Ork1927

Part 3 - Having pretty much been on everything there was only one thing left to do - go on everything again. The park was open until 7.30 and I assumed it would get busy as it was a Friday night but it got even quieter. So more riding and loads of goes on the game where you roll a ball to make a horse/donkey/camel get to the finish line. This is the last set and I'll put up a Camelot TR tomorrow. A final shot - coasters, coasters and more coasters. A fantastic park and I won;t be leaving it ten years to go back. In hindsight this may have been an error as the sun had cleared off, a quick final ride on the Big One and avalanche did not act as a dryer and we had a forty five minue bus ride/twenty minute walk back to our camp site - but still it was too good a ride not to go on again We decided to finish off with another ride on Valhalla and enjoyed it so much we went straight on again Noahs Ark Big One in Action And some great shots on concrete The monorail is a must ride as you can get some cool shots of the coasters The Big Dipper in Action Three coasters all in a row Second time around on Infusion sitting nearer the front was a better ride. And it does look very cool in amongst the Big One and The Dipper Doh! Not off today! The national wasn't running RIP - Turtle Chase Got to love a park where 5 different coasters are visible in this shot

Part 2 - As lunchtime approached it was time to enter VALHALLA. Flying Machines finish off part 2 Didn't go on this for some reason No-one at all on the Grand Prix Some big dips Sitting at the back wasn't the best idea - things were about to get painful Finishing off our coaster run with the Big Dipper Zipper Dipper was open but the ride-ops were all away looking up a tree so we went on the Roller Coaster and then Avalanche More Revolution - for a single inversion coaster (well two inversion) you know you've been on a ride. We then walked on (up) to Revolution and for a minute looked like we would be the only two on it. Sadly, they waited for ages and ages until it half filled up. Following Steeplchase we walked onto Space Invader (which was fine for a low budget Space Mountain) A horse is a horse, of course of course I still love this ride. I'd also forgotten about the brilliant Derby Racer (super fast carousel) with no seat belts! After a Burger King it was time for Coasters, coasters, coasters. Starting with the Steeplechase and what a brilliant dark/water ride. Loved the effects, loved the drops and loved the viking music. Clare paid out for a poncho but I did not. I'd heard great things from this site so my expectations were high

After a weeks holiday in Cyprus, half of which spent working hard volunteering at the Donkey Sanctuary, there was only one thing to do - go straight to Blackpool and finally visit a couple of theme parks after a near year long drought. The Pleasure Beach was always a favourite park as a kid and I visited loads of times but hadn't been for ten years (and that was just a very quick visit to finally ride the Big One with a load of drunk Geordies at 10 in the morning). So, with an giddy excitement, that embarrassed my girlfriend we hit the Pleasure Beach on a very good day weather wise after an appalling British summer. A great day in a very quiet park with the only downer being that the Grand National was shut as it has been every single time I've ever visited. Another Infusion pic to finish Part 1 The very old and very great - Wild Mouse. We then hit a load of dark rides which were all walk-ons. Nostalgia aplenty on the River Caves, Alice in Wonderland and Ghost Train. We then spent loads of time in Noahs Ark This was the only time we really queued as at the start of the day the park was full of kids on school trips!!!???? - Not a bad deal for them on the first Friday back from the Summer Holidays THE BIG ONE - which was cool. More Infusion - there was a staggered opening on the rides so I managed to persuade Clare to go straight to ...... We sat on the back row of the first train of the day - it was a pretty decent coaster but no nemesis At 11.30 - these birds appeared. I expected them to announce the ride was about to open but remembered I wasn't in Disney Test Run time More Infusion First up - Infusion. The park opened at 11.00 but the rides didn't 'till half past so we queued at the door Let Me In!!!!! At bit of the BIG ONE View from Central Pier.

Can't believe how quiet it was. Seeing the rain seems odd at a Florida Park especially as I just managed to visit the Pleasure Beach and Cemlot and it not rain at all despite us having the worst summer ever.

