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Trip Report : Opening day 23rd March 2019

GaryH

TS Member
So, the new theme park season is upon us, and it was so nice to have some decent weather for a change this year! Arrived to a very busy queue for the car parks at 9am and realised that many others had the same idea as me today!

Queue for the monorail was huge so walked it over to the entrance plaza where lengthy queues had already started to form. It was gonna be a busy day!

Towers Street looked nice and it put a smile on my face hearing the music over again. First up was Blivvy, on zero wait first thing in the morning. And, the mist was ON! Ok, so it was only light mist like some of the nozzles were blocked, but it was on!

Wandered over to Dark Forest and had a go on Thirteen. Was quite surprised how dirty the inside queue line was, like all the dirt from the closed season had gathered on the steps and the floor. Rita next was by now was on a 30 minute queue.

Popped into Hex which was great with all the effects working before stopping in Woodcutters for a bit of lunch. Nice as always. Then it was the Dungeons time. Dont read between the lines below if you dont want to see any spoilers....

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Entrance area looked ok'ish but obviously quickly knocked together. Was amusing how the barrels had be hastily fixed to the floor by 2 screws and a shiny metal L bracket like an afterthought! Inside, you get your photo take over the stocks, however, a big axe or something like in the other dungeons would have been good for a prop.

You then meet the judge as per other Dungeon attractions. Three people chosen to go into the dock before you go and board the boat down the "black river". I was surprised how graphic this was, with a person hanging over your head screaming out, people being tortured, boiled alive, sawn in half etc. Not to mention the small tubes of water above your head dripping on you at various points. You get the mirror bit to see more torture taking place before you get off the boat.

A witch sort of person was already mid speech when we arrived but she altered her speech to accommodate us once we arrived. Cant recall the next scene, but with other dungeons there was the bar scene with the tilting seats, the operating theater scene with the leeches, and then the final scene with Molly.

I was expecting more from the final scene if I was honest. Having the room go dark and then a woman in white appearing in each corner of the room in between darkness was well done, but I dunno, I just expected a bit more.

Overall for a fiver, it was good. If they did something in between scenes instead of just walking down plain black walled corridors (some still smelling of paint) then it would help with the atmosphere. The other thing which was very noticeable was the sound intrusion from nearby scenes. The screaming/shouting from the scene you just came from, or were going in to was very noticeable.

The actors however were superb. Would I go in there again however?? Hmm.... not sure, maybe once more to see if it has improved, bearing in mind, for an opening day, it was still pretty good, but its not an attraction I would frequent if in the park.

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So, the remainder of the afternoon was spent up with Nemmie which had a 40 minute queue and then Wickerman with a massive 90 minute queue which brought us up to 6pm. The day went so quick, and, with the Dungeons taking an hour out of it, left not a great deal of time for more rides.

As far as openings day go, it was pretty good. All the major rides were open, but the queues were big. What did strike me was how I felt visiting the park this year felt no different whatsoever to visiting it last year. While the odd building has had a lick of paint on Towers Street, and there are the new bounce towers in CBeebies, the rest of the park just seemed the same. Walking up to Blivvy I couldnt help but notice how dirty and worn the Spinball Whizzer sign looked, as did some other areas of the park which could have done with a bit of paint or a clean over the closed season.

However, it was a good day.

We opted to eat in the Secret Garden afterwards, and had a nice meal. Food seems to have improved since my last visit. Popped into the hotel actually the night before for a drink and the place was so quiet. In fact, the atrium area was deserted by 9pm. RCR was busy however, but that may be to do with the 62 school kids which turned up at 7pm.

Didnt bother looking at the Sheds, just didnt interest me whatsoever!
 
Interesting to hear about the dungeons. Have you been to York dungeons, currently my favourite one.
 
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