Ian
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Dizz, Bobby’s Yarn Land
Well after an unscheduled visit yesterday I have to say I was very impressed with the park. Generally it's all looking fresh and cared for (With the exception of Mystic East), and I don't know what they've done to Ramses, but it's running incredibly well. Not a single squeak, groan, or grind from it in spite of the fairly long and flip-heavy cycle it looked to be running!
Transylvania looks brilliant, especially Vampire's station, which is looking fantastic with all the lighting being sorted. Fountain Finale in Bubbleworks is also looking pretty good (Some scenes in the rest of the ride could do with attention though). If you didn't know what was there before you'd have no idea Creaky Café had ever burnt down. The new seating area is pretty good considering the short notice they've had to do it. It is a shame that it leaves Bubbleworks' shed exposed at the back, and either some ivy covering it, or a quick coat of plaster with some cracks and exposed bricks would really help it, but considering that from within the main Transylvania area itself you can't see it I wouldn't consider it detrimental. Just something which would be nice to fix.
Tomb Blaster seemed in pretty good condition, with very few pieces failing to work. I do think though that certain Animatronic elements may be reaching the end of their lives, and could do with some TLC to bring them up to modern day levels. It is still a very strong dark ride overall, and it wouldn't take much to bring it to its full glory and set it apart further.
I'm really surprised at how quickly the hotel extension is flying up. They were already tiling much of it yesterday, and it looks set to be ready on time, if not a bit early!
Wild Asia, whilst generally in good condition is looking a little, well, dull at present. I know there has been discussion over this in the past, and I am inclined to agree that it is looking a bit bare and bland. Just adding a little bit of colour with some more of that coloured buntin would help, as it appeared some of it had gone since I last visited.
Now Scorpion Express... Hmmm. It's a tricky one. I'm trying to think how to word this properly... So it's a decent effort to theme the ride, and it certainly pays off in that respect. The scorpion and oil rig do really improve the ride, and are both very major elements for the ride. They've done a better job than say Thorpe with Flying Fish!
However, for a Merlin park, and considering the amount of publicity it's having around the park, I don't feel it's quite up there. For example the dressing at the back of the ride is all transparently 2D flats, and though it does have some of the little details in there they do feel very false and poorly executed. Things like the windows having wood in them instead of glass (Yes, I know glass would mean you could see through and behind the scenes, but they could dirty it up so you can't see through, etc.). It just lacks a bit of realism, not helped that from on ride sat on the right you can see the scaffolding metal frames holding it all up. It feels rather temporary. If you ask me, what I'd probably do is chop the long line into say three smaller terraces, and then add some sides and a slight roof which travels back and tapers out of view. It'd add a bit of depth whilst still keeping the low cost faux frontage, and not construct a proper building.
The actual ride area itself is too bare as well. When you look at it it's all too clear that it's just a coaster dropped on some flat gravel. If you take out the oil rig and the scorpion then it's pretty much devoid of anything! Even just adding a few big boulders, and maybe a little rock/wooden tunnel at the point where the track passes under itself would really help to break it up.
I don't know... It's a half decent effort, and is by no means the worst ride in the world. But the problem for me is that at somewhere like Lightwater, Paultons, or Flamingo Land it would be perfect. For somewhere like Chessington it's just ok. It doesn't feel special enough for one of the big three Merlin parks. It's problems are all easily remedied, and it's by no means something which is beyond saving. All they need to do is look to Rattlesnake as an example. They're both generic off the shelf rides, they're both just dropped on a flat rectangle of land (Albeit one is a flat pit). But Rattlesnake shows how to do it well so it doesn't look or feel like something dropped in out of no where. If they could take some of that inspiration and put it into Scorpion Express then I don't doubt it would be worthy of its status and location.
Back to the positives, Market Square is looking wonderful. Very refreshing and inviting, and although it was shut which I could see of Safari Skyway's station it's looking just as great. It's a very needed and welcome refresh of a main area which was very easily forgotten and unloved. I do hope that they plan on repainting the Skyway track at some point though, as it's looking incredibly messy, with dirty flaking paint and bare patches.
So all in all we had a fantastic few hours in the park. It's certainly redeeming itself, and if they can repeat this again next closed season I really do believe the park will be well and truely set for the future. Where on my first visit back in 2011 it felt like a once great park which had fallen into disrepair, and was merely ticking over, it now gives off a completely different atmosphere. It now feels like somewhere which is loved and cared for, and the investment it very clear by comparison. As I said, bring the whole park back to that level and it will be well and truely made. Let's just hope that now they've seen how great it is they will never ever let it get to the state it was in.
