tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38701040175141841362008-05-03T09:56:27.323ZMSnoreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-27670846777056465492007-03-24T13:09:00.001Z2007-03-24T13:24:27.143Z

For most humans, there are some memories that seem to remain sacred. I am of course referring to some of our earliest memories from childhood. Our reflections of a time when everything we saw and sensed was new and we desperately tried to make sense of it all. Seemingly, our memories of such times are patchy, and we remember certain circumstances that seem trivial yet stay in our minds still -

LCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-36504428753092495342007-03-24T12:40:00.001Z2007-03-24T13:26:09.289Z

Conversations at Pleasure Beach Blackpool: Kid: "I want to go on the Roller Coaster" Parent: "Which one?" Kid: "No, I want to go on the Roller Coaster" Parent: "Yes, which one?" Kid: "THE ROLLER COASTER!" Parent: "Fine. If you're going to be silly, then next time we'll just leave you at home shall we? I knew we shouldn't have come today, right from the moment that you broke that vase this

LCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-34551364716412271452007-03-24T12:30:00.000Z2007-03-25T16:16:48.199Z

Like so many parks in the UK, Drayton Manor's new ride selection seems to be based on the park's location. The difference here being that while height and planning permission is still a consideration, the park is situated ominously close to Alton Towers, a park that is rightly or wrongly regarded as the holy grail of British theme parks. Our version of Disneyland, if you will. How does a

LCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-75765682962921200892007-03-23T14:26:00.000Z2007-04-09T12:07:23.970Z

The British Seaside Resort is fast fading away. Not by winds and costal erosion mind, but by the lure of foreign climates and inland theme parks. Some of our once mighty kings of the coast have either vanished into developers' pockets or are rusting away in a rot of false optimism. Only very few can actually say that they are storming ahead with their plans for the future. For those in the

LCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-72027032642025576562007-02-25T13:57:00.001Z2007-03-18T11:43:16.744Z

What can you do to create a coaster that grabs visitors' attention? A dozen inversions? 300ft drops? Maybe, but these things don't come cheap, and not every park has that sort of money hidden under the mattress. No, a lot of parks need to find a cheaper way of turning heads. One such park is Camelot. Sitting in Lancashire, the park has always suffered from the fact that it sits only a half hour

JPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-32567471679394955052007-02-25T13:52:00.000Z2007-03-02T17:56:58.949Z

Listen to Pleasure Beach Blackpool's publicity department and you'll be told that the park is home to the most terrifying roller coaster the planet has to offer, a ride so extreme that it will strike fear into even the most seasoned coaster rider and reduce them to a blubbing, quivering wreck. Ladies and gentlemen, I can confirm that this claim is 100% correct. Well, more or less. You see,

JPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-40560601490710059962007-02-25T13:24:00.001Z2007-03-18T12:01:21.936Z

This article contains spoilers. If you read on, please be aware that surprises or secrets may be revealed in great depth Anyone who remembers the early days of video games will undoubtedly recall Space Invaders. There was a time when every arcade, every pub, and every chip shop had a copy of the game, and people would eagerly queue up to feed 10p coins into the machine for a few minutes of

JPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-67157755393597046062007-02-25T13:15:00.000Z2007-03-01T22:13:20.129Z

It's strange to think that here at the beginning of the 21st century, with technology allowing for more and more sophisticated thrill rides, that some of our best coasters were thrilling people before the war. The Grand National is one of those rides. Designed by Charles Paige, the Grand National opened somewhere in the mid-to-late 1930s (most people agree on 1935), and replaced the park's Scenic

JPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-57043522796501353622007-02-25T12:45:00.000Z2007-04-01T17:57:58.915Z

This article contains spoilers. If you read on, please be aware that surprises or secrets may be revealed in great depth This is an archived review and is no longer representative of the ride that it covers. For a list of up to date reviews, please click here If I tell you that Star World is a coaster with spinning cars, I suspect I can predict your reaction. "Whoopee-doo" you'll say, "We need

JPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-45454383717095267572007-02-25T12:31:00.000Z2007-02-26T20:54:54.695Z

This article contains spoilers. If you read on, please be aware that surprises or secrets may be revealed in great depth If you think about it, it's a real sign of the times when the Disney corporation can present a celebration of rock 'n' roll. When the king of schmaltz sat in his big comfortable chair and planned his first ever theme park, rock 'n' roll was the one thing that had the

JPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-57260268821471151432007-02-25T12:26:00.000Z2007-03-18T11:43:42.555Z

We all owe a huge debt of gratitude Charles Talbot, the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury. He transformed a barren area of the Staffordshire countryside into the elegant landscape that we know as Alton Towers. He created the gardens, the lakes, and everything that made it one of the most extraordinarily estates in the world. It was his life's work, his pride and joy. He died in 1827, and as a tribute to

JPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-79839077156575212122007-02-25T12:22:00.000Z2007-02-25T18:35:13.891Z

There was a time when Alton Towers was known for coming up with brilliantly original names for rides. Why use a hackneyed old cliche like "Cyclone" or "Revolution" when you can use "Nemesis" and "Oblivion"? Times have changed since then, and it now seems that the park's creative department has confused the concepts of "brilliantly original" and "downright daft". If it was a touch surreal to use

JPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-29344124714318519992007-02-25T12:17:00.000Z2007-03-02T19:15:39.567Z

