StealthFan

I dont personally think it is them painting over welds as they have been known to paint over the welds in patches over the years. I really do hope its the entire ride repaint as it really needs it. They must have done something significant to the train and ride because not only was it quiet but it was running 2 trains fairly efficiently (Compared to before) and thats something I haven't seen in years. Normally its either always running one train or 2 but stacking for ages.

I wouldn't speak to early I'm sure its still a possibility. I honestly thought the same when they were constructing the Smiler due to how compact and twisted it is. Hats off to the rigging crews for because this definitely looks like one of the more complex coaster builds.

On the contrary, I thought that on my own first and only ride that it was kick butt, and one of my favorite B&M coasters. The rehab will just make a great attraction even better. Honestly its not that the ride was terrible by any means. There are definitely worse B&Ms out there thats for sure but my ride was pretty rough to what I was expecting and it gave me a headache. Lots of love I'm sure will make this ride seriously awesome and I won't hesitate to give it another go.

From my first and only ride on it I feel it totally needs a lot of love. After all the years of hype and people saying how good it was I came off disappointed with a headache. If the ride is to get new trains I will be interested to see what they look like and what restraints they go with. I would be interested too see how a ride like this could deal with a slimmed down vest restraint.

So I don't think anyone has discussed this yet but what do people think the design of the trains will be? With the limited information we have I'm struggling to even think what colour they will be.

So last weekend I went on a mini road trip to Thorpe Park, Drayton Manor and Alton Towers. After finishing work early on a Thursday I went to pick up my friend then we made a quick stop at Thorpe Park as it was on route. Now I'm sure most of you know Thorpe Park doesn't have a great reputation when it comes to staff or efficiency but they have been know to throw surprises from time to time. This time though was not one of those times. I can honestly say this may be one of the single worst trips to Thorpe I have ever had! For a company (Merlin) that is still under the spotlight you would expect everything to be top notch but it wasn't even close, from rude staff, slow operations, the general dirtiness of the park and the overgrown gardens. I don't want to be completely negative about the park as always a few beams of sun light can mange to break through the darkest of clouds. In this case this biggest was something I have wanted for years and thats what looks like the start of Colossus finally getting repainted! All the track connections and a couple of entire track pieces have been repainted and look fantastic! If they re paint the whole ride, fix the fountains and water sections it will look fantastic once again. Also I think a lot of trees should be removed as the whole area is a bit over grown. Also on the note of Colossus the ride was SUPER quiet and running 2 trains. I don't know what they have done exactly but I could hardly hear the ride running when I was standing next to X and considering you used to be able to hear the ride from the car park thats a HUGE improvement. But anyway enough with my rant about the park its time for some photos! Always a good start to a trip even if the queue line was full of obnoxious school kids. This is still by far my favourite ride at the park. This is the Swarm. Moving on......... This is the parks good B&M. Nemesis Inferno has to be one of the last really good B&M inverts. So this is some of the repainted Colossus and I think it looks fantastic! The ride look so great when it opened and I hope it goes back to that. It is very random what parts of the track have been repainted but all track connections have been painted. Saw: The Ride was testing during our visit and actually re opened at 4:30pm that afternoon but we had left by that time. I wanted to bury my head in the ground with some of the terrible things I saw from staff during this trip! Okay so this has to hands down be the dumbest thing I have seen at Thorpe in quite some time. For anyone who has visited Thorpe Park you will know the park is pretty much a circle so is really easy to navigate. With the construction of next years dark ride in full swing the site is taking up vast space where the arena used to be. Due to the size of the project the site offices have been places on the old site of Miss Hippo's Fungle Safari. To allow for site vehicles to get in and out of the site without impacting guests a road has been made from the offices to the main site which of course makes total sense. They even designed gates that could block off entry to either each site separately with keypad doors to allow workers in or block the entire path temporarily to allow vehicles through. Again fantastic idea, but of course in typical Thorpe Park fashion they just keep the entire path blocked which means if you want to go from say Slammer to Nemesis Inferno you have to walk around the entire park! All of which of course caused terrible pinch points of guests in the park and made multiple people standing there thinking "wtf is going on". Considering there was all of 5 people working on site while I was at the park the fact the path was kept closed is mind boggling. "The island landscape is changing so it will be harder to navigate" The driver is secretly spying on everyone over the fence! Wait am I still at Thorpe Park or did I go to Diggerland? This is one of my favourite food items at Thorpe that I am really surprised hasn't been picked up at other parks. Roast & Relish Hand Carved Meat Filled Baguettes are awesome. You can have turkey, gammon or beef filling with stuffing if you so choose and it tastes so freaking awesome! Next up it was time to take a walk over and look at "Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here" Honestly if it wasn't for the fact this is where the dead end of the park now is due to 2016 construction I could easily have walked passed it thinking it was an over grown building. Considering how busy the park was the attraction didn't have much of a queue. I don't know if thats a sign that its not that popular or just because the park was full of annoying school kids. Either way I didn't enter the attraction as I don't like the show at all and this doesn't appeal to me one single bit but from the outside it certainly didn't even attempt to draw me in. Here is another positive thing I believe the park has done (Other parks may have done this but I haven't noticed). Smoking has always been banned in queue lines but now they have added e-cigarettes in the queue line also. As part of the Im a Celeb you can get sweets with bugs in. Who wants to try one? Preparations were under way for the parks "Island Beats" event which is under way now featuring many bands and music acts I have never heard of! Hmmm seems this angry bird was so fat he broke the slingshot. Rush was in full swing.......... Always worth a visit to the poop deck before you leave. After leaving the park early to get to Drayton Manor I of course got stuck in the compulsory M25 traffic! Which as you can see made me so happy! So thats it for Thorpe Park and I certainly have no intention of returning there any time soon regardless of the fact its on my annual pass. But of course it was onwards and upwards from here and the trip got a hell of a lot better with some amazing and awesome stuff so stay tuned as Drayton Manor is up next! -Craig

Well you say that but when me and Robb rode we got to see a penguin take a giant poop as the shutter to the enclosure opened. That was easily the best part of the whole attraction!