After failing to go to any parks at all so far this year - Blackpool Pleasure Beach is go for early September and hopefully Camelot (although it shuts during the week). Hopefully I'll also get to Thorpe Park and Terra Mitica before the year is out.

Thanks Just the answer I was looking for !

Hi I’m looking to go to Madrid/Benidorm in late August/early September. How busy are the parks likely to be? Will the summer peak be nearing its end by then?

Excellent news. Never got to experience this first time around.

In theory there should be no need to mess with Duelling Dragons. There are dragons in the Harry Potter universe so Dragons could remain untouched and not look out of place with the Flying Unicorn being converted with a heavy Potter theme for the kids. Fury could be alterted and improved perhaps using footage from the films or newly recorded stuff by the actors. My only idea for Sinbad would be Quidditch but I can't see how that would work in reality. The main concern is Mythos. Kids who love Harry Potter are going to want Potter burgers and Dementor shakes and at what age group they decide to pitch the whole land at - if they take the darker parts of the Potter universe it could be okay.

Mine arrived early last week. Fits great - roll on the Spring when the parks are open again!!!

After seeing this TR I was inspired to make "mine" the noise my mobile makes when receiving a text message. Knowing this my girlfriend sent me five messages in a row while I was in work

Cool TR Do the seagulls actually say "mine"? If so I'm going back to Florida now* *I wish!

Found this press release dated 25th August so I'm assuming around then: HAIR RAISIN' EYE POPPIN' JAW DROPPIN' West Midland Safari Park, situated in Bewdley, Worcestershire has installed a brand new, half a million pound amusement ride. More than 6 times taller than a giraffe and twice as fast, the ride - from an international ride manufacturer - is called 'Venom' and is the only one of its kind in the country. It has a unique fail-safe linear braking system and consists of a 32 metre high tower, weighs approximately 18 tonnes and has a capacity of entertaining up to 480 visitors per hour. Thrill seeking passengers are seated side by side in a gondola large enough to seat 8 persons at a time. The gondola is then winched to the top of the tower; it rests for a nail-biting 10 to 15 seconds, before it plummets to earth - reaching a speed from 0 to a stomach churning 60 kph in less than a second! The duration of the ride is approximately 1.5 minutes and the minimum height requirement is 1.4m. Venom is the tallest ride on the Park. The second tallest is the Black Fly Ride which is a mere 14 metres. Last year West Midland Safari Park installed the £1 million River Rafting Ride.

Me and my girlfriend took a trip to West Midlands Safari Park last Sunday before it closed for the season. We've been a few times before but never had the time to take in the rides that make up part of the non safari park part of the safari park (if that makes sense). Its a decent collection of rides for a non theme park with a new drop tower installed this year. Possibly not worth a trip if you're not an animal fan but the safari park is excellent allowing you to feed goats, deer, giraffes (and once) a Zebra while you drive around. There is also other animal exhibits next to and around the rides. Wellworth a trip when it re-opens next Spring. And a picture of a camel that I really like Finally, let the animals with their heads in the car commence Venom and Twister in the background. The giraffes are not allowed on the rides (well not during the day) Venom in the background The map - 25 rides in all Another Log Flume pic. Also amongst the rides were dodgems, a pirate ship and loads of kiddie rides Then it became a bit too spinny....... I prefer the floorless outward facing version at Terra Mittica The Black Fly - the sadistic ride op gave us two rotations on this. I was enjoying it up until about one and a half times through And Down - the drop doesn't last long but it is very quick while it does. The guy next to me was more scared of this than Apocolypse. Going up - my girlfriend was scared silly by this despite thinking it looked tame. Does a nice suspensful waiting (complete with creaks) Venom Tower Drop. The parks latest ride. Not the tallest drop tower in the world but it was really good. Ghost Train - pretty basic but anything with a blood puking zombie gets a thumbs up from me! Twister - Spinning mouse sponsored by an ice cream. Good fun! Rhino Coaster - a kiddie coaster but with Rhino cars Wild River Rafting - A rapids ride that starts off as a slide before continuing as a standard rapids ride - its not Bilge Rat Barges but it was good stuff. Zambezi Water Splash - a small two drop log flume. As small two drop log flums go it was very good!

