Porsmond

Alton towers once tryed such a stupid system where you could NOT use the normal queue to go on some rides(nemesis and oblivion were the two ride trailed I believe) and the only way to ride them was to have a fast track ticket booked in advance or you got a fast track ticket on the day however it was very quickly abandoned as people constantly complained that the system didn't work as too many people were unable to gain tickets if they arrived late, meaning they physically couldn't ride these two rides as it was ticket only throughout the whole day. I really hope this system doesn't last either, Efteling is not a park that needs fasttrack, all the rides have good capacity, and queues flow well, taking out a normal queue system of any kind is just terrible as people who arrive a bit later in the day are then unable to ride their favourite ride because all tickets/time slots are gone, and then it will only lead to complaints, I really don't know what they are thinking with this, yeah I know/realise its a trial thing but trust me, it won't work as it never worked at Alton and can't see it working here to be honest

I "think" it still holds this unique fact but Fire Dragon(as it was known when built) at islands of adventure, it was the first B&M inverted coaster NOT to have an inline twist, all other inverters have them and I believe it still holds this unique fact about the ride today The black hole at Alton towers was not simply retired at Alton, according to inside knowledge, the real reason it went is because health and safety demanded Alton install a new evacuation platform, even though it had been there for 20 years previously without Any problems, alton had planned to get rid of the ride from 2006 but due to the costs involved, it was deemed too cost effective to keep for one more season so they decided to retire the ride early hence why it suddenly sat there for a whole season SBNO

Just found out some more information, so if anyone knows Paultons really well, the whole area is going where the Dinosaur walk is at the back of the park, It will also be extended slightly outside the dinosaur walk and it seems the Slide,the bunny powered ride, and a small part of the gardens will also make way for the whole area so its a fair sized area, these changes are already confirmed on the 2015 map so I strongly suspect the slide and bunny powered ride will not be operating throughout the entire 2015 season. Also I hear there will be 1 or 2 other kids rides in the area as well to make up for the 2 lost attractions this year, I guess this make sense so some of the younger kids are not missed out. I'm really looking forward to these changes, Paultons is my local park, so I will definatly be trying to get here for opening day to check it all out. Also Bravo to Paultons for taking another big gamble in the big rides department. The park is certaintly "growing up" and I cant wait to see what the rest of the future now brings for this park providing this investment is indeed yet another success

This is a bit of a touchy subject IMO, you cant really say that this park(insert name here) doesn't get crowded, because they will always have some really super busy days and they will always have a general quiet day, lots of factors actually go into each day don't forget like what day it is(Obviously saturdays and sundays generally are busier than weekdays for example) but I've still been to plenty of parks on saturdays and found a park quiet and that can still be on a nice sunny day, Also weather is always a huge factor each day,School and Public Holidays can affect crowds and even travel conditions(accidents on major local roads to the park etc) can affect crowds too. I will always remember going to Legoland UK on a monday once which wasn't near any school holidays or anything like that, and the weather wasn't even great that day, I thought it was going to be quiet, but infact the park was crowded like you wouldnt believe. I also did Alton Towers on a saturday for Fireworks 2 years ago(the park is usually absolutly rammed all the time on fireworks weekend) but the crowds were shocking quiet, It was the quietest saturday I had ever seen the park on fireworks and thats never happened before(me and my friend just couldnt understand it whaosoever) we were not complaining though, We got on loads of rides that day,and generally didn't queue up longer than 30 mins max for anything. Going back to try and give a good answer to this thread though, Europa Park is a good park in that it can get pretty busy most times but it never seems to be really crowded, I think the park works well in that it is so well spaced out that you will always find good areas you can relax in which not experiencing big crowds around you, also the way they operate the park is amazing and you rarely queue up longer for an hr max for any ride even if the queue is spreading out the entrance, the queues just move slick and fast all the time, oh and will you see any rides braking down, I dont think I did once when I went there for 3 days total 2 years ago, amazing park

