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Talbot Street Lock In

Twirling Toadstool is my favourite iteration of the Wave Swinger. It looked great and really suited the area, I always felt it was a bit lost in Ug Land, especially after Rita arrived.

It's a shame Toyland Tours didn't survive as it would have fit far better than Charlie did, especially if it had a refresh at the same time. Not even worth mentioning the Dungeon....
 
It was brilliant in Ug Land, flying up by the trees, the theme was also really great then like the rest of OG Ug Land. Got good memories of Ug Land fun in the summer before Rita came and it later turned into the most depressing area of the park. It was still a nice theme in Cloud Cuckoo Land too and suited the area, although it wasn't as great a location
 
It was brilliant in Ug Land, flying up by the trees, the theme was also really great then like the rest of OG Ug Land. Got good memories of Ug Land fun in the summer before Rita came and it later turned into the most depressing area of the park. It was still a nice theme in Cloud Cuckoo Land too and suited the area, although it wasn't as great a location
It was Wave Swinger then UG Swinger and finally the Twirling Toadstool until it was dismantled in 2017.
 
If you went down to the woods in 2010, you better not have gone alone. Because the park had launched the ultimate marketing campaign – every bit of publicity you have ever dreamt about all in one! Oh, and they added a rollercoaster too.

Thirteen may have launched amidst a fairly nonsensical whirlwind of marketing, but once we'd waded through all the celebrity cameos, 'world firsts' and talk of psychoasters, it turned out the park had added a decent family coaster with a couple of neat tricks, that served as a perfect replacement for the Corkscrew.

And whilst the Dark Forest overtook Ug Land, elsewhere, everyone's favourite blue hedgehog arrived for a giant game of pinball with the opening of Sonic Spinball.
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To be fair, it was a new theme, and the park was naturally going to market a ride that SEGA had given them money to retheme in order to advertise their brand.
 
Sharkbait Reef celebrated the park's latest coaster with the addition of a Thirteen tank, where some of Sealife's creepier fish could enjoy an underwater version of the coaster.

Incidentally, this corner of Sharkbait Reef has been redeveloped this year, so when the season kicks off in a few weeks we will now be able to discover the antics of the park's new Leaf-Cutter Ants, where wraiths once lurked.

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2011 may have been a quiet year for the park in terms of new additions but there was a crustacean invasion in Sharkbait Reef when 12 Japanese Spider Crabs scuttled into Skeleton Bay.

Meanwhile over in Cloud Cuckoo Land a much more energetic takeover was happening as the Go!Go!Go! Show brought an all singing, all dancing new caper to the theatre.

Alas, both attractions were destined to be for one year only and by the end of the season all that remained was Skelton Bay, which once again became home to the park's rays.
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Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t this the year that was allegedly intended to be Shrek 4D/Far Far Away before that proposal was scrapped at the last minute for unknown reasons?
I believe you're right on that one.
 
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t this the year that was allegedly intended to be Shrek 4D/Far Far Away before that proposal was scrapped at the last minute for unknown reasons?
Because Dreamworks pulled out and the budget went to Sub Terra instead according to that Nick Varney letter. There were so many better places the budget should have gone in my opinion (for a new/revamped attraction)
 
The cinematic ads were still the best to see on screens, with the long and then the five-ten seconds short versions. I personally saw the construction of Thirteen back in ‘09 as I was waiting in line for a ride on Rita that I saw the Corkscrew had vanquished (vanished) so quickly. It also wasn’t a good year for the Skyride as it was ironic for the CCL station.


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Because Dreamworks pulled out and the budget went to Sub Terra instead according to that Nick Varney letter. There were so many better places the budget should have gone in my opinion (for a new/revamped attraction)
Ah right. Thanks for the clarification @OilyWater!

One does have to wonder how the future would have panned out for that corner of the park had Shrek 4D happened, and what other attractions were planned to be within Far Far Away. Assuming that the 4D cinema itself would have replaced the Ice Tent, as I think was always rumoured, I'm assuming that a rethemed Squirrel Nutty would have been one of them, and potentially a family coaster to replace the Beastie as well, as I think the reason they shut Beastie was because they originally intended to replace it with some element of Far Far Away, correct me if I'm wrong?

In terms of how that corner of the park would have panned out, CBeebies almost definitely wouldn't have come had this happened, and I reckon the Farmyard and/or Adventure Land may well have eventually been encompassed into a DreamWorks land of sorts.
 
Well at least Ice Age was still saved and used for a few years around the resort, it was a bit of a mixed year as there were two ads showing on our tv screens.
 
It's by no means unusual for the park to run promotions over Summer, but one of our favourites occurred in 2011, when the park's coaster vied to become the park's All Time Great.

Each of the park's big five coasters 'campaigned' to win the prize, with manifestos on the park's website and placards at the entrance to each ride.

After a summer of campaigning, eventually Nemesis was crowned as the victor of the competition, but did you agree with the outcome? And how do you think it would fare now against The Smiler and Wicker Man?
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Ah right. Thanks for the clarification @OilyWater!

One does have to wonder how the future would have panned out for that corner of the park had Shrek 4D happened, and what other attractions were planned to be within Far Far Away. Assuming that the 4D cinema itself would have replaced the Ice Tent, as I think was always rumoured, I'm assuming that a rethemed Squirrel Nutty would have been one of them, and potentially a family coaster to replace the Beastie as well, as I think the reason they shut Beastie was because they originally intended to replace it with some element of Far Far Away, correct me if I'm wrong?

In terms of how that corner of the park would have panned out, CBeebies almost definitely wouldn't have come had this happened, and I reckon the Farmyard and/or Adventure Land may well have eventually been encompassed into a DreamWorks land of sorts.
I imagine it would have been a lot different.

I believe sub terra would have also gone in the Black Hole tent (in some shape or form) originally in 2012, with the next SW planned to be in the Valley. Of course plans changed which meant sub terra went in the valley as they needed the black hole site for The Smiler.
 
It's by no means unusual for the park to run promotions over Summer, but one of our favourites occurred in 2011, when the park's coaster vied to become the park's All Time Great.

Each of the park's big five coasters 'campaigned' to win the prize, with manifestos on the park's website and placards at the entrance to each ride.

After a summer of campaigning, eventually Nemesis was crowned as the victor of the competition, but did you agree with the outcome? And how do you think it would fare now against The Smiler and Wicker Man?
49960480942_3d0ffc9059_c.jpg
Interesting Fact. It was John Wardley's idea to do a poll as he wanted to see which rides would be the best though he knew Nemesis would reach the top. He mentions it in his autobiography!
 
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