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For whatever reasons, I never visited English amusement parks until this year, even though coasters across the Channel - especially Alton's - had my interest ever since I became an enthusiast back in 2005. But with the additions of both Icon and Wicker Man and the opportunity to join fellow French/Belgian goons on a road trip meant I finally got the chance to experience creds in England! Day 1 - Blackpool Icon - I was actually quite worried about the Qs after seeing quite a packed entrance, but in reality the wait times were fine throughout the whole day - 30 minutes at most on the new coaster. Rode it 6/7 times and while Icon doesn't reach the graceful bliss of Helix or the insanity of Taron, it remains a pretty solid ride experience. Some weak spots here and there, but also a couple of strong highlight elements as well! It is a grower for sure. Definitely preferred the back seat for the nice mix of airtime and laterals exiting the Immelmann. Highlights: The first hill, the twisted hill and the Immelmann (back seat) Lowlights: The first launch is kinda weak, the meandering turns around Stepplechase After starting the day on a high, our group decided to tick off the classic woodies one after another. Big Dipper - Was quite worried to ride this, fearing a really unconfortable experience. In the end it was pretty harmless, and even delivered some fun little pops of air! Re-rode later in the day with a bulky guy, which meant I had a lot of space between me and my lap bar. Flying over those small hills was quite exciting actually Grand National - Only got to try the left side. It was quite bouncy, but not to the point it became too rough. There are some definite moments of sudden airtime only old woodies (and maybe some wonky Pax coasters) deliver. The racing element also made the experience quite enjoyable. Nickelodeon Streak - Apart from the flash colour scheme, it was kinda forgettable really. Not too rattly, nor too exciting either. Blue Flyer - Couldn't help mispronounce this kiddie "Blue Fire" instead. Kinda cute coaster actually, and I would have loved to have this sort of ride at my home park when I was a child. With the woodies done, we went for a lunch break before getting on the Arrows... Stepplechase (yellow side) - Hmm... ouch?! The seating position was really awkward and almost every turn entrance or exit was jolty. Really unique ride for sure and I wouldn't want it to be torn down, but it's really unfortunate that the ride experience is not so comfortable. Big One - I have to say this Arrow hyper looks really photogenic and mighty. Aboard, it provides nice views of Blackpool and the coast as well. Otherwise, this is arguably one of the shakiest coaster I've ever ridden! Definitely had to hang on to the bar in front of me. For some reason though I couldn't help laughing during the whole experience - despite the rattle, the coaster carries some good speed throughout the whole layout making for an 'entertaining' experience. Actually wished I could get a second ride on it but the train valleyed in the final turns so... nope. Revolution - The whole thing looks really weird - first climbing some stairs as if you were about to do some water slides, then entering this 'station' without a ceiling and with no doors between the platform and the train. But for all the weirdness, Revolution is quite a fun ride actually. Fairly intense loop and some little pops of airtime on the drops. Avalanche - Was surprised by the second half. I ended up being crushed by the bar with the ending helixes being unexpectedly intense and twisty! The lack of MCBR arguably helps the momentum of this Bobleigh, and it feels smoother than Trace du Hourra back home. Didn't get to ride Infusion as it closed right when I was about to enter the Q. Not that I care much about that. I am quite happy with my first day at Blackpool. Some areas feel quite tacky, but the whole place is lively and I appreciate its unique selection of dated vintage rides (RIP Wild Mouse though). Icon adds a much-needed quality ride experience to compliment well the heritage coasters. I wouldn't return soon unless they add anything big, but BPB was a pleasant start to our trip! Next part: Alton Towers For whatever reasons, I never visited English amusement parks until this year, even though coasters across the Channel - especially Alton's - had my interest ever since I became an enthusiast back in 2005. But with the additions of both Icon and Wicker Man and the opportunity to join fellow French/Belgian goons on a road trip meant I finally got the chance to experience creds in England! Day 1 - Blackpool Icon - I was actually quite worried about the Qs after seeing quite a packed entrance, but in reality the wait times were fine throughout the whole day - 30 minutes at most on the new coaster. Rode it 6/7 times and while Icon doesn't reach the graceful bliss of Helix or the insanity of Taron, it remains a pretty solid ride experience. Some weak spots here and there, but also a couple of strong highlight elements as well! It is a grower for sure. Definitely preferred the back seat for the nice mix of airtime and laterals exiting the Immelmann. Highlights: The first hill, the twisted hill and the Immelmann (back seat) Lowlights: The first launch is kinda weak, the meandering turns around Stepplechase After starting the day on a high, our group decided to tick off the classic woodies one after another. Big Dipper - Was quite worried to ride this, fearing a really unconfortable experience. In the end it was pretty harmless, and even delivered some fun little pops of air! Re-rode later in the day with a bulky guy, which meant I had a lot of space between me and my lap bar. Flying over those small hills was quite exciting actually Grand National - Only got to try the left side. It was quite bouncy, but not to the point it became too rough. There are some definite moments of sudden airtime only old woodies (and maybe some wonky Pax coasters) deliver. The racing element also made the experience quite enjoyable. Nickelodeon Streak - Apart from the flash colour scheme, it was kinda forgettable really. Not too rattly, nor too exciting either. Blue Flyer - Couldn't help mispronounce this kiddie "Blue Fire" instead. Kinda cute coaster actually, and I would have loved to have this sort of ride at my home park when I was a child. With the woodies done, we went for a lunch break before getting on the Arrows... Stepplechase (yellow side) - Hmm... ouch?! The seating position was really awkward and almost every turn entrance or exit was jolty. Really unique ride for sure and I wouldn't want it to be torn down, but it's really unfortunate that the ride experience is not so comfortable Big One - I have to say this Arrow hyper looks really photogenic and mighty. Aboard, it provides nice views of Blackpool and the coast as well. Otherwise, this is arguably one of the shakiest coaster I've ever ridden! Definitely had to hang on to the bar in front of me. For some reason though I couldn't help laughing during the whole experience - despite the rattle, the coaster carries some good speed throughout the whole layout making for an 'entertaining' experience. Actually wished I could get a second ride on it but the train valleyed in the final turns so... nope. Revolution - The whole thing looks really weird - first climbing some stairs as if you were about to do some water slides, then entering this 'station' without a ceiling and with no doors between the platform and the train. But for all the weirdness, Revolution is quite a fun ride actually. Fairly intense loop and some little pops of airtime on the drops. Avalanche - Was surprised by the second half. I ended up being crushed by the bar with the ending helixes being unexpectedly intense and twisty! The lack of MCBR arguably helps the momentum of this Bobleigh, and it feels smoother than Trace du Hourra back home. Didn't get to ride Infusion as it closed right when I was about to enter the Q. Not that I care much about that. I am quite happy with my first day at Blackpool. Some areas feel quite tacky, but the whole place is lively and I appreciate its unique selection of dated vintage rides (RIP Wild Mouse though). Icon adds a much-needed quality ride experience to compliment well the heritage coasters. I wouldn't return soon unless they add anything big, but BPB was a pleasant start to our trip! Next part: Alton Towers