I'm hiding my credit cards, cutting off my internet connection and not drinking for the next couple of days. I used to love the Turtle chase!!!

Doesn't this say they are moving it to the other side of the park between the Simulator and Labryinth of the Minatour. I can't find a picture of that area from when I visited last month but I think I can see where it would go. Seems pretty stupid but Tizona is the furthest point from the enterance. Perhaps rebuilding it will make it more of a pleasant ride

BTM - What an ending!!! Although I did really enjoy RnR and Space Mountain (despite the pain) as well.

Cool Photos. Alton Towers twice in three days can't be bad.

Last ones - water rides and views It is a brilliantly themed park Finish off with some views. More Ulysses Rescue The fantastic Ulysses Rescue It gets pretty high Its like being on the best swing ever Synkope was excellent Giant Frisbee!!! Benidorm (with a bit of Falls of the Nile) Tritons Fury - Both drops Tritons Fury - SPLASH Rapids of Argos (actual rapids boats not included in picture) Backwards Log flume ago go

More Photos The Minotaur Theming - well a little bit of it Crazy boar dodgems Bravo Train - the Bull is out of control!!!!!! Even More Magnus Colossus but from further away!!!! Hooray for Terra Mitica More Magnus Colossus Magnus Colossus - Not the greatest Woodie but the double drop is pretty cool A great drop-ride with great views Phoenix to the Sun Coming Down - I'm not scared - honest!! Going Up Getting Ready

