Arrived just after 10.20am.... Good to see many walking in and driving in. Mother reminded me of how the que to get in use to stretch right down the covered walk way...

Loved the old boards up as you enter but a shame some key rides from the last 30years were not pictured and no pictures of Noel or Blobbys time at the park except for the 95 leaflet....

Candy Kabin closed until at least midday

Pirate ship on a long run time but alas very poor swing heights...

Big wait for Enigma so did not ride

Jolly up and down a lot but never a wait

Heart FM looked good with the big deck chair and music playing which was a live feed of Heart from London and then studios in Norwich

Beach FM were only on foot

TTT out of order for my duration in there today

Did not see Ronnie or Clarence but the Ronnie is not the original ronnie - he has a newer face

TWO POUND SIXTY for a bag of 5 donuts.. so the nephews did not get them as a treat....

Wipeout had all seats going from what I saw and all the wights/barrels were on the platform...

Fireball - well I gave it two rides the first was pathetic - the second was better but STILL only ONE swing and STILL not at full height - one seat like last year wrapped with cable ties

Old cine 180 wooden walkway looks a bit random...

Popped and spoke to Christine

The whole grand prix area looks a bit tired and needs sorting as does the bit down the side of the old donut kiosk on Main street - this unit was closed for the whole time I was in the park...

Toilets still containing last years branding and pleasure you can measure tag line as do the staff badges that I saw

11.30am show of Sean was very quiet and actually very loud too - no if little audience response - some new illusions and some from last year - still good and I no doubt would imagine the later shows would have been busier - four magic girls this year not three.

Woody arriving in by parachute was a good sight- shame not too many were over that way - Joe looked moved as he was handed the wooden baton - there was a quick changeover of Woodys inside the Tidalwave photo booth by the way. Ben was on microphone

Trees being removed behind tidalwave by the mini railway tunnel...

Loads of cars and various other side stands all over the place...

Hobs Pit area very busy and due to the que time and other commitments I did not go in but did look at the shop and it looked good.

The helicopter arrival behind fireball had many saying Noel Edmonds - but it turned out to be the owners etc.

As I left the park the car park was full except for the sides - an empty anglian bus was in and out quickly - one thing that was noticed not just today but in general the decline in coach trips and lack of them I remember a double bank of them at its peak...

As the helicopter took off around 4pm and they flew out over the North Sea I wonder what they made of the day and I wonder what there plans are long term.

Lovely and busy today but I have to question just how busy It would have been without the two offers running today....

And so like me this year it is 30 years old...quite a life changing time in my view......

*** **************

A very happy birthday to the local place I always hold a special place for and plenty of time for too and may I wish you all a successful future...

-- Edited by coolskin on Sunday 2nd of June 2013 05:41:11 PM

My time on park was coming to an end otherwise I'd have been there!

PS I love the fact Clarence is a 'Woody Wannabe'!

Clarence and Ronnie look even better now. How about Woody having his old costume back?

Arrived on park today at 09:40 in glorious sunshine with crowds gathering after going into Guest services to get sorted, came outside to see my family had been served very quickly today, Around 10:00 the gates were opened and so we went in after deciding not to see the ribbon cutting, We headed straight up main street and so I got my little sister on Moby Dick for a ride.

We then headed around past Hobs Pit to check if this was open, was told it wasn't open just yet, so we continued past and went on the mini railway, next, we walked down into the kiddies area and my little sister went on the teacups ride, it was here that I saw Josh for the first time that day, I went over and had a little chat before my little sister came off the teacups. Next, I tried to convince my little sister that the lighthouse wasn't scary, this didn't work and she refused to go on throughout the day.

Went on the pleasurewood ponies, and then headed around to see woody bear parachute in from above, Ben was doing a great job on the commentary and the brass band playing the dambusters theme tune as he got close to the ground was a nice touch, once he had landed, there was a little delay in the photo booth as they did there things before woody handed over the baton to Joe Larter, a nice scrum of photographers including me struggled to get a photo.

Me and the family moved down towards SITG and the dodgems, here there was a bull rodeo ride, this was a nice touch as it added something to this end of the park, would be nice if it could come along maybe once a month or something as a extra free attraction as I don't think it would be a permanent ride but could be something small on summer saturdays to add something.

After riding these, I headed up towards Hobs Pit to try to meet up with all the others at the shop, after arriving around 12:10, there was no sign of anyone, but I knew Matt and Josh were on park at least, around 12:20 Josh turned up and we had a chat about the ride, we then saw Reece as well and had a chat before Josh had to go off, after waiting around and seeing Hobs Pit open up, I then met back up with family and headed to have lunch by the chairlift, after this, I took my little sister on the Clownslide, and then got stuck at the first bump, finally got down, and went back around to talk with my parents before going on the chairlift again.

We then headed down and I tried to convince my little sister to go on the Lighthouse again, after one go on my own, she still refused to go on, but I went on one last time, we then let her on the ponies before we then headed around and went to watch the birthday parade before we went on enigma, this had a big queue which took us half an hour to get on, but once we got on it was running quite fast and not stopping at the last break run.

Next, we headed around to the Pirate ship this was getting through the queues, although a shorter queue line now means that the queue seems a lot bigger than it is, it did seem to go on for a while after reaching a full height.

I then headed out to get my free go on the laser labyrinth voucher, as I didn't get one earlier and thought of going on it a bit later on in the day. I then went back into the park and went to watch the sealion show with my family, after which we headed for Christine's the railway tearooms so my parents could have afternoon tea, and have a quick catch up with Christine, after eating, my sister went off to ride the ponies and then a few minutes later I split up and went to get a go on the Laser labrinth and Hobs pit done, So I went on the Laser Labrinth with a few others which included two girls who screamed every time you shot them which was fun.

Finally, I headed over to Hobs Pit and arrived at 16:20 to see Matt at the back of the queue, and so Joining this queue, we began to chat and soon after Reece and his friend shew up and joined the queue which included some entertainment in the form of someone being chased around the park by one of the actors, soon it was time to get on the ride with me going with Matt and one of the two boys he was looking after, we set off on the hobs pit, which included me claiming this ride was turning me insane to which the ride operator replied not yet, finally, we exited the ride and waited for reece and his friend before we all walked back down towards the exit, a great end to a great day, my thanks go to all those involved in organising it, and hope for another 30 years of family thrils at pleasurewood hills.