Recent content by Bowser

I did sadistically enjoy the first 5 seconds of that video. But i pretty much won't go on rides now that have the potential to be stuck in horrific positions. Went on Rage at Adventure Island (Southend) recently because despite that getting stuck on the vertical incline, it's actually pretty...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-66910324 Passengers were left hanging upside down for almost 30 minutes, after an amusement park ride broke down in Vaughan, in Ontario, Canada. Footage from TikTok shows the malfunctioning ride inverted with riders still on board, as people look...

Ah i remember Rameses, that was great! Yeah it's definitely an all round downgrade in comparison. I've never noticed the obstructed view on Croc Drop, maybe i've always been lucky with my seat. Have definitely noticed how the rotation is rarely working (once on six visits by my count)! And...

What was there before? For an alternative viewpoint, my 9 year old son absolutely loves Croc Drop. It's about the same level of intensity as the Fire and Ice Freefall at Legoland which he also enjoys. Will be interesting to see how he feels about a more intense tower when he's tall enough. Do...

I've often noticed the lack of staff at Chessington. The Pirate ship is the worst, there's usually one person batching the queue, RAP, checking safety bars then operating the ride, which means the whole cycle takes around 10 minutes. I can't imagine these are particularly well paid jobs so what...

Ok that makes more sense, thanks!

My brain is struggling to comprehend how the switching track will work. - Load train - Tracks moves into place and launches Where is the second train at this point? Waiting on the brake run?

Now this i agree with so much! A good themed queue makes the act of waiting so much more tolerable and as you say, can even add to the experience. My son is disabled and it always makes me sad that on Vampire we have to enter through a crap back door rather than the graveyard, tunnel and Organ...

Yeah. Appreciate they are (presumably) the busiest parks in the UK but you almost never get comparable queues at places like Paultons and Blackpool. Does seem like a predominantly Chessington based problem in terms of the worst queue times, which only goes to make the choice more baffling 😂...

I was thinking about this recently and it made me curious as to how important customer satisfaction is for Merlin parks. Not in a "EVIL CAPITALISTS" sense, just a genuine curiosity if the commercial appeal of a unique enticing ride was deemed that much more important than the obvious downsides...

Is this actually happening? I remember talks about it almost 30 years ago now 😂 Was so excited at the time 😔

9th time lucky was not to be, Viking River Splash closed all day in blazing 25 degree sunshine 😢

Ah fair enough, glad you enjoyed it one last time! Going this weekend so will see if i get 9th time lucky 😂 I think personally i prefer my rapids to have good theming above all, whereas getting thrown around and soaked (what with it being England) are low down on the priority list.

Really? Interesting, i've generally heard quite negative feedback about it and visually it always looked.... well, rubbish quite frankly. Although as i say, in 3 years and probably 8 or so trips i've not once seen it running with the water in it. Better than Alton Towers (which has delightful...

Forever! Every single time i've visited it's been shut anyway so i've never actually been on it but it didn't look great tbh. Wonder what they will replace it with? What's been the cause of it never working? Could they turn it into say a Gruffalo style indoor Dark Ride using the existing "track"?