I'm not really the sort of person to constantly ride something over and over again, I just find it eventually too boring after a while. However I once decided to do a Stealth Marathon at Thorpe in the early days when it had the single rider queue, and racked up about 20 rides in only a 2-3hr period, Basiclly no one was really using the single rider queue that day so I took advantage of it, I think I even managed at least every other coaster that day at least once or twice, so it turned into a pretty good day. And this was totally insane, but on an ECC trip to Thorpe Park, we had an ERS on Colossus, and everyone was invited to do the "Chunder Challenge" it was basiclly to see how rides in a row you could handle on Colossus without pretty much getting off because we could pretty much stay in our seats the entire time(you could swap seats if you wanted) the result was about 15 rides in 1hr, and OMG it really was the most insane thing I've ever done, Colossus isnt the easiest coaster to just "stay on" for multiple rides lemme tell ya because after even 5-6 rides in a row, you really feel like you wanna throw up, I did manage it(JUST) but most members did actually give up after a while, and it was probably me with about half a train that lasted offically till the end, kinda fun but never again though

Alton Towers used to deal with line jumpers on Nemesis in a clever way. So when a member of staff caught/saw any kind of line jumping, the person would be reported to the staff in the station, and security would be called, but they wouldn't take any immediate action, instead what they would do is still let the person take their ride, and then just have a little suprise for the person in question when they got off the ride(Security waiting and a nice escort off park) If security were delayed getting to the ride, they would deliberately cause a delay on the ride so they could still get there on time when the person got off. I personally think machine guns should be placed around all the queue lines for every ride, with signs up saying anyone caught queue jumping will be shot, I bet it will soon all stop then

I didnt realise the park in Bournemouth had changed their policy of No Adults allowed unless you have a child because I have visited once in the past and was allowed in the park with no problems,Does the park still have their huge maze, OMG It is epic but very hard to actually find the exit, I actually gave up after 20 mins and ducked out of a side exit, I felt embarassed I never successfully completed it but still enjoyed it to some extent. Glad you enjoyed Paultons(My local Big Park)Its a lovely park with a few decent rides and always good for a visit over a few hrs,I'm hoping 2015 is going to bring another big ride to the park as the park generally follows "A Big Ride every 3 years" Rule so here's hoping.

Nope they stopped it to become(WAIT FOR IT) A Disabled Exit Yep I'm not kidding, a very big WTF because if anyone knew Stealth's single rider line, there are STAIRS before the station, so disabled people are forced to use the stairs to get into the station when the exit to the ride had a perfectly good lift upto the unload station, which is(Wait for it again) STILL IN USE, so now we have a Disabled Queue that DOESNT GET USED because most disabled people are still wise to use the lift around the back of the station to get upto the station easily. Its embarassing to see it rarely get used nowadays and I cant understand the reason behind why they changed it the way they did I would love to see the return of the SRQ, but I dont think they ever will. Also there was never anything wrong with that SRQ, It always worked fine, and there was never anything wrong with the previous disabled access either, the mind boggles

The Rapids at Drayton Manor Park can be amusing, there is one section that is quite wide which causes the boats to sometimes slow down with the current through the ride, and in turn sometimes enables the boat to get stuck in this section too if your boat spins or slows down wrongly, On one such ride, I think 4(YES 4) boats passed us before we were finally bumped by another boat and continued on our way, At least we got some good extended ride time and had a good laugh at the end of it when we finally got off

For me personally, Europa Park wins hands down, the park is so amazingly themed, they have left absolutly nothing untouched(even the toilets are themed), its amazing. Islands of Adventure is of course a very amazing themed park, pretty much everything is themed to a very high standard, love Harry Potter Land. Phantasialand would make my top 3, Again everything is very well themed, just look what they did for their drop tower ride, cant believe they did that just for that ride of its type, amazing.

