TS Merlinpool Meet: 21-22 September 2013

[djtruefitt]

I had a really good day yesterday, certainly one of my favorite meets of the year (so far!), going to other parks other than Alton Towers is always more fun as we all go to Alton so much, it is often a bit boring!

The park was busy, but not as busy as last year. The weather stayed nice all day and even got quite hot and sunny at one point in the afternoon. It was good to catch up with everyone and just have a really good fun day out with everyone. We got on pretty much every ride and I really loved the new Wallace and Gromit ride. And to top it all off all the rides were open!

 

[BowMan]

I wasn't actually on the meet but then found out I was visiting on the day of the meet! Got to say hi to Islander, Sam and Jordan so it's been great to meet some of you!

 

[Jabberwocky]

Heres my photo of the crew at Blackpool Dungeons on the sunday.

 

[Rowe]

Yesterday was wonderful seeing the crowd again after many long months of not-seeing-the-crowd and yet again, another enjoyable (and quite relaxed) meet at Mandyland!

Although I still ache and groan from the intense bashing my body received from such limb hammering classics as the Grand National and Big One, I'm happy that I managed to get on all the dark rides too, avec Fjordan during the latter half of the day, because there's no way I could maintain re-riding any more coasters at the park after gaining said pains.

Thrill-O-Matic was happily overwhelming, as it would've been an utter disaster for a seasoned W&G fan like myself, and I could see that they did well in adapting the former Gold Mine space albeit Laser Raider levels of black space between scenes! I would quite like to write something on Thrill-O-Matic at some point but time will tell if I actually create anything worthwhile/comprehensible/both.

A few highlights:

+ Mandy and her wrecking ball
+ Impossible's 'GP's waiting room'
+ The floating River Caves wall (held up by 'imagination')
+ Avalanche queue limericks
+ Having a nice chat with a ECC bloke with the park pins cap
+ Dancing/Singing on South Pier
+ Getting to be a bit of a dark ride geek again <3

A few lowlights:

- Still having remnants of a cold
- Not covering up enough from the soaking of Valhalla, MEET soaked shoes! (they're still drenched!)
- Missing out on Grand Prix, AGAIN!
- Also missing out on Revolution to an extent

A big thank you to:

~ Dave, naturally, for getting us there
~ Those who appeared and made the meet absolutely wonderful!

I'll be seeing you all at Scarefest

 

[DiogoJ42]

This weekend confirmed to me that outside of BPB's walls, with the exception of the Breakdance on South Pier, there really is nothing of any worth in that god awful cesspit of a town. Well, OK, Sandcastle is good, but we didn't go there.

Highlights:
* The Travelodge cat.
* PMBO running brilliantly, especially last thing at night.
* Pier Breakdance on a par with Tilburg Kermis.
* Revolution being as epic as ever.
* The torturer, easily the best actor I've ever seen in a Dungeons. (Also she was hot).
* Sealife shark tank. So much better than everything in every other Sealife everywhere.
* Wild Mouse. Still love it.
* The cow bridge on the way home.

Lowlights:
* Tussauds is dire.
* Blackpool is still a dive, dispite being much less crappy than when I first went there in '06.
* Valhalla had many effects not working.
* Those women who held up the Valhalla queue for twenty minutes by complaining.
* The new trams. They are clearly a superior mode of transport, but it doesn't feel right having modern European type trams in Blackpool. Bring back the old double decker death traps!

Thanks to Mark for the room and lifts, as well as some very entertaining conversations.

I think next year I'd be tempted to have a second day on park, rather than bother with the MEHlin attractions. They really are not worth a second visit. (I'm also sick to death of The Dungeons now.) Sadly when you live as far away as I do, you cannot properly do the park in one day, once a year. It deserves more.

Still, it was a very fun weekend.