We visited this park in Benidorm whilst on holiday in Spain a week or so ago. Travelling from about 45 minutes away thanks to a coach trip we had from just after opening at 10.00am to 8.00pm (when the park closed) to explore the park on a very hot and sunny day. Terra Mitica has a mythology theme and is split into a number of lands - Greek, Iberian, Egyptian, etc and is a fantastically themed and very beautiful park. Lots of statues, castles, arenas and great looking rides make this one of the best themed parks I've visited. Situated on the side of a mountain it also gives great views of Benidorm and the sea. But what of the rides? After a long walk across the park, Clare and I started off with TIZONA, the parks good looking hanging vekoma. We went straight to the front and then dangled there for ages as the ops waitied for more people to turn up . The park was pretty quiet all day and most rides were walk ons although there was some queuing as some rides seemed to be under manned and loading took ages. Anyhoo, eventually we set off and despite a couple of nice twists and turn, TIZONA looked a lot better than it actually rode. Pretty painful and it didn't flow very well. It was better at the back when we rode it later as it didn't seem to pause as much but despite the park being quiet we didn't feel the need to ride it more than twice. Next up, FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX, a tall drop tower. No messing about here. You get on, you go up and then after a tense wait you come flying back down. Clare didn't fancy this but I jumped straight on it and it was great. Great views while you are at the top and a a very heart stopping descent. Rode it four times and it scared the life out of me every time. We then stumbled upon ARRIRRIX, which was the Steeplechase at Blackpool if it wasn't a coaster. A nice relaxing trip with all the horses (or unicorns) based on different mythological horses. Clare then rode THE ICARUSES which despite the great name was just a flying chair swing ride which went on for ages. I declined to ride following an unfortunate vomitting incident at Pleasure Wood Hills many years ago. We then rode a kiddie coaster, ALUCINAKIS which was pretty good for a kiddie coaster and did go around twice. before doubling back to ride MAGNUS COLUSSUS, the parks over big coaster. A woodie at the very top of the park built into the mountain. Like Tizona, it looked better than it rode but the double drop at the start was pretty good but it was a painful ride. We went on it three times overall and each time I was feeling pretty bashed up by the end of it. By now it was pretty hot so a water ride seemed in order. TRITONS FURY is a splash boat with two drops and a bit of theming (although the Spanish seem to like to spit paper at the statues). Both drops were pretty cool with the smaller one sending me right out of my seat. We did get very wet and rode it twice more throughout the day as it was the best way to cool off. Next up was LABYRINTH OF THE MINOTAUR, a dark ride with guns (ala Men in Black). We had to queue for ages but it was well worth it. The targets were a little hard to hit and there was no score display but the actual ride was fantastic. Brilliant animatronic Hydras, Giant Spiders, Cerebus and finally the Minotaur all lurk around every corner. Rode it three times and loved every second of it. After a bit to eat, we discovered ARIETES, which were pretty violent wild boar dodgems. Great fun. We then rode BRAVO TRAIN, a powered kiddie coaster which offered great views of Benidorm and went around twice.. After a bit of re-riding on the coasters and Phoenix (Clare never summoned the courage) we found a building full of Nintendo Gamecubes, GBAs and DSs. A quick distraction from he heat and a game of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and it was time for RAPIDS OF ARGOS, a pretty decent rapids ride. Next door to the rapids was ULYSSES RESCUE. Knowing nothing about this we ventured inside and it first it looked like a walk around display with no other guests in sight. It turned out to be a brilliant dark ride (that also went outside) - a sort of Greek Mythology Pirates of the Caribbean in circular rapids boats with the occasional soaking. Rode it three times (including staying on for a second ride with a nice Spanish family). It immediately moved near to the top of the list of favourite dark rides ever thanks to the theme (there is a great bit where you go through Hades) and the water bits. We finished off the water rides with FALLS OF THE NILE, a log flume with the big drop first followed by a smaller backwards drop. Not without its charm but nothing too special. After a lot of re-riding and a failure to experience WARRIOR OF THE DAWN (a simulator) as it appeared to be closed when we went to go on it (despite queues all day). We braved SYNKOPE, the giant frisbee. I say braved as it looked the sort of spinny swinging ride of death that would make us both nearly vomit (ala Submission at Alton Towers). However it was actually a brilliant ride and I'm gutted that we only got to ride it once. We never went into the PYRAMID OF TERROR as there was a surcharge and I couldn't find out what it actually was before we left for Spain (can anyone enlighten me? and the park was testing ANGER OF ACHILLES which opened later in the day but we never went on it. (See pictures in other topic - New Flat Ride at Terra Mitica. Thoroughly enjoyed our day at the park - theming was fantastic and while the coasters are a bit disappointing, the park has a great drop tower, three decent water rides, an excellent frisbee and two first class dark rides (Minotaur and Ulysses). There are also lots of mini versions of the bigger rides for little kids. Park is well worth a visit and I look forward to going there again. Anyway, enough droning on. Time for the pictures - The pyramid of what the hell is in it? A horse is a horse of course of course Then they tested it and later it was open (for the first time?) First it was being worked on Kiddie coaster Chair Swing with cool name - The Icaruses And some more And even more And more More Tizona But there a a couple of cool inversions And at the front seems to stop start a bit But its pretty painful Tizona - It looks nice

Pictures of the New ride - Anger of Achilles. It looks like I was there for opening day as they were working on it in the morning, then testing and in the late afternoon it was open (I'm sure I took a picture of it running with guests but it would appear not). Didn't go on it myself as I had minotaurs to kill. Trip Report on its way this week-end Testing, Testing The Anger of Achilles

ooops I got over-excited!

Part the second Blurry water chute photo Drenched No-one told me I'd get wet Don't fancy riding but still want to get wet. Stand on the bridge SPLASH!!!!!!!!1 My eyes! The googles they do nothing!!! to here very quickly and then straight down Hydro doesn't mess around. You go from here Upfront on Hydro on an overcast welsh day B B B B Bounce Mega!!!! View from the queue - they have tv screens showing the on-ride photos from the last ride Megaphobia Megaphobia - Here we go Arghhhh - the bridge to Megaphobia of Doom