Transylvania looks brilliant, especially Vampire's station, which is looking fantastic with all the lighting being sorted. Fountain Finale in Bubbleworks is also looking pretty good (Some scenes in the rest of the ride could do with attention though). If you didn't know what was there before you'd have no idea Creaky Café had ever burnt down. The new seating area is pretty good considering the short notice they've had to do it. It is a shame that it leaves Bubbleworks' shed exposed at the back, and either some ivy covering it, or a quick coat of plaster with some cracks and exposed bricks would really help it, but considering that from within the main Transylvania area itself you can't see it I wouldn't consider it detrimental. Just something which would be nice to fix.
Tomb Blaster seemed in pretty good condition, with very few pieces failing to work. I do think though that certain Animatronic elements may be reaching the end of their lives, and could do with some TLC to bring them up to modern day levels. It is still a very strong dark ride overall, and it wouldn't take much to bring it to its full glory and set it apart further.
I'm really surprised at how quickly the hotel extension is flying up. They were already tiling much of it yesterday, and it looks set to be ready on time, if not a bit early!
Wild Asia, whilst generally in good condition is looking a little, well, dull at present. I know there has been discussion over this in the past, and I am inclined to agree that it is looking a bit bare and bland. Just adding a little bit of colour with some more of that coloured buntin would help, as it appeared some of it had gone since I last visited.
Now Scorpion Express... Hmmm. It's a tricky one. I'm trying to think how to word this properly... So it's a decent effort to theme the ride, and it certainly pays off in that respect. The scorpion and oil rig do really improve the ride, and are both very major elements for the ride. They've done a better job than say Thorpe with Flying Fish!
However, for a Merlin park, and considering the amount of publicity it's having around the park, I don't feel it's quite up there. For example the dressing at the back of the ride is all transparently 2D flats, and though it does have some of the little details in there they do feel very false and poorly executed. Things like the windows having wood in them instead of glass (Yes, I know glass would mean you could see through and behind the scenes, but they could dirty it up so you can't see through, etc.). It just lacks a bit of realism, not helped that from on ride sat on the right you can see the scaffolding metal frames holding it all up. It feels rather temporary. If you ask me, what I'd probably do is chop the long line into say three smaller terraces, and then add some sides and a slight roof which travels back and tapers out of view. It'd add a bit of depth whilst still keeping the low cost faux frontage, and not construct a proper building.
The actual ride area itself is too bare as well. When you look at it it's all too clear that it's just a coaster dropped on some flat gravel. If you take out the oil rig and the scorpion then it's pretty much devoid of anything! Even just adding a few big boulders, and maybe a little rock/wooden tunnel at the point where the track passes under itself would really help to break it up.
I don't know... It's a half decent effort, and is by no means the worst ride in the world. But the problem for me is that at somewhere like Lightwater, Paultons, or Flamingo Land it would be perfect. For somewhere like Chessington it's just ok. It doesn't feel special enough for one of the big three Merlin parks. It's problems are all easily remedied, and it's by no means something which is beyond saving. All they need to do is look to Rattlesnake as an example. They're both generic off the shelf rides, they're both just dropped on a flat rectangle of land (Albeit one is a flat pit). But Rattlesnake shows how to do it well so it doesn't look or feel like something dropped in out of no where. If they could take some of that inspiration and put it into Scorpion Express then I don't doubt it would be worthy of its status and location.
Back to the positives, Market Square is looking wonderful. Very refreshing and inviting, and although it was shut which I could see of Safari Skyway's station it's looking just as great. It's a very needed and welcome refresh of a main area which was very easily forgotten and unloved. I do hope that they plan on repainting the Skyway track at some point though, as it's looking incredibly messy, with dirty flaking paint and bare patches.
So all in all we had a fantastic few hours in the park. It's certainly redeeming itself, and if they can repeat this again next closed season I really do believe the park will be well and truely set for the future. Where on my first visit back in 2011 it felt like a once great park which had fallen into disrepair, and was merely ticking over, it now gives off a completely different atmosphere. It now feels like somewhere which is loved and cared for, and the investment it very clear by comparison. As I said, bring the whole park back to that level and it will be well and truely made. Let's just hope that now they've seen how great it is they will never ever let it get to the state it was in.