The car went down for the TVC and was then removed and put back once FNs began. It didn’t sit there for 2 months prior to FNs

You sound like someone who would have been in charge on maintenance procedures at DW this time last year. ”Just coasters they’ll be fine” “A one day quick checkover will do for this year” “morning walkthrough is enough” ”was fine last year, it’ll be fine this year” ”nothing has gone wrong before, so why would it now?”

...be sure to experience it? The hell?

The real question is, should we be concerned with DW removing planned maintenance?

This probably has more to do with Dreamworld building a completely new back-end for their website - which includes ticketing, marketing, and payment processing. Memberships are more difficult and expensive to process than a single pass with part-payments outsourced to afterpay.

Just got my One Pass and took advantage of the current bonuses included. A couple of pointers/thoughts/ideas Great to see that the passes are actually a plastic card once again, and it’s great you can now upload your own photo. But they don’t include the expiry date. The passes now go for 12 months from activation date, so really it would be smart to include the expiry date on it. Currently they are offering a bonus free Hunger Buster meal, $50 animal voucher and a couple other things. I must say that if you were to purchase a Hunger Buster, it is actually good value for the options and cost. But.... service today was awful. We’ve mentioned it countless times already, and it isn’t every staff member because there are some great ones, but today... yeah nah not good VRTP Got a burger from Gotham (Which I haven’t done for a few years) and the size and taste of the meal has definitly dropped big time. It wasn’t bad, but from what it used to be, ain’t that good. But the lady who served me didn’t even have the basic service skills. No greeting, just stood and staired at me waiting for me to speak. Ordered, then showed her my voucher and then said “you are actually supposed to show this to me before you order because now I have to cancel it and redo it” Sorry, I didn’t know this, but that kind of service in a theme park isn’t needed. Then went to the Deli, got a muffin, and the cooked parts were nice, but the parts not cooked not so much. And quite a lot of it wasn’t. Finally, the voucher says Hunger Buster Deal with Sipper and Refills. I assumed this meant I got it free, but I wasn’t wrong. Not complaining here because on the website it does explain it, but I feel the voucher you get should state discounted. With the voucher you get it for $8 instead of $12, and free refills for the day. In summary, I feel communication for certain aspects of deals and the park need to be improved, and quite a few of the staff I saw and dealt with today (some I haven’t explained above) need to gain basic customer service skills. I work in retail, I get the environment, circumstances and challenges, but am always capable of providing the basics. Come on VRTP step it up a little.

It's really great that you took the time to waste a ride manufactures time to get info that was already obvious. Your point is the stupid one. Given you can get an original spec Arrow train made right now from the original manufacturer (even if it's changed hands 3 times!) the fact a ride model is no longer produced has NOTHING to do with original manufacturer support and parts. Movie World just had White Water West (who bought Hopkins) work with them on changes to Wild West Falls, another ride where even the manufacturer doesn't exist any more. As for the X Car stuff only being listed as Specials on their website. Any manufacturer will happily make you something that no longer produce for the right price! Your efforts to shoot down people on this forum and make them look dumb is actually only serving to expose you as the ignorant one 'my stupid friend'.