing Confusion - Mondial Ultramax. A looping pendulum ride with a reasonable amount of airtime, and good forces going upside down and back around. Reminded me a lot of Bling at Blackpool, but a lot better. Probably the best flat ride in the park. The Beast - Mondial TopScan. I'd heard a lot of good things about this ride, but I got off quite disappointed. It didn't run for as nearly as long as I thought it might, and filling up each arm made the spins quite weak most of the time, because the weight always held it down. Ocassionally, there were some really good spins, but it was mostly just good, not very good. But it's still better than Samurai at Thorpe Park. Volcanic Impact - S&S Space Shot w/tilting seats. A bit of a blowout. The tilting seat novelty is great fun, but rather noisy and clunky. Had about the same airtime than Ice Blast at Blackpool, but at least the launch was decent. Rhombus's Rocket - Mack Powered Coaster. Good fun as all these rides are. A very fast layout with a few good turns and twists. Fantasy Mouse - 5 mins before I was due to leave they got this ride working, so I ran over and got my credit. Got a good spin on it after the mechanism released on the lower section. After that interesting trip, it was time to finish the night up at Botton's. I arrived at 9.15pm, so I only had half an hour to get the credits. It was easily done in the end though. Queen Bee - Pinfari Inverted coaster. Built on top of the arcades, it looks a bit prone but it turned out to be really funny. They left all the train brakes off, so it was flying rond the last turn far too fast! Runanway Train - Cavazza Diego Coaster. Standard model of a ride found all over the world. has a ncie kick going round the helix, and the park made an effort to theme this as well. Storm - Pinfari RC40. Another ride on its last legs. Rough, uncomfortable and in some places, corroded beyond belief. Big Apple - Pinfari Big Apple. Standard kiddie coaster. Nothing more to say about that. Pirate Boat - Huss Pirate Ship. Crazy airtime on this, despite a short ride. I sat in the back and my butt wasn't touching the seat for most of the ride! Surf Rider - Not sure who made this, but it was pretty average. It does the same motion as a Magic Carpet, expect you sit sideways. The naked chicks on the backboard were pretty cool though! Rockin' Tug Zamperla Rockin' Tug. Nice gentle ride, but not as good as the Zamperla Disk'O, which is pretty much the same ride but a bit bigger. Another fun day out - only 3 credits missed, 2 of them because I can't fit into the rides!

Camelot Theme Park may well be worth a visit if you're heading upto Blackpool after Alton Towers. It's very much en-route (you can see the park from the M6 Motorway on the way to Blackpool). It's not a huge park, so would only require a few hours in the morning. Blackpool's opening hours may be a problem if you go there on a weekday, they don't open late on weekdays during school term time.

Even a few cars in the car park would make it look better.

The actual initial rate of acceleration of the Accelerator coasters is the same, because it's the same basic system on each of them. The trains reach their top speed a little bit before the end of the launch section too, to give enough time for the catch car to disengage safely.

Great Photos! Was thinking about whoring myself out at Pleasurewood and Great Yarmouth this summer, but when I heard that Ocean Beach in Rhyl might be closing, I decided that I'm gonna head there to get the credits before it's gone forever.

X:\ No Way Out! As mentined before, this thing is seriously messed up. What's the deal with getting sprayed with mist?

Yeah, I'd definetely be able to make it to a few parks, but like Rob, I've got a big trip planned in Europe next year and a possible trip to the USA as well. Never been to Great Yarmouth so that would be great to make to down there.

Not ridden that may coasters either but here's my top 5: Wooden 1. Tonnerre De Zeus - Parc Astreix 2. Megafobia - Oakwood 3. Grand National - Blackpool 4. Wild Mouse - Blackpool 5. Robin Hood - Walibi World Steel 1. Nemesis - Alton Towers 2. Goliath - Walibi World 3. Magnum Force - Flamingoland 4. Rock 'N' Rollercoaster - Walt Disney Studios Paris 5. Bullet - Flamingoland

It means that if you keep clicking that same button every page, the giant ass is now on a loop!

OK folks, last update. On Tuesday I made it out to Dreamland at Margate, and enjoyed myself a lot more than I thought I would. It was a fairground liek all the others, but it had a nice atmosphere and pretty friendly staff, which I wasn't expecting in the searing heat. So here's the run-down of the day's events: I got a whole carriage to myself. (And what a surprise. I look like a madman!) Thanks for reading! Here's my super-dooper tilting train home! ...and a well deserved drink. Wally, this one's for you! But first, I go via platform 1 to my own private function room... That's my train home! Look out!! Tube train coming far too fast. The old Battersea Power Station looks imopsing against the skyline. Say hello, but I'm waving goodbye now! Time to head back to Manchester. You could see the drop tower from the rail station. I was wiped out after a 5 minute cycle! This was much better than Samurai at Thorpe Park. The TopScan was running really fast today! It was being taken apart for some maintenance work. This ride wasn't going anywhere. Even if he had to push the 4-ton train to the lift hill each time! Our brakeman was having a good laugh around the course! Here you can see one half the layout. This was the main reason I came to the park. Nice!!! Spot the odd sign out. They were so polite, they didn't even bother enforcing this rule! They never forget their Ps and Qs. ...I gotta say how polite everythign and everyone in this park is. Here's a what you really wanna see! Some hot sign action... As you can see, my journey was really exciting. Rockin' out on the train to Margate.

