mwm1444

^ Fair point. And kudos should be given when he posts at least once without actually mentioning Flight of Fear or SFA.

^ With all due respect, I don't think we're talking about the same thing..

As a fan, I can definitely see where Robb and others are coming from, with regards to the level of alienating detail in WWoHP vs. the rest of the Islands. I have no wish whatsoever to incur any Potter-bashing, so I'll simply say that, while I think the new land will appeal to the mass audience (a lot of whom have experienced and enjoyed some aspect of Pottermania), a heck of a lot of it will require deeper thought/a deeper knowledge of the product, to fully enjoy it. And, as John Wardley (arguably the king of story-based amusements) pretty much said on Season Pass a few weeks ago, that isn't really what being a themed land/ride in a theme park is about. Trying to balance on the fence is difficult..

I prefer dark rides to rollercoasters; I count dark rides in the same way as I do coaster credits - on fact, since I prefer them, I'm as likely to go out of my way for a dark ride 'credit', as credit whores are for coaster 'credits'. My (sentimental) favourite dark ride is probably Pirate Boats at Legoland Billund. ^^^, oddly enough, I think some of the best 'out there' dark rides are found in museums/visitor attractions, rather than parks.

I'm going to stick my neck out and agree. Of course, I'm a Harry Potter fan, and one who's not always keen on the films - but the level of detail is quite something, to me.

Pity it doesn't actually ride as good as it looks my least favourite first drop ever, and the rest is very much 'meh'.

^ They were running it (and Gold Mine too, funnily enough) last October, I think as relief while Big Dipper was down. Now that Big Dipper's back (?), presumably Rollercoaster isn't 'needed'.

Be lovely if Rollercoaster (my favourite woodie in the UK..really) and Gold Mine (imo a better version of the type of dark ride than Knott's) were open by the time the UK tour rolls into Blackpool. Nice to see the date marker on the Alice bench, has that always been there, or did they put it in after removing the one on the Gold Mine bench?

I'm also 18, so it makes sense for me to make the muppet vision connection, mainly cause I dont know who the Mills Brothers are. And then there's me, ancient at 19, thinking that the definitive version of Dream a Little Dream was by Mama Cass.

Most of the coasters in my top 10 definitely agree about California Screamin' in particular, since it's my #1 steelie.

I think I had a slightly more painful ride in the front seat, last time I did Vampire. Back seat is still a bit 'shunt'-y, but the increased speed and forces kinda distract you, I think. ^ and ^^ should totally let me know if they're ever planning to do Chessie on a weekday, I like company.

Definitely agree about Rattlesnake, it's my tied-favourite mouse (along with Treetop Racers at Adventure City, California, the most comfortable mouse ever - seriously, it's like going on a rollercoaster in bed!), with all the rest far, far behind. Rattlesnake's particularly amazing at night, fantastic drops in the dark.

Again, got to hand it to SCBB's Giant Dipper. Disneyland Paris' BTMRR also gets a very honourable mention, since it does pretty much the same thing.

Honestly - and this is based on my enjoyment of it - my favourite first drop is the tunnel on SCBB's Giant Dipper..and yes, I do count it as a drop there's something about tumbling immediately into utter darkness on a wooden coaster.

I first bought CE DVDs to experience (or try to) vicariously what a real trip would be like. This was at the a time when I didn't really do rollercoasters, OR going out across the world with loads of random strangers to ride said rollercoasters. I loved the DVDs I got (Europe 2002 (?), Japan (can't remember the year without it in front of me), UK 2006), and it made me think that maybe I'd want to do a trip one day - these people looked like just the right sort of random strangers to go out across the world, and ride just the right of rollercoasters, with. Fast forward to a couple of months ago, when I picked up CEs 12 & 13 - post-West Coast trip, so I'd been subjected to lots of awesome random strangers, and made good friends with most of them. Watching the DVDs, particularly #13 (veering back on-topic), it made me feel very nostalgic about West Coast, especially when I saw people I'd met on that trip, and increased my anticipation for the trips I'm doing this year - as well as making me quite annoyed that I hadn't got off my a$$ already, and tried to go on East Coast. In short, it's an awesome document of what must've been an amazing trip - and I know this, because the earlier editions encouraged me to go on a trip myself. It'll be a sad day when we don't have a new Coaster Expedition DVD coming out every so often - especially since the West Coast one's still waiting!

Don't let Merlin allow their PR department to see this..well, I guess they've done worse! I already wear hearing aids and get (occasional) tinnitus, so I'm not going to get that het up about this. It's not like I enjoy many launched 'coasters anyway, so my eardrums are safe for now - now, that loud music on the other hand..

In terms of dark rides, I think Phantom Manor is inferior to the 'traditional' Haunted Mansions, insofar as the story doesn't run as well - it's a valiant effort to tie in to Frontierland, but it looks a bit weird when you suddenly drop into a Western town with cowboy zombies shooting at you*. PotC, however, is fantastic, and (in my opinion) equal to/in some cases better than the original Disneyland ride, great mood, and doesn't immediately rip you out of the atmosphere with a moving walkway like WDW's. *This is based on my memory from December 2008 - it may be more coherent than I give credit.

I thought Shockwave looked pretty good today, it was G-Force that needed a (severe) paint attack.

Was great to meet up today, made visiting the park I love to hate a lot more enjoyable than usual. Especially great to share the new credit-ness of G-Force, and thanks for indulging me with my dark ride fanboyism. Glad I finally got the chance to whup someone's a$$ on a shoot'n'ride, even though your 'gun was broken' Mike 'and the sound of those BLOODY SHEEP still echoes in my head' Moody

SCBB was probably my favourite park experience, after SFMM and Disneyland. The backstage tour was great, and the Giant Dipper after dark was immense. Great food, too.

Poor Chris, stuck in that Rock Maze.. ..it was awesome!

As someone with 'special needs' (though not ambulatory nor - really - mental), I'm not sure where I stand on this, either. I WISH (wish-wish-wish-wish-wish) that other, bigger parks across the world could match the accessibility/hospitality that this park is clearly striving for, so that integration could be easier. However, as someone who's about to go to a special annual weekend celebrating and supporting children and adults with the same basic condition as I've got (a lot of whom are non-ambulant or rely on a carer to live, basically), I know that if the charity that runs this particular weekend had access to a park like this, it would be an amazing experience.

I'm impressed - although, it has to be said, it helps (for me) that Alan Menken is almost over-represented in the soundtrack. Besides the soundtrack, the April Showers and Buzz Lightyear sections were particularly impressive, fountain-wise, and who doesn't like a little/a heckuvalot of fire?

^^ and ^^^, I also rate Goliath quite high - I think it's probably near the top of my list, at least in terms of unthemed coasters. Bearing in mind the only other hyper I've ridden is the Pepsi Max Big One, and that's awful. With Goliath, I definitely agree about the airtime, and general 'hyper'-ness as highlights.

My first vertical loop was on last year's West Coast trip - trying to block out the pretzel loop on Superman at SFGAm before that.. But on-topic, nice TR. I visited Southend a week or so ago, only to remember that it wasn't open except on weekends at that time. Thank goodness I'm on the UK trip! Rage will be my first Eurofighter, so I'm looking forward to that.