I arrived at the park 45mins before it opened. There was already an orderly queue waiting to get. All but two of the ticket gates were open. Each of the Annual Pass windows were about 10 people deep.
At the entrance, staff were handing out clipboards and Annual Pass forms to reduce time spent at the window. Thorpe Park did try this last week but there weren't enough clipboards and the weather made it a nightmare.
I hung around waiting for Nic. I studied the map and noticed that the same family is replicated several times throughout. Yes, I am a goon.
Joey, Scarlet and peep were delayed in traffic so me and Nic wandered around the park for a while. We bumped into Martin the Vampire engineer who gave us the tour at GhosterForce. Apparently another group have booked to do the same thing in June.
We noticed this wooden mushroom garden. According to peep, it was there last year but it was new to me!
Dragons Fury had broken down. A couple of engineers were on the MCBR. It was down for about 20mins.
We walked through to "Tranny" (Transylvania) to see what the queues for Vampire and The Booblevorks, or Michael Bubleworks, were like. On the way, Nic pointed out the gravestones which refer to past rides/characters at the park. Again, these were there last year, but were new to me!
At this point, about 10:40, Vampire had a 70min queue, the line was at capacity. Urgh. We walked on by towards the Bubbleworks. The Bubbleworks queue was also maxed out. Although, excitingly enough, they have repainted the fence outside!
Joey, Scarlet and peep arrived (was great to see Scarlet after several years!) and we did Hocus Pocus Hall ('Ocus Pocus 'All) as it didn't have a queue. Hurrah!
It's been a few years since I've been through HPH. I felt sick walking through the revolving tunnel. It's pretty good, but I wouldn't queue more than 10 mins for it. The mirror maze is a tad lame because there's a guidance strip on the floor. Although the ride is aimed at kids so I guess that's acceptable.
With big queues everywhere, we opted for the zoo. Joey and Nic got horny...
Now follows a series of animal photos, skip down to the next lot of text if they don't float your boat.
We walked towards Rattlesnake and Runaway Train, which had 60mins and 50min queues respectively. Again, we weighed up our options and decided to head towards Tomb Blaster. We noticed on the way that Rameses Revenge wasn't working. I don't think it worked all day.
Tomb Blaster's queue was about an hour so we moved on towards Mystic East. Finally we found a ride with a short (20min) queue - Dragon Falls.
New sponsorship signs are dotted throughout the ride.
We carried on through Wild Asia. Kobra had a 70min queue, Monkey Swinger and the Tuk Tuk Dodgems were also busy so went to annoy the tree - which wasn't talking today
The Lorikeet enclosure was also closed. I'm not sure if it was closed all day.
We decided to have lunch...as did half of the people in the park! The queue for the pizza buffet was enormous. It took forever at GhosterForce, so there was no way we were going to wait.
peep suggested that we dine at the hotel.
A very good choice, Mr Cooper! We had rustic bread & humus and BBQ chicken wings for starters. Delicious!
It was roughly £11.50 each for a two course meal and a drink. Perhaps a bit pricey for a theme park meal, but good value seeing a sit was quiet and had no queue! I'd recommend the hotel to anybody, it's pretty awesome.
After lunch, we headed back to "Tranny" to ride Vampire. We did umm and arr about riding it as it had an hour queue, but we all wanted to ride it so we got in line.
The queue passed quickly thanks to peep's Top Trumps. Joey and I fought a bloody battle to the end but he won! We also killed time with "I spy with my goony eye" which involved coaster related stuff. Yes, we're geeks but it was silly. It also developed into "I spy avec mon petit yeux" or some French/English rubbish.
Anyway, they've cleared up the queue line a bit. Here are some thrilling photos of mud.
There was also a roped off area in the middle with small wooden boxes. We guessed this area will house the live rats as part of the 21st Anniversary event.
When we arrived in the station, we noticed new bag holders in the shape of coffins. A nice touch. Here's a photo set your world alight!
