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Unpopular Opinions: Theme Park Edition

rob666 said:
Too wet, cold and not a patch on what it used to be.
Bit like Blackpool itself.
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I thought Blackpool was a really nice place when I stayed there in 2019, although I must confess that we didn’t leave the main promenade itself and stayed on the Pleasure Beach property in the Big Blue Hotel. I very much enjoyed my time in the park and town, however!

But onto Valhalla; I’m genuinely not sure if I’d want to ride it outside of the hottest of summer days, to be honest, and even then, I’m not entirely sure if it’s an experience I’d want to repeat. I’m certainly not going to be one of those people who marathons it on WOW Weekends any time soon! I can’t even begin to imagine how cold riding Valhalla in February must be; the day I rode Valhalla for the first time (and thus far, only time) was a blisteringly hot August day, where the temperature was nearing 30 degrees, and I came off the ride wet through, shivering profusely and feeling almost hypothermic; is that normal? I dread to think how cold I’d have felt had it been a near-freezing weekend in February like some ride it in; I genuinely admire the cold tolerance of anyone who rides Valhalla in winter...

I’ll admit that elements of Valhalla are very impressive; I liked the fire at the end of the ride, where it goes up that wooden wall, as well as the cool little fire lanterns and logs in the second half of the ride, and while I didn’t find it a particularly enjoyable element to experience, I’ll admit that things like the water vortex are impressive from a technical standpoint. Ultimately, though, I don’t think the ride quite impressed me in the way I thought it would from a dark ride point of view, even though quite a few elements of the dark ride itself are great, and when combined with things like the obscene wetness and the water at the bottom of the boats, I’m not really sure if it’s a ride experience I’d be overly eager to repeat, personally. A key element that determines how highly I rate an attraction and how highly it ranks among my favourites is asking myself “How much would I want to repeat that experience?” and sadly, the answer in the case of Valhalla for me was “not very much”, even though I’ll admit that it’s an impressive ride in many ways, and my opinion of it is probably blighted by the fact that I feel the cold quite easily.

Admittedly, I might not be able to give it the fairest review, however, as from watching some POVs and hearing from people, I think quite a few of the effects were broken when I did Valhalla.
 
What I find weird about Valhalla is that there's a lot of praise for the immersive themeing yet you are constantly aware you're in a giant shed?

Though I think a lot of it's prominence comes from certain American websites that have a singular opinion and no others allowed.
 
Benzin said:
What I find weird about Valhalla is that there's a lot of praise for the immersive themeing yet you are constantly aware you're in a giant shed?

Though I think a lot of it's prominence comes from certain American websites that have a singular opinion and no others allowed.
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To be fair, I think there are quite a few nice little items, such as the lit-up face, barking dogs and fire lamps in the first half of the ride, and the logs that roll over your head in the second half. Not to mention the nice little bit of fire at the end, as well as elements like the water vortex that are always a spectacle!

In spite of this; as much as I hate to say it, I do think that I was perhaps expecting a bit more from Valhalla in terms of effects and general immersion, given all the hype it gets. The only element I was really able to focus on was the sheer wetness of it; there didn’t really seem to be as much of the other elements (e.g. fire, ice) as I was expecting. Although as I say, I think I did not ride Valhalla on the best of days, as I get the impression that a lot of things were broken when I rode it, so I probably need to give it another chance to wow me next time I’m at the park.

I’m not really sure it feels like an especially immersive or story-driven dark ride, and to be fair, I’m not even sure if it was intended to be a particularly immersive or story-driven ride in the first place. If I’m being honest, I’m not actually sure if Valhalla has a story; if it does, I don’t have any idea of what it is. I think it’s a ride very much driven by its effects, to a degree; I once heard the ride described as “a mix between a log flume and a ghost train”, and I actually think that’s quite an apt description, as even though Valhalla is not horror-themed, it does offer a ride experience that’s not too dissimilar to that provided by a ghost train in the sense that it has lots of different “jump scares” and effects randomly dotted around it. I don’t think that’s a bad thing; I guess that does add to the thrill of it, to a degree, and I don’t think Blackpool really had the space to pull off grand, immersive scenes like you get in some other dark rides.

Don’t get me wrong, I think there are many things to like about Valhalla, and I can certainly see the appeal, but on the whole, it didn’t entirely live up to the hype for me and isn’t something I especially enjoyed due mostly to its obscene level of wetness.
 
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Ride system aside (which is a mess in itself) the biggest problem I’ve always found with Valhalla is the inconsistency of the effects. You can ride it within two days (sometimes even a couple of hours) of each other and have quite a different experience.

It’s an incredibly ambitious ride and a very rare breed. Just perhaps a bit too ambitious (for Blackpool’s wallet at any rate). Still love it though.
 
