So after my last family visit to the hills I knew it was going to be hard to convince them to come back, but I did! Still with the previous image of the run down pleasurewood hills, with 'everything broken' fresh in their mind, just getting them there was an achievement! I arrived at the park just after 10, car park seemed quiet but there was a nice buzz at the entrance and I was feeling somewhat optimistic about my day! Loved the music and flags and we headed off first to hobs pit.
We arrived at hobs pit, to see a sign saying it opened at half 10. No problem, we understood just would of been nicer to be told before we headed over to it. A couple of goes on the merry go round and we joined the queue. doors didn't open on time but not too many complaints. Queue moved quickly and the screams from the people on the ride made us, not gunna lie, terrified! We got to the front of the queue and we were taken off into the pit by our actor -who I couldn't fault, stayed in character all the time! The walk through was good but only because you didn't know what was coming, unfortauntly nothing was coming. Would be nice to have a couple of actors to jump out at you or something, but nothing. Fair play to them there was one when I went on again later in the day. Loved the bit when you had to squeeze through the tight walls and if it would of ended there it would of been a good attraction! But in my and my groups whole opinion the ride in the cart that followed was abousoloutly terrible!
The only actor who was in it was the one who jumps out at you and judging by our ORP he didn't do a very good job of making us jump. Yes it had a few good special effects but it was miles away from being scary. One thing that I did notice is the final scene in the rendered 2D video of hobs pit that Ben posted from rob ostir looks like it may be being added. As there appeared to be a hobs figure holding a drill just stood on that last straight. And the ORP has been moved since it opened.
Next we went of and did some other rides, wipeout still packs some punch but is in desperate need of a coat of paint, don't shout me down but only 2 seats were closed instead of the 4 from previous seasons. Tidal wave has new boats that go a lot faster and you get a lot wetter which was great fun, still only one lane open.
We grabbed some lunch and then off to the character show, which I will admit having missed the 30th birthday celebrations I was really looking forward to! So it was supposed to start at 1:00 but the only thing going on was Ben (I think) running round all over the place trying to get it sorted. It appeared as if he had no luck as 10 mins later woody and Ronnie walked out for photos, no Clarence so there was no show :(
Then on to more rides, jolly rogers op. booth has been moved to the side since I last came, I don't know if its just me but I remember the ORP being on the big drop on the log flume, I might be wrong? Sean Alexander next, good show a bit repetitive though as pretty much all the tricks involved people coming out of boxes. Kiddies zone next, no sign of the music system that was supposed to be going in but the rides were good fun and kept my cousin entertained. Hay has gone from the ponies but theres a nice new red roof! Snake in the grass was still in a sorry state, food stall down there was open and a couple new/ repainted cars on the dodgems.
Tales of the coast was just laughable, none of the animatronics were moving anymore, music was out of sync and just stopped a couple of times, but they have added a few cob webs inside the caves which made a drastic improvement!
Enigma broke down while we were queuing for it, got stuck at the break run before the two as you come up to the unloading station. Staff members didn't have a clue what to do and just left the poor people stuck there with no idea as to what was going on. Left the queue so didn't see how long they were stuck on it for. The tide traveller was shut, no mention of its closure at the gate just on a sign at the ride entrance.
Had another ride on hobs pit, another actor in the walk through section this time,a lot darker but still the bit in the mine car was rubbish.
Pirate ship was swinging lower than I remember but the ride op. was fantastic. There was a mixture of staff, some were great some just average and some looked like they hated their job. Most fell into the average category, they got the job done and smiled a couple of times but didn't really go out of their way to make sure you had a good day.
Many of the staff looked very scruffy with one on the dodgems rolling up the sleeves on his shirt to form some kind of a vest top and most of them wearing sun glasses on not a particularly sunny day. Moby dick was good fun, a bit rough though! Paddlers on the lake were busy as was hobs pit and wipeout.
Overall a fairly quiet day at the park, with hobs pit for me summed up as disappointing. Felt a bit let down by the character show, the park did have some nice improvements but a lot of it could still do with a lick if paint, several in enigmas case. Didn't see Clarence all day, woody seemed to be around a lot less than previous years. But we had a good day and its on the right tracks anyway
-- Edited by Hpeek on Saturday 10th of August 2013 10:09:18 PM
I think it's more about what your expectations were, it was never going to be a very scary gore fest.
Can't comment on it myself as I've not been on it but from what I can tell the vast majority of people love it and have a really good time on it.
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It's always the cracked ones that let the light in.
Yes it has been very well received which is fantastic for the park and the additional publicity it has got has been amazing. I can't wait to see what is in store for the Halloween upgrade!