Fire Dragon(Sorry The Red Side of Dragon Challenge) at Islands of Adventure is the "ONLY B&M" Inverted Coaster that does not have an inline twist(At least I think it still has this unique feature)

YEP, just seen the annoucement, Anthem comes to the UK for the summer months(Usually May to end of October) and Florida rest of the months, this is awesome news to hear about a new ship to my home town, and WOW its looks awesome although I hear it does bring a little bit of sad news in that Independance retires from the UK after 2014(sooooooo glad I have done this ship a month ago, would have been gutted to miss it) but as soon as bookings are available for Anthem, I might just book one for the hell of it

awesome report, cant wait for more updates. Trying to convince my girlfriend to go on a Disney Cruise as it does look like such a cool ship, will have to show her your report to tempt her

looks like the launch into the loop at the start could be prone to rollbacks maybe, but I'm liking the concept of this coaster now, looks great, the track over the loop look like it could give great airtime. Do we know if there will be any effects in the tunnel when it first goes into it to simulate its going into a backwards launch??I'm thinking a scenario like flashing red lights,Warning lights,Malfunction noises etc to really build up some drama and make it exciting???

I have a simple rule when I visit any theme park, I wont queue more than 2hrs max for any ride(It is my absolute limit) IMO NO RIDE is worthy of queueing for that long, I wouldnt even queue longer than that if I was desperate for the credit,its just not worth it, you can usually risk going to do other rides in a 2hr period which have much lower queues(fitting in say about 3-4 other rides) and then coming back to the ride in question mid to late afternoon when everyone has ridden it and finding there is usually a much shorter queue for it at the time. Its pretty much always worked for me anywhere that I've visited and long may it continue. So the longest I have queued for anything was Top Thrill Dragster at 2hrs 30 mins, now yeah yeah I know that breaks my rule, but they estimated the queue at roughly 2hrs so I waited it out, but the ride broke down for a 15 min period, and then there was a rollback which further delayed it re-opening for another 15 mins so not too bad.

nearest airport would probably be birmingham, you could then get a train to Stoke on Trent and then get a bus or coach service to the park which I think they still do but I would double check this(I thought they stopped it??) I'm certain you could get/hire a taxi to Alton Towers from here, but it would cost you quite a bit Nearest train stations are as mentioned Stoke on Trent, or Uttoxeter Station, From Uttoxeter, I've heard you can get a bus to the park. Be warned that Alton is terrible really trying to do it all by public transport, its not really recommeneded,If you could hire a car, it would be easier. the Alton Hotel is pretty good especially Splash Landings with the Water Park, you can get various packages that include park tickets and early entry into the park so there are some good perks, Its Expensive, but I would say its worth it if you can afford it. There is not really any budget Hotels/B&B's within Walking Distance from Alton, you could find a couple of B&B's in Alton, but even walking back to Alton isnt suitable along that busy road as there are no proper walking paths back to Alton from the park, so its a bit awkward, just google B&B's in Alton, or near Alton Towers for details though. Drayton Manor is worth visiting, Nearest Station is Tamworth which is approx 3 miles away, From there you can get a bus or taxi to the park. Just so you know, Visiting Alton in September is a great time, Weekdays are usually dead at the park, and weekends are not that bad either, you should do well with the queues and everything Hope this helps

Thats probably a good idea Rob, because Drayton "should" get their big rumoured ride for 2014,there is still a rumour for Oakwood and another big ride for 2014,Legoland should finally get their new kiddie coaster for 2014, and dont be suprised if Thorpe pull something fairly big out of the bag for 2014 considering they are not installing anything new this year(YES there's the Hotel, but it looks like nothing new is appearing in park) It probably wont be a new coaster, but surely a new flat or something because it looks like Slammer will see its last season in 2013 and there are more rumours abound that X will get a long needed re-fit very soon I guess then the next visit will be 2018 for the new paramount park(if it get the go-ahead)

Drayton is a nice park especially with Ben 10 now,It needed a new signiture ride, and I think they have got one, Sure its still not the tallest,not the fastest, but It is quite good fun,fairly thrilling, and its very re-rideable, Queue themeing is VERY good too(Well for a UK park standard anyway) There's a lot of changes happening at Drayton, It looks like the rumour is true about Pirate Adventure, and its going for an extension of Thomas World(No final word yet what exactly though) Oh yeah and watch out in 2014 as BIG rumours point towards something HUGE for the park,totally ground braking and their biggest investment in the park ever(It was meant to be 2013, but its been delayed)This is no rumour as Colin Bryan(managing director) has hinted that something big is coming, but obviously wont say what, Watch this Space as they say