The excellent (and much missed) Coaster Kingdom has a review of Valhalla from nearly 20 years ago that I've found myself increasingly agreeing with over the years (link - http://www.s104638357.websitehome.co.uk/html/valhalla_main.htm)

The ride has spectacle, but it relies very heavily on relatively few set piece effects which results in big gaps in the experience whenever something isn't working properly (which is often). The more I ride it, the more apparent the major flaws appear to me. I loved it when it was new, these days I rarely bother with it as it's not worth the drenching.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I admire the ambition and uniqueness of Valhalla, and I also like quite a few of the effects; the fire at the end is cool, I also like little things like the rolling logs in the second half of the ride, and even though I didn’t particularly enjoy experiencing it, I still think the water vortex is a pretty impressive effect! I also reckon I would have enjoyed the ride more had I ridden it when it was newer; my only ride was in 2019, not long before the ride shut in its original form for refurbishment, and I get the impression that quite a bit was broken on my ride, so maybe I should have given the ride a fairer chance to impress me from an effects standpoint? However, I’ll admit that the obscene wetness just ruined it a bit for me, and I wasn’t quite as enamoured with the ride from a theming/immersion standpoint as I’d perhaps hoped for. It’s a ride I really want to love, but one that I’m not sure I can, for the various reasons I’ve already mentioned.

I don’t know; maybe I just expected too much from Valhalla, and went in with the GTAs it’s won implanted too firmly in my mind?
 
With Valhalla it's hard to sit back and admire the effects because you're constantly bracing yourself for the next soaking. But that's what I love about it personally.

The ride is completely bonkers and we are lucky to have it here in the UK.
 
The Swarm isn't very good.....- It's a popular opinion to criticise it for length, lack of intensity and so forth. But generally it's seen as good and regularly reaches people's top 10. I don't think it is good. Even if you look at the layout top down, it's clearly only half a coaster. Like they started designing it, said they couldn't afford to build it so guillotined off half the layout and whacked a slow curve round to the break run instead. It reaches the top of the lift hill, inverts drops, starts the layout then just ends. The near misses aren't really near misses, towards the front of the train in a middle seat it's just boring from start to finish and it always stacks on the break run. So much potential and I do like the theming, but nothing else about it really. Backward was good, but then you can't do that anymore.

......Saw, however is awesome! - Yeah you heard me. Everyone hates Saw don't they? I ****** love it! Oh boo hoo it gives out headaches and bruises, have you ever seen a Saw film? Fits perfectly. Not sure about the aging franchise but I love the station, love the indoor drop, love everything about it. End to end thrills and well worth the pain. I don't care if it's a cheap old Gerst and dishes out concussions, it's just rough and ready fun!

My Favourite UK woodie is Grand National on a wheel seat - Another coaster I don't care about the roughness. There's a lot of love out there for Nash, but favourite? Never hear many say that. Every time I ride it I feel it should somehow be illegal and I could be seriously injured at any moment. Oh yeah baby! That's what old school woodies are supposed to be like. In terms of ride experience, it just makes something like Wickerman look rather silly to me.

Icon is still UK number 1 for me - I'm not alone in thinking Icon is awesome. But to enjoy Saw and Nash and also have a high opinion of Icon? Yeah that's me. A Mack mega is a beautifully engineered machine and I think we can all agree on that and I think Icon is a beautiful example of one. Floating around all over the place, gently weaving in and out of coaster track, air time, pleasant inversions all in the most comfortable coaster seat and restraint design I've ever experienced. Never liked hang time on anything I've ever ridden until I rode Icon. Makes me wonder why Alton haven't built one of these. And yes, I do prefer it to Blue Fire (I did say that) as I think BF's layout is pretty dull.

Wickerman has ruined Katanga Canyon and I think it's unforgivable - I like Wickerman. But I think it's committed a serious crime in what it's done to Katanga Canyon. Now I know KC has done a pretty good job of that on its own, but Wickerman has killed the area in my opinion. One of the unique aspects about AT is the fact that most areas feel very separate due to the tree height rule, the size and geography of the place,. Our JW built a new African themed area by separating the existing Rapids from what is now MB. Even though you can see the that the Rapids almost spill into MB when looking at them top down, you hardly noticed and felt like you were miles away on ride and in and around the area. Walking up that long pathway past the rocks with the KC music playing and seeing the rapids go through the waterfalls before you reached the centre of the village - pure genius. Now, you walk past the sign, Wickerman is to your right then when you get to the village there's a clear view of Wickerman. By the station you can now very clearly see right across Mutiny Bay and Wickerman imposes itself over the final part of the rapids. Similar on the WM lift hill where you can look down and see the formally secluded felling Rapids below you. Carnage in my view.
 