You know you've spent too much time on Theme Park Review when you end up driving for 7 hours through solid lines of cars just to say hello to Robb at 3AM!

I've noticed quite a few rides which come under the coaster tag which aren't included in any counts, but they still come under the rollercoaster premise. Gravity powered toboggan rides such as Rodelbahn come under the bobsled category. Fuga D'Atlantide at Gardaland should really come under the Watercoaster category - the train is completely fixed to the track going up the hills and down the drops, and the boats are then free to run on after the splash zones - very similar to Premier's Liquid coasters. Powered coasters are very dubious, because there's not much gravity involved, and I've not had the chance to try out a Wiegand bobkart yet but that's really digging deep.

Still on Monday, here's the photos from Clarence Pier and Funland Amusement Park. The drop was still dropping as we left the park. It might be built on top of a shed, but at least it's different to the two other flumes from today! So she's not just a queen of speed after all! It looked pretty funky lit up at night time too. This travelling Chance spin 'n' swing was awesome. Even if if did move about 3 ft each way on every swing! ...so much so, we got wood! I liked it... Dave liked it... Dave and I whored ourselves out for this kiddy coaster, and it was great fun! I wonder what ever happened to the second deck of this former double deck drop tower? It's Scaffolding: The Ride! I think Intamin should build more of these for construction sites. It was getting a bit on the rough side. But one guy thought it was really good! It's a new old ride! And another Pinfari looper. This place rivals Loudoun castle as the Astroworld of the UK. On to the 3rd and last park of the day now, Funland Amusement Park at Hayling Island. Yeah!!! String Joint!!! However, the only stripping going on in there was paint stripping. Not a girl in sight. And I thought my driving was bad - this old lady was teaching her grandchild how to kick some serious dodgem ass! One of many carousels I saw on this trip. This guy's kids had the right idea - stay to the right and don't get squashed! This twist was run really fast - but not fast enough to make me wanna throw up my Wimpy Burger I ate 5 mins before getting on! Spiralage!!! From the top, you get a good view of the Victory tower - I think that's what it's called! Time for another bottom of the barrel scraping mission...err, I mean credit! The Disko was much more fun! Empty seats galore, empty seats. Oh Lord, empty seats! (Sung to the tune of Kum-bay-yah) But it wasn't. Shame on you, Moser Rides! The taller your towers go, the worse they get! With a name like Power Tower, it's got to be good! What a surprise. Another travelling flume (that I didn't go on)! The old school entrance to Clarence Pier was looking good today.

Ok, so for the last two days I've been 300 miles from home visiting a few parks alog the South Coast of the UK. 6 coasters, some crazy flat rides and bad dieting on nothing but fast food and fry-ups. On Monday August 8, I left my house at 06.30hrs to catch the 07.05 London Express. By 09.00 I had made it to London, and 2 hours after that I had made it to Brighton. Went straight for the Pier, saw Gregg - but forgot to photo him, and did a few of the attractions there before dropping my stuff off at the hotel. Then it was back to Brighton Station to catch the train to Portsmouth to visit Clarence Pier and Funland at Hayling Island. A few coastal attractions later, and I headed back to Blackpool for the night. The train was delayed, so I got in a lot later than planned. I never seem to get in early anymore! Next day I was up to go to Margate and visit Dreamland - probably the nicest of the 4 parks I visited. A classic Scenic Railway, a few crazy flat rides and more hot weather made for a good day. After a couple of hours there, I began to head for home, and I eventually got back to Manchester at 23.30hrs on Tuesday August 9. Here's the photos of the last two days - First lot is getting down south, and at Brighton Pier. Hmm...Scary! Time to head to Clarence Pier now! And this thing looked awesome. Too bad I didn't end up riding it. This mouse was ok, but you need more people sitting in with you to spin these things. Copyright infrigement became a good theme this weekend! These travelling flumes are everywhere! ...and this fat bird was marking out all the height limits to the rides. The Pier was home to this fat bird... OK, so it wasn't silky smooth, but it's better than all the other Pinfari Loopers I've done! ...but it turned out to be pretty damn good! I get ready to go cruisin' for a brusin'... It's a Pinfari, it has a loop, surely this equals pain! Well I finally got to the rides! And the first new credit of the trip. Don't look at the clock. What's that scary old dude looking at? I must have pulled a face or something... The Dalek had a real person inside!! I didn't wanna get exterminated so I ran like hell. Oh wait, there it is. I always get confused with those two piers. They're just so similar! When I got to the seafront I saw this. Brighton Pier, burned down! All that travel for nothing? Nooooooooooo!!! After 4 hours, I got to Brighton! But what's Mr.Six doing on the side of the bus? Bah. I bet those trains are running on time. I left my Where's Wally book at home, so here's a tribute: Where's Wembley Stadium? In my half-awake state, I thought I could stop the train and run to G-Force. But I thought better of it... On the way down I passed Drayton Manor which is about 5 miles behind this hedge - but no G-Force for me today! What d'ya mean the Orgasmatron Massage parlour is closed? That sucks!