Tripsdrill is a fantastic little park with some unique rides and attractions, I heard they took a big risk when they installed G'sengte Sau with it being a big investment for the park, but its good that over the years, its all payed off, and they got their woodie they really wanted and now a launched coaster(WOW), one coaster to watch next year I think

Duelling Dragons at IOA still has the handy Baby Swap Exit which you can use if its quiet to sneak round for another go and you can then pretty much get back on the same train if no one is queueing for a row, Dont think the staff mind too much either, a member of staff saw me do it once, but didnt really care what I was doing. So Most British Parks let you stay on rides for re-rides, The only park that is fairly strict is Alton Towers, but they let you stay on a certain amount of rides like the Mine Train,Log Ride,Rapids but only if its really quiet obviously,Thorpe Park have gotten slighty more strict over the past few years, but if its really dead, the staff generally dont care and will still let you stay on most rides, Chessington are very good on most of their rides. Paultons Park let you stay on any ride if there is no queue, and Advenure Island at Southend pretty much let you stay on any ride if there's no queue too

Sometimes its hard to know what to do, when I last went to IOA last year, I was told I should check out the entire queue line at least once for the new Harry Potter Ride as its quite well themed, however the queue was always at least 1hr plus on the days I went whereas compared to the SRQ, It was NEARLY WALK ON, or 5 mins at most all the time(I was more preapred to maximize the amout of rides I could manage for my visit ) so regretibly I never saw all the themeing throughout the entire queue line(This is something I will do when/if I return again though) I agree about Wodan, it is a very impressive themed queue line, and something I am glad I checked out, It was worth the walk through, but luckly I never queued long through it all anyway(longest 30 mins, SRQ was actually nearly the same) so yeah always something hard to judge, especially if you're limited for time at the park, but it is something you should do once if you can, would have been gutted to miss out seeing the Wodan queue if I used SRQ all the time, and thats why when I go back to Florida, I will make sure to check out all the queue for Harry Potter

Those Coasters at Ocean View do have stunning views I must admit,there are two other coasters that come to mind though, one is Heiße Fahrt at Klotten, just before the bit when you enter the airtime hills is a really lovely view of the countryside surrounding the park, Its quite a site Although now a defunct coaster there was Montana Rusa at Tibidabo which gave out a stunning view of Barcelona when you came to the top of the lift hill and looked left, Definatly one of the best views there ever was on any coaster

I think there's a Diner in Superhero Island, and its part of the back area of that too I think with seating and everything, so you can relax in this area having something to eat(while being quite hidden too) and watch a great coaster in action, really cool

Just been through this thread again, I cant believe no one has mentioned the path around the back area of Seuss Landing at IOA, So if you enter the area from the Port of Entry, you will immediatly see a path on your left hand side, this is basiclly a short cut round the whole area cutting through to the other exit/entrance to lost Continent. This is surely one of the best kept secrets/shortcuts in a theme park because no one really uses it as its just not really noticeable as an alternative path round the area, I have found it relaxing around this path as its next to the lake so you get nice views of the park, Its nice and peaceful, plus I believe there is still seating around this area too so a nice place to chill and get away from the crowds

Coasterguy is right, Its very frustrating to see Flying Turns still under construction and all sorts of work still going on but you've got to give the park HUGE credit to keep working on it, and going with the attitude of "We will get this right, and it will be done when its done" It would probably be an easy bet to say that the absolute majority of parks would just have simply given up by now and thrown in the towel, but this shows huge dedication from the park in that they clearly want to still fight on and get this ride open no matter how long it takes. In the meantime, I guess we will have to keep making do with the pov posted on Youtube, and hope that once this ride does open, it really will be truely unique