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Great thread idea @Matt.GC! I certainly have a fair few controversial UK-based opinions, off the top of my head, some of them include...
  • I prefer Rita to Stealth, and it's not especially close - I can sense this one will raise a few eyebrows! Let me justify it a little. While I think Stealth's launch is the stronger of the two, I actually think that it's quite noticeably rougher (the top hat entry did hurt my head a fair bit last time I rode Stealth, whereas Rita hasn't been bad at all the last couple of times I've done it), and Rita also has a more complete layout while still maintaining a fair sense of speed throughout; on Rita, you get 2 or 3 excellent airtime moments, while Stealth only offers the one, and while the drawn-out turns aren't the most interesting, some of the s-bends on the hills, particularly the first one, provide some fun turning forces! Overall, while I definitely understand why people prefer Stealth, I personally don't love Stealth as much as a lot of people do and I don't hate Rita as much as most either. To tell you the truth, I actually feel a bit sorry for Rita, as it's very much the red-headed stepchild of Alton's lineup, and everyone seemingly wants it gone, but I actually find it a rather fun coaster myself!
  • Oblivion is my favourite UK B&M - I love Oblivion to bits! Yes, it might be short, but man it packs a punch! The airtime is great, the speed is phenomenal, it's fairly smooth; I just think it's a great coaster all round, if I'm being honest! Swarm used to hold the title of my favourite UK B&M, but I'll admit that that one dropped a bit for me after my most recent experience.
  • As much as I really like Nemesis, I don't hold it on a pedestal like most do - Don't get me wrong, I like Nemesis. I really like Nemesis, in fact! It's my #10 coaster, of a total 79 ridden! However, I don't worship it like most do. That might boil down to the fact that it's not really my kind of coaster, but I'll admit that while I appreciate Nemesis on a technical level, it doesn't get me going quite like some of my very favourite coasters do.
  • Shockwave at Drayton, while not my favourite coaster, is actually kind of fun - Admittedly, this might have been expectations-based (I was anticipating it being absolutely terrible, having never ridden a standup before and having heard them get absolutely slaughtered), but while Shockwave was by no means one of my favourite coasters, I actually found it perfectly OK, even somewhat enjoyable! Yes, the position wasn't the most comfortable, but it wasn't quite the deal breaker I'd anticipated, and the coaster had redeeming qualities! It had fair forces without being excessively intense, it wasn't unbearably rough (if not the smoothest of coasters), and that zero-g was actually an incredibly fun inversion; quite possibly one of my favourite coaster inversions!
Those are just a few I can think of... if I can think of any more blasphemy from my UK park opinions, then I'll certainly post it! Also, if you want me to explain anything in more depth, just ask!
 
The Nemesis soundtrack is better than all of IMAscores work put together.

Enterprise needs to be protected at all costs. It’s a pure example of gravity at work with no restraints other than a cage.

The Smiler crash, whilst had a negative impact in guest numbers, has actually has had a positive effect on the rides reputation . As awful as the accident was, it now has an air of notoriety about it and is seen as the one to prove how much guts you have (Sorry the title was controversial options so had to add that).
 
Having now done both, I think I have a new one to report after the responses to the Icon vs Blue Fire topic… I prefer Icon to Blue Fire, and that was a very easy decision to make.

For me, Blue Fire was excellent, and a solid 9/10 ride, but lacked a certain spark to take it into the true 10/10 tier. Whereas Icon is just sublime, and definitely a 10/10 ride for me; exciting elements, airtime all over the place, smooth… I just love it so much!
 
"Icon" and "exciting" don't belong in the same sentence. ;)
Only joking, we just have different thoughts - my "unpopular" opinion I guess is that Icon is the most boring coaster I've ever been on aha
 
Dunno if this is controversial or unpopular but I think Towers could do with a few play areas dotted around the park. The Duggee playground is great, my kids spent an hour in there the other day, despite no longer being into Duggee or CBeebies anymore, and had to be dragged out. But it’s in CBeebies which is a bit of a treck if you’re over the other end of the park. I feel like this is something Towers is missing. If we head down to forbidden valley as a family, maybe because dad and/or mum wants to do nemesis, then the only option for the rest of the group is to do blade (which one of my kids isn’t keen on) and then sit on a rock and wait. I wouldn’t say no to a nemesis themed climbing structure.
 
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Neither Icon or Bluefire are all that amazing tbh. I prefer Bluefire out of the two though for sure but Mack Mega coasters are definitely not all that interesting.

Helix is without a doubt the best one and is truly a brilliant coaster. Everything about that ride is perfect.
 
I have to say I’d agree too @Skyscraper; I wouldn’t say Shockwave is one of my absolute favourite coasters by any stretch, but I do remember liking it more than expected! Although my expectations were admittedly quite low, and I had 1 front row ride 4 years ago… let’s see how it stacks up when I revisit Drayton in June now that I’ve more than doubled my coaster count since last riding it!
 
Shockwave is underrated although the layout wouldn't be very good if it were just standard sit-down, it's a unique ride and if you get in a comfortable position (difficult but possible) it can be a really solid experience, it was my first inverting coaster so it will always hold a special place for me anyway.
 
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