Ian
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Dizz, Bobby’s Yarn Land
Having returned from two days at the park I have to say Taron is looking stunning in person. There is still a fair bit of work to do, particularly in terms of planting, landscaping, and a general tidy, but all in all it's certainly nearing completion.
River Quest however is looking stunning. The changes to the lift tower are brilliant, and sit perfectly alongside Taron and Raik. Personally, I'm hoping they plan to enclose the staircase at the back, as it sticks out quite badly, with clear scaffolding stairs and steel walls inside of it. They've also added some small window openings to the side of the towers, which allows you to see the lifts traveling up and down. Not sure why they've done this mind, as there's no windows in the lifts themselves. It makes no real difference when you're on the ride, aside from lighting up the opening of the lift shafts, revealing the pit beneath when they aren't at the bottom. Like I say, part of me hopes there is still work to do here.
Remaining on the subject of River Quest, there's been a lot of work done all over the ride to clean it up and repaint it. They've also added some giant beams over the second drop, which can create some very effective head choppers. The water is also crystal clear, and it appears that they have added a new water treatment facility next to the station, so hopefully no more green water!
Black Mamba's rockwork is looking much better for a freshen up. However, it has made the bits which haven't been done stand out much more. Some areas of the ride do appear quite shabby of late. Hopefully they'll continue to address this over the coming seasons, as they have carried out bits of work over the past few. It's clearly a big project.
Other changes around the park include Winjas' queueline. I'm not sure whether this is permanent or not, but they seem to have been playing around with the cattlepen. A few years ago they changed the ride so that it was one shared queue, with the line splitting for Fear and Force at the top of the stairs to the platform. They also added in some fences and doors shortly after, clearly to try and ensure people queued correctly. However, on both days of our visit the door at the top of the stairs for the old Force queue had been opened. This meant that there was a shared queue up until the first set of stairs. Here the queue split in two. Turn right and straight down the stairs for Force, or turn left and circle the opening before going down the stairs to Fear. This set up meant that Fear always had a longer line.
As I say, I'm not sure if this is permanent, as all of the old signage about the shared queue and split at the stairs are still in place. There is also no fence where the queues used to split, meaning guests can slip into the other line if they wish. Either way, it really doesn't work as well as the previous set up, and hopefully it will be revised/reverted soon.
Race for Atlantis is now completely gone, with nothing but a fence at the top of the stairs where it used to be. It's opened up a vast area, and also made the Fantasy area feel much more open and spacious.
I have previously seen comments that Chiapas has had its switches slowed down. This certainly wasn't the case at the weekend, as the ride was running full pelt (slamming on the turntable and all!). Thankfully it does appear all of the lapbar issues are now behind us. There have been a couple of small alterations to the boats again, presumably to rectify the problem, but nothing which impacts upon the ride, or would be noticed unless you really looked.
Colorado Adventure is running much better. The new axels have really quietened the ride down, and whilst it remains pretty untamed and shakey, it certainly is a little smoother!
Lastly, the queue time boards in China have been relocated. These used to be opposite the entrance to River Quest, where the path ran down to Taron/Silbermine. They have been uprooted (literally!) and moved into the back corner of China, next to Wang's meet and greet area. It looks as though they have done this in order to widen the path down to Taron, presumably for access and the increased footfall.
River Quest however is looking stunning. The changes to the lift tower are brilliant, and sit perfectly alongside Taron and Raik. Personally, I'm hoping they plan to enclose the staircase at the back, as it sticks out quite badly, with clear scaffolding stairs and steel walls inside of it. They've also added some small window openings to the side of the towers, which allows you to see the lifts traveling up and down. Not sure why they've done this mind, as there's no windows in the lifts themselves. It makes no real difference when you're on the ride, aside from lighting up the opening of the lift shafts, revealing the pit beneath when they aren't at the bottom. Like I say, part of me hopes there is still work to do here.
Remaining on the subject of River Quest, there's been a lot of work done all over the ride to clean it up and repaint it. They've also added some giant beams over the second drop, which can create some very effective head choppers. The water is also crystal clear, and it appears that they have added a new water treatment facility next to the station, so hopefully no more green water!
Black Mamba's rockwork is looking much better for a freshen up. However, it has made the bits which haven't been done stand out much more. Some areas of the ride do appear quite shabby of late. Hopefully they'll continue to address this over the coming seasons, as they have carried out bits of work over the past few. It's clearly a big project.
Other changes around the park include Winjas' queueline. I'm not sure whether this is permanent or not, but they seem to have been playing around with the cattlepen. A few years ago they changed the ride so that it was one shared queue, with the line splitting for Fear and Force at the top of the stairs to the platform. They also added in some fences and doors shortly after, clearly to try and ensure people queued correctly. However, on both days of our visit the door at the top of the stairs for the old Force queue had been opened. This meant that there was a shared queue up until the first set of stairs. Here the queue split in two. Turn right and straight down the stairs for Force, or turn left and circle the opening before going down the stairs to Fear. This set up meant that Fear always had a longer line.
As I say, I'm not sure if this is permanent, as all of the old signage about the shared queue and split at the stairs are still in place. There is also no fence where the queues used to split, meaning guests can slip into the other line if they wish. Either way, it really doesn't work as well as the previous set up, and hopefully it will be revised/reverted soon.
Race for Atlantis is now completely gone, with nothing but a fence at the top of the stairs where it used to be. It's opened up a vast area, and also made the Fantasy area feel much more open and spacious.
I have previously seen comments that Chiapas has had its switches slowed down. This certainly wasn't the case at the weekend, as the ride was running full pelt (slamming on the turntable and all!). Thankfully it does appear all of the lapbar issues are now behind us. There have been a couple of small alterations to the boats again, presumably to rectify the problem, but nothing which impacts upon the ride, or would be noticed unless you really looked.
Colorado Adventure is running much better. The new axels have really quietened the ride down, and whilst it remains pretty untamed and shakey, it certainly is a little smoother!
Lastly, the queue time boards in China have been relocated. These used to be opposite the entrance to River Quest, where the path ran down to Taron/Silbermine. They have been uprooted (literally!) and moved into the back corner of China, next to Wang's meet and greet area. It looks as though they have done this in order to widen the path down to Taron, presumably for access and the increased footfall.