The Vampire did break down for about 20 minutes. The staff entertained us by performing an impromptu Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes sing-along, complete with actions. It's always great to see the staff enjoying themselves and not taking themselves too seriously.
Vampire rode as well as it ever has. <3
The exit area has been divided up with a metal barrier to provide a separate queue line for disabled riders.
In the Vampire/Bubbleworks shop, there was some silly putty...
...and hold the front page! The photo desk has been moved!
We then rode the Bubbleworks. The queue was about 15-20mins at this point. The Imperial Leather sponsorship is still plastered over everything, but they were playing the old music in the station! I missed that music! I didn't noticed anything different during the, but peep said there were a couple of changes.
After the Bubbleworks, we headed back to Tomb Blaster. The queue began at the fastrax entrance, which is about 20mins.
I hardly did any shooting, instead I spent my time firing the laser into peep's eyes and taking photos.
With 10mins until closing time (they extended the opening hours due to the high number of people in the park), we headed towards Dragon's Fury. There was a 30-40 minute queue, so we decided that we would ride it next time. We then parted company and went our separate ways.
I feel that CWoA did learn from the "fiasco" at Thorpe Park last weekend. There were plenty of staff assisting people queueing for Annual Passes (the queue to buy one hardly dropped below 20 people deep all day), each of them happily answering questions and managing the queues.
All of the food places were open, although queues were fairly big due to the amount of people in the park.
Extending the day by an extra 90mins was a good move. It certainly allowed us to get a few extra rides in and took the pressure off a little.
The biggest let down is the lack of anything new. Ok, so they have tarted it up here and there, but as an enthusiast, I like to see a new attraction every year. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things to do, but it's always nice to see a new ride to criticise or compliment!
The park did cope well with the number of people that turned up. Ok, so my ride count wasn't massive but that's why I have an Annual Pass - so I can visit when I want and whore the rides!
I suppose that this year is more of a celebration of the "old" than the new. There were a few posters around the park advertising the Vampire XXI event. My next visit is on 10th April, more about that then...
At the entrance, staff were handing out clipboards and Annual Pass forms to reduce time spent at the window. Thorpe Park did try this last week but there weren't enough clipboards and the weather made it a nightmare.
I hung around waiting for Nic. I studied the map and noticed that the same family is replicated several times throughout. Yes, I am a goon.
Joey, Scarlet and peep were delayed in traffic so me and Nic wandered around the park for a while. We bumped into Martin the Vampire engineer who gave us the tour at GhosterForce. Apparently another group have booked to do the same thing in June.
We noticed this wooden mushroom garden. According to peep, it was there last year but it was new to me!
Dragons Fury had broken down. A couple of engineers were on the MCBR. It was down for about 20mins.
We walked through to "Tranny" (Transylvania) to see what the queues for Vampire and The Booblevorks, or Michael Bubleworks, were like. On the way, Nic pointed out the gravestones which refer to past rides/characters at the park. Again, these were there last year, but were new to me!
At this point, about 10:40, Vampire had a 70min queue, the line was at capacity. Urgh. We walked on by towards the Bubbleworks. The Bubbleworks queue was also maxed out. Although, excitingly enough, they have repainted the fence outside!
Joey, Scarlet and peep arrived (was great to see Scarlet after several years!) and we did Hocus Pocus Hall ('Ocus Pocus 'All) as it didn't have a queue. Hurrah!
It's been a few years since I've been through HPH. I felt sick walking through the revolving tunnel. It's pretty good, but I wouldn't queue more than 10 mins for it. The mirror maze is a tad lame because there's a guidance strip on the floor. Although the ride is aimed at kids so I guess that's acceptable.
With big queues everywhere, we opted for the zoo. Joey and Nic got horny...
Now follows a series of animal photos, skip down to the next lot of text if they don't float your boat.