Haha, Theme Park Review is now not worksafe in Germany! Lucky for me that our European team here at work are over the other side of the office. 8)

That brings back some great memories. Definetly the most fun I've had a at a park! Wverything seemed to run smoothly apart from the minor fault on Xpress right before we got on. Met some great people who I hope to see again someday! Non-German Tom

I wear glasses, but I can't have laser surgery because my condition deteriorates over time. So any surgery may only result in a temporary fix. I just hope someone finds a cure for keritaconus! (sp?)

Thorpe Park is almost unrecognisable now from 1999. In the 5 years or so since Tussauds have controlled the park, they've added at least 10 new rides inculding two coasters (a third is coming next year). X:\No Way Out, Loggers Leap, the Rapids, Depth Charge and the Dome are pretty much the only things at the park which have survived. I still prefer Alton Towers and Chessington to Thorpe Park, but Thorpe Park's atmosphere is pretty good if you avoid on going a weekend day. We did well considering that we went in the schoool holidays, I can't imagine what a Saturday in summer must be like. Thanks again Robb, can't wait for the next time!

I was amazed by all the different varieties of Carlsberg they had in Copenhagen when I went last year. Regular, dark, white, Elephant, Export, even Special Brew. Even better was the Buy 1 Get 1 Free offer on all different sorts of Carlsberg at the Hard Rock Cafe next to Tivoli Gardens!

I'm thinking of doing it myself this year, would be good to actually get a full day in Disney this time!

Right, time for an overdue trip report! I ran out of disk space to store my photos, so this last week I've had a clearout of stuff I don't need so I can these photos and more up. Had a very good day at Thorpe Park with Robb & Scott, the photos will tell their own story! Final shot - one for the future. Kiddy Ka makes an appearance in cardboard cut-out form! How to suck Pizza: Lesson 1 We didn't get a great ride on Vortex, but I still rate it over Rush. Samurai is only a shadow of the former ride that once lived at Chessington, but the program was better than any other time when I've been on it at Thorpe. The blood really goes to your head on this ride - how many betroot faces can you spot here? Talking of unpredictable S&S rides, and seemingly against all odds, we got a go on Slammer! More happy faces. But when you're an unpredictable S&S ride swinging this high, you deserve a break! Rush was closed after 2pm for a rest - good job we got on beforehand. ...which Robb grabs on camera! Let's go grab some foliage... Colossus was getting rough, but at least it still looks nice. That'll do nicely! I'm in there somewhere... Not even the water jets that squirt everyone got us. Robb: "Where's a soaking wet ride when you need one?" This might look wet, but we got more soaked going thru Inferno's mist tunnel! But Scott remembers we're on Rumba Rapids, so no need to panic. Robb prepares to film us getting soaked! They seem to be enjoying it! This ride had hardly any queues all day, so we all got a few rides in. Once in we headed straight for Inferno - it was looking better than the weather for a long time! We arrived nice and early, and as you can see a few other people had the same idea.

The launch is over so quickly, you hardly notice it. It's a great adrenalin rush being pushed back into your seat. Once you do it the first time, you get used to the G-forces and the launch. One of my friend's kids was really nervous about Space Mountain and Rock 'N' Rollercoaster at Disneyland Paris, but after she did them once, she loved them to bits. Bringing yourself to do it is the hardest part, but once you do it makes all the effort worth it.

Did some credit-whoring at West Midlands Safari Park yesterday. They have three small coasters: Rhino Coaster - Vekoma Rollerskater I finally got my first ever Rollerskater credit, and they're awesome! This one comes really close to a rock face - I sat at the back, and the whip over the first drop was great fun! Dan will be proud of me. Big Apple - Pinfari Big Apple Nothing much to be said, standard Big Apple model. Apple could do with some paint. Twister - Reverchon/Zamperla Spinning Mouse Not a bad little ride, got some good spin going on the bottom section. Better than other Reverchon spinners I've been on before. Count is now at 106 (Official - minus toboggans, travelling coasters and Fuga D'Atlantide), 113 (Unofficial).

Rita's launch was incredible, but the ride isn't worth more than a 20 minute wait. I always try to get it done as either the last ride of the day, or the first. I wasn't happy about waiting 75mins for my first ride. I was happy about waiting the same length of time for Tonnerre De Zeus, which left me far more satisfied and grinning much more at the end. I also think that Rock 'n' Rollercoaster at Disneyland Paris was better than Rita, because the theming and general effort put into the ride are far superior to the effort made by Alton Towers' launched coaster. I'd definetly queue a while for my first ride on TTD or Kingda Ka, but not repeatedly if they're not worth the wait.

From the ones I've been one, I'd have to say the Pepsi Max Big One. Definetly not Arrow's finest hour.