Disney's long-term relationship with Vekoma just goes to show how many of their larger coasters are all about smoke and mirrors. Very few Vekoma coasters are anything other than average at best, yet, in the hands of the most competent themers in the world, prowess in storytelling distracts you from a coaster which is likely to be poorly paced and riddled with dead-spots. Sometimes it is difficult

MSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-13520297130953870712007-02-25T11:58:00.000Z2007-03-18T11:43:31.494Z

This article contains spoilers. If you read on, please be aware that surprises or secrets may be revealed in great depth We humans are a curious lot. Despite around a quarter of the planet remaining uncharted, we have broadened our horizons of discovery to the furthest fringes of our solar system and beyond. Our inquisitiveness has yielded the discovery of extinct breeds of animal, as well as

MSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-78526803385585296722007-02-24T17:30:00.000Z2007-03-02T19:03:45.206Z

I'm going to stop short of calling Stealth predictable, but there has always been an air of inevitability about it from day one. As an iconic coaster, I hoped that the park would rise to the challenge of giving the UK an internationally noteworthy coaster - an icon - but, at the back of my mind I was haunted by the spectre of inevitability that the park would trim back this flourishing rose bush

MSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-41916495509870729422007-02-24T15:43:00.000Z2007-02-26T21:42:22.867Z

This article contains spoilers. If you read on, please be aware that surprises or secrets may be revealed in great depth Poseidon was the son of Titans Cronus and Rhea, brother of Zeus and the husband of Amphitrite, one of the Nereids, by whom he had a son, Triton. As the god of the sea, Poseidon is often mistaken for Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, and in art is represented as a bearded

MSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-7380274487490797212007-02-24T15:17:00.000Z2007-02-25T16:52:58.724Z

This review is scheduled to be re-written in the near future. Please bear in mind that the review may no longer be representative of the ride or our opinion of it Following Nemesis, Alton Towers had a long, long way to go to even equal what was one of the most well received coasters the world had ever seen. The problem was, Nemesis was a surprise, and nobody was expecting it. Following that

MSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-41762068688750707762007-02-24T15:08:00.000Z2007-03-02T18:09:03.874Z

In the entertainment world, there is one rule that is constant. Whether the medium, sequels are barely ever as good as the original. In fact, statisticians out there might be interested to know that sequels are on average 50% worse than their previous instalment. Furthermore, you may also like to know that 96.8% of statistics given on websites are untrue. Don't underestimate the power of Nemesis.

JPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-53409034189217571192007-02-24T12:58:00.000Z2007-03-18T10:22:14.343Z

This review is scheduled to be re-written in the near future. Please bear in mind that the review may no longer be representative of the ride or our opinion of it Lets briefly reflect on the importance of Nemesis, the 1994 inverted coaster at Alton Towers, Staffordshire: Firstly, this was the first major roller coaster that Tussauds installed at Alton Towers. The 1992 duo (Runaway Mine Train

MSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-20644123574311351082007-02-24T12:25:00.000Z2007-03-01T20:14:03.640Z

Did you know that in the time it took you to read to... here... four acres of rainforest were destroyed? With the forests and jungles of earth in such dire straits, it's good to see that Legoland are working hard to bring a bit of the jungle to a part of the planet which isn't known for it's tropical horticulture; Windsor. Don't believe everything you see on television, though. The jungle is

MSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-86910459038199915192007-02-24T12:15:00.000Z2007-03-02T19:10:06.496Z

Imagine if The Louvre inherited a long-lost priceless painting by Picasso that had been discovered by chance in storage. Critics hail it as simply the finest ever work of art cast onto canvass, and this single painting quickly becomes the new Mona Lisa, synonymous with the art of expression through a paintbrush. Of course, as any discerning gallery would do, The Louvre put this masterpiece on

MSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-57590522349366732342007-02-24T12:01:00.000Z2007-02-26T21:28:13.157Z

This article contains spoilers. If you read on, please be aware that surprises or secrets may be revealed in great depth Europa Park's interpretation of France isn't far wrong. It is completely bedecked with delicate and ornate theming with cobbled streets and street cafes. The pathway swoops dramatically over a rippling river, trimmed with wrought iron railings, finished off with beautiful

MSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-85770491680433480662007-02-24T11:29:00.000Z2007-02-26T21:24:38.037Z

This article contains spoilers. If you read on, please be aware that surprises or secrets may be revealed in great depth The real Mir (Russian for 'Peace') was born in 1986, the time of the Cold War and succeeded in as many things as it failed. Whilst Russia had lost the race to put the first man on the moon, Mir was the first home in space, and by 1995 had taught the two superpowers, the USSR

MSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-57476112985996108022007-02-24T11:06:00.000Z2007-03-18T11:42:54.902Z

The legend of St. George has it that a pagan town in Libya was terrorised by a dragon, and as the mutton it fed on waned, citizens were sacrificed in order to control the dragon and supplement its irrepressible diet. Hearing of the impending fate of a local princess, Saint George went to her aid, succeeding where armies had failed in slaughtering the flame-throwing serpent and saving the fair

MSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870104017514184136.post-43033247137416040332007-02-24T10:51:00.000Z2007-03-01T21:40:27.839Z

Since 1988, the UK interest in roller coasters has necessitated one of the largest clubs of 'enthusiasts' outside America. Whilst back then there were plenty of reasons to become interested in roller coasters (mostly thanks to Blackpool's classic wooden coaster arsenal), there was rarely anything to get excited about in terms of new rides. While we paced the floorboards, over the other side of

MSnoreply@blogger.com