I did that yesterday night! Once you hit the button the game seems to freeze for a few minutes while it stores everything in the inventory unless the building is being used by a character. It was so nice to start from scratch but it takes a really long time to put everything back to allow characters to do tasks again.

Honestly from what I've seen so far this ride could be amazing without any inversions. I see possible mega lite amounts of fun this ride could theoretically deliver.

If these people exist they need to be fed to some angry ostriches! I am still unsure about this new coaster. I loved the 2 B&Ms the park already has but as its been said before newer B&Ms are not as good as they should be. I hope they prove me wrong and I really believe they can't drop the ball with this any harder than they did with Antartica!

Yeah it really messes with my eyes but is still pretty awesome. I don't know how it rides but Thunderbird looks like its a hell of a lot better than Swarm of Raptor (The 2 wing riders I have been on)

So reading the paper a couple of days ago it seems one fan of the Pleasure Beach decided to convert one of the parks of Log Flume boats in to a car! Would you like to drive this crazy log flume car or would you rather someone turned an old coaster train in to a car? Comment below and let us know!

The "Dark Vador" burger looks horrible! While I'm sure it tastes fine it doesn't look very appetising.

Awww poor Baymax! I loved meeting him on my Orlando trip. I do hope he finds a new home somewhere on resort. I vote that they cancel all Star Wars stuff and build San Franksokyo instead.

You have to feel sorry for anyone who has to endure "Craig time"!

I can't be the only one who thinks the track and support colour is horrible.

I would love to see a Liseberg water park! I love Splash Landings at Alton Towers so I can only imagine how amazing a Liseberg one would be!

This concept has fire therefore I approve!

You have without question proved to be a cheese eating champion! I remember when you got back on the bus with that block of cheese and I was thinking "there is no way you will be able to eat all that". I was proved wrong.

Is this set in stone yet?

^So we can now call this the concrete coaster then?

Its amazing to see how much concrete has been used on this ride and to think thats the park will be able to cover it all with what I'm sure will be top quality theming.

You thought I had forgotten about about this trip report again didn't you. Well I'm happy to say I haven't forgotten about it and it will be finished! Today I bring you the update from the worlds largest Ikea and Grona Lund! I have had to miss out Skara Sommerland as there wasn't any good pictures from there. To make up for that please enjoy this POV of Tranan! [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] "Yay we are at the worlds largest Ikea! Where is Robb's wallet?" Dave showing how a Sharktopus is created! Lou is holding an Ikea certified rodent! If all of Robb's thoughts appeared above his head in a bubble it would be amazing I'm sure! Im sorry Dave but I don't think they will let you take a fridge/freezer on the plane as excess baggage. Even at a young age KT loved Ikea! She definitely takes after Elissa. Do you think this is good value to buy your very own Dave? Some people just can't handle the worlds largest Ikea. Oh dear I think this is what Ikea overload looks like. Is Steve drunk or excited for Grona Lund? Wait you mean I have to ride with Magnus P.I? "I LOVE YOU ROBB!!!" "Okay what is going on now?" "I have a child so this is perfectly acceptable." The clenching and squishing in this photo on the other hand may not be. Hanno is terrified someone will find out about his dirty little secret! There is footage of this coaster. How many of you would like to see "Credit Whores in the Raw"? Sometimes you just have to be serious when riding a Vekoma! A floorless stand up drop towers, something good for the ladies, bad for the men! Moment before testicle crushing commences. "No more big rides! FUN HOUSE TIME!" I think someone enjoyed the bumpy conveyor slide very much. KT loved this even though at the time it was not a Frog Hopper! Is Elissa going to recreate the Lion King after this photo? What do you think? Even the park owners make sure to get in on the coaster action! Robb: "I didn't think I would have to teach KT to drive for many more years!" "Don't worry, if I crash you can pay for repairs." "In the epic battle of TPR Vs Moles there can only be one winner.........." Which of course it is going to be Elissa! And naturally being the Whack-A-Mole expert that she is she got the high score! "Wait have we forgotten something?" Of course we have! More beer! I have no recollection of what I am doing to Steve here and I don't want to remember either! "Bye bye your all going to feel sick on Insane" Safety checks are always paramount on roller coasters. This is exactly why Robb is just checking his man bank is where it should be. Is that a look of concern or excitement? "OMG WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!" Insane looks like it can be a life changing experience for someone people! This is a look of "This may be one of the dumbest things I've ever done!" "Why the hell are you making me do this again?" The realisation that the car you are in is going to be super unbalanced! The best way to end this section of the trip report is with Elissa eating a giant block of cheese! So there you have it Ikea and Grona Lund via the "Smile cam"! Hope you enjoyed it and I hope you are looking forward to the next instalment. -Craig

I always wondered how those Dipping Dots people got all their information! "Your assignment is to wear this paper hat and dispense this new 'ice-cream' like product at a theme park frequented by SPECTRE agents. And do be careful with the equipment, 007!" Did that message then self destruct? As for the pre shows, YAY for projection mapping!

That definitely an interesting concept. I would love to see one beat and hear the reviews on it because it will either be really good or people will think its dumb and hate it.