On Saturday I travelled up to Oakwood with the 'missus' and two of our friends for a day of coasters, sheep, getting soaked and then camping out and playing cricket with socks. We left Cardiff at 8.30am and arrived at Oakwood just after opening at 10.00am. The weather was cloudy but fairly warm and most importantly drive and the car park was pretty empty. We immediately sped across to Speed. The vertical lift hill rather than the actual ride proved a little daunting for one of our party so she sat out our first go where we pretty much walked straight on. We sat in the front row and despite some initial screaming from my girlfriend, the sensation of the vertical lift hill didn't prove daunting and I was happily swinging my arms around and anticipating the 97 degree drop......... Have to agree with the comments from the recent UK trip, this was a cracking ride, great first drop with a lot of air time over the hill and then down into the loop before some more twisting and turning. We quickly sung its praises to our absconder and rushed straight round for another go - this time sitting in the back row which proved a more daunting lift hill experience as you have no idea when the car is going to reach the top. Following a quick go on the small Water Chute ride, we headed over for a couple of goes on Megaphobia. I'd forgotten how long a ride this was and we all enjoyed being thrown around and out of our seats by this great woodie. Strangely the park didn't seem to be filling up and we walked straight onto the Pirate Ship amusing ourselves by sitting at the back and lifting feet and hands up at the peak of the each turn. A quick ride on Snake River Falls (closed pipe water chutes) wasn't that exciting. Next up was a quick ride on the Tree-Top coaster which when I first visited Oakwood was it's main ride before we walked straight onto the drop-tower - Bounce. This was fairly tame compared to some drop towers but started with a launch upwards and then a lift to the top and a drop down. I do like the trees all around the ride as it gives you a good sense of height as you rise above them. Time for another ride on Speed and despite a fairly short queue and an empty park we still had to wait 45 minutes to get on. Only one car was being used but I guess that a further car wouldn't have made a great deal of difference except to speed up loading. This may be a problem during the summer when the park gets busy! Once again the thought of the lift hill proved too much for Sarah and she once again decided not to ride despite actually sitting in the car. We mocked her unmercifully for the rest of the day. After a quick food break and a play on some of the scientific games in Techniquest, we took in a round of Crazy Golf in the shadow of Hydro. The timing worked out nicely as Hydro was only open between 2.00 and 5.00 so we finished our round of golf at 2.05 and it was time to get wet. The girls decided not ride, mainly because the clouds covered the sky and while it wasn't cold there seemed little chance of the sun coming out for a visit. Paul and myself scoffed at the lack of sun and after a brief wait (no real queue but after the accident a few years ago they are very careful in checking all the restraints) we found ourselves at the front of the boat sitting alongside two kids. One of which cheerfully informed us that he had been sick on Speed earlier in the day. When I asked him if he planned on being sick now, he replied no but said it wouldn't matter as the water would get rid of it anyway!!!! Hydro is a very big no-nonsense water chute and being at the front we were already soaked and blinded by freezing cold water about a second in to the descent (and hopefully not bits of carrot) before the very, very big splash at the end. Plans for a re-ride went straight out the window as we were completely soaked but we put a brave face on it (i.e., male macho stupidity) as we sloshed around the park looking for a bit of sun to dry us off. Hydro is a great ride but not that friendly on a cloudy Wales day. Next up was Spooky 3D, Oakwood’s Ghostly dark-ride. Spiderman this was not and the 3D didn't really work but as a Ghost train it wasn't without its charm. Brear Rabbit was closed (well there was no ride-op to be found) despite the photo booth in the shop being manned so we decided to head over to Megaphobia for one last ride. We managed to grab the two back rows and 'WOW' it was a great if rather painful great final ride as we were thrown around all over the place from the first drop to the last. Great stuff and a good ending to an enjoyable day in a quiet park. Pictures below - mainly of Speed and Hydro. I was fortunate that I didn't try to take photos on our last ride on Megaphobia as the first drop would have probably seen my camera now in the possession of some sheep. Twisting the end away Tracktastic Loopy Here we go loop da loop Aiirrrtiiimmmeeeee Here comes the airtime 97 Degree drops are cool Dooooooooowwwwnnnnn and............ No Oblivion waiting here - straight over and...... Vertical Lift-hill agogo It begins Its time for some Speed