We walked towards Rattlesnake and Runaway Train, which had 60mins and 50min queues respectively. Again, we weighed up our options and decided to head towards Tomb Blaster. We noticed on the way that Rameses Revenge wasn't working. I don't think it worked all day.
Tomb Blaster's queue was about an hour so we moved on towards Mystic East. Finally we found a ride with a short (20min) queue - Dragon Falls.
New sponsorship signs are dotted throughout the ride.
We carried on through Wild Asia. Kobra had a 70min queue, Monkey Swinger and the Tuk Tuk Dodgems were also busy so went to annoy the tree - which wasn't talking today
The Lorikeet enclosure was also closed. I'm not sure if it was closed all day.
We decided to have lunch...as did half of the people in the park! The queue for the pizza buffet was enormous. It took forever at GhosterForce, so there was no way we were going to wait.
peep suggested that we dine at the hotel.
A very good choice, Mr Cooper! We had rustic bread & humus and BBQ chicken wings for starters. Delicious!
It was roughly £11.50 each for a two course meal and a drink. Perhaps a bit pricey for a theme park meal, but good value seeing a sit was quiet and had no queue! I'd recommend the hotel to anybody, it's pretty awesome.
After lunch, we headed back to "Tranny" to ride Vampire. We did umm and arr about riding it as it had an hour queue, but we all wanted to ride it so we got in line.
The queue passed quickly thanks to peep's Top Trumps. Joey and I fought a bloody battle to the end but he won! We also killed time with "I spy with my goony eye" which involved coaster related stuff. Yes, we're geeks but it was silly. It also developed into "I spy avec mon petit yeux" or some French/English rubbish.
Anyway, they've cleared up the queue line a bit. Here are some thrilling photos of mud.
There was also a roped off area in the middle with small wooden boxes. We guessed this area will house the live rats as part of the 21st Anniversary event.
When we arrived in the station, we noticed new bag holders in the shape of coffins. A nice touch. Here's a photo set your world alight!
The Vampire did break down for about 20 minutes. The staff entertained us by performing an impromptu Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes sing-along, complete with actions. It's always great to see the staff enjoying themselves and not taking themselves too seriously.
Vampire rode as well as it ever has. <3
The exit area has been divided up with a metal barrier to provide a separate queue line for disabled riders.
In the Vampire/Bubbleworks shop, there was some silly putty...
...and hold the front page! The photo desk has been moved!
We then rode the Bubbleworks. The queue was about 15-20mins at this point. The Imperial Leather sponsorship is still plastered over everything, but they were playing the old music in the station! I missed that music! I didn't noticed anything different during the, but peep said there were a couple of changes.
After the Bubbleworks, we headed back to Tomb Blaster. The queue began at the fastrax entrance, which is about 20mins.
I hardly did any shooting, instead I spent my time firing the laser into peep's eyes and taking photos.
With 10mins until closing time (they extended the opening hours due to the high number of people in the park), we headed towards Dragon's Fury. There was a 30-40 minute queue, so we decided that we would ride it next time. We then parted company and went our separate ways.
I feel that CWoA did learn from the "fiasco" at Thorpe Park last weekend. There were plenty of staff assisting people queueing for Annual Passes (the queue to buy one hardly dropped below 20 people deep all day), each of them happily answering questions and managing the queues.
All of the food places were open, although queues were fairly big due to the amount of people in the park.
Extending the day by an extra 90mins was a good move. It certainly allowed us to get a few extra rides in and took the pressure off a little.
The biggest let down is the lack of anything new. Ok, so they have tarted it up here and there, but as an enthusiast, I like to see a new attraction every year. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things to do, but it's always nice to see a new ride to criticise or compliment!
The park did cope well with the number of people that turned up. Ok, so my ride count wasn't massive but that's why I have an Annual Pass - so I can visit when I want and whore the rides!
I suppose that this year is more of a celebration of the "old" than the new. There were a few posters around the park advertising the Vampire XXI event. My next visit is on 10th April, more about that then...
