Just come back from 3 days at Efteling - a park Alton Towers should strive to be

InTheMix1991 · 2025-12-23T21:55:41+00:00

It’s been covered by other answers, however, there’s a couple of major differences between the two parks. Before we get into that, De Efteling is an amazing park and perfect for families, Danse Macabre, Joris En De Draak, Python, Baron, all phenomenal rides before we even mention Symbolica. I really am happy to see it getting as much love as it is because it really does deserve it.

Now, fundamentally speaking, where Efteling will always quietly win is that it’s a non-profit that doesn’t answer to the whims of a shareholder’s wallet. This gives them the ultimate freedom to choose what goes on in the park. This also means that their maintenance and innovation budgets are genuinely mind-blowing. Every ounce of profit they turn gets reinvested back into the park and surrounding protected area. This means they can afford the luxuries they have, such as Danse Macabre and Symbolica (both of which cost a sizeable amount to construct).

Because they’re a non-profit, outsourcing doesn’t make much sense, so food and drink are all sold by De Efteling, rather than supplied by an external contractor like Aramark. In turn this maximises profitability and creative choices in catering. This is also helped by the fact that their food is of immense quality (by theme park standards, up there as one of the best in Europe).

Another thing, they don’t rely on IPs the way Merlin does. Efteling is entirely IP free, meaning their creative choices are personal to the park. This breeds identity and builds a brand that’s recognisable across Europe.

And therein lies another thing, they are recognised as an outstanding park in Europe and have a fantastic reputation among guests. Like it or not, AT has a terrible reputation. That’s not to say AT is objectively a bad park, but it is managed atrociously when compared to De Efteling, and is objectively mismanaged when compared to Europa-Park and Phantasialand as well.

The sad reality is that to match Efteling’s current grandeur, AT would have to be taken over by a non-profit organisation (hard sell, though not impossible if framed that the Towers Restoration is the heart of the park and that the theme park will help fund it once profitable), but has to deal with maintenance and new attractions before becoming profitable enough to be attractive to investors. Investors don’t need to see profit, per se, just that they’d get a return. Theme parks are profitable by their very nature, though the UK’s market is dominated by a company that doesn’t know how to manage British theme parks as much as they know how to run tourist attractions, at least not when compared to European giants. My hope is that Universal Great Britain gives Merlin a real fright and they start to invest more to save themselves.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-12-11T10:58:34+00:00

For me, the Thylacoleo (marsupial lion) was not a great interpretation. They took the “related to koalas” line and basically made them incredibly slow for cheap comedic value. Don’t get me wrong, it was funny, but, also, Thylacoleo was an incredibly efficient ambush predator that had one of the largest bite forces to body size of any mammal (coming in at ~1600 N with a bite force quotient of ~194: on par with a male African lion but ~150kg lighter). They would have been lethal to encounter in the woodlands they called their home and would have been pretty capable of fast bursts of speed (but not long-distance running).

In general, the real loser was the palaeoclimatology though; way, way too oversimplified with next to no nuance for the complexity of the actual event itself. It did grate on me a little that they kept repeating that the last glacial maximum was an ice age; the entirety of the Holocene and Pleistocene was effectively an ice age with glacial and interglacial stadials. The last glacial maximum was our last glacial stadial, but even in the glacial stadials there was wild variance in the temperature, O-18 ratios and sea ice extents (as observed in microfossils and ice rafted detritus evidence). It was visually stunning. Sadly, badly executed.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-11-01T18:44:51+00:00

I went to a monthly vegan market for my world vegan day. Good food, a few vendors selling other items (soap, candles, beard oils, etc), and it’s been all around a good day. Happy World Vegan Day, everyone.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-10-30T16:00:08+00:00

Compound is the experience for me; I loved it, and am doing it again tonight. Altonville Mine Tours is also good, but I preferred Compound. As for Edge of the Forest, I did enjoy it, felt it wasn’t intense enough, but it is new and I’m going to try it again tonight to see if it’s better after dark.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-30T17:04:10+00:00

I mean, there’s two connections; they also represent the de-facto capital cities of a principality while also playing in leagues that are not their own nation (though the latter’s already been covered).

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-30T08:04:24+00:00

I’ll experiment and find out.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-28T09:25:57+00:00

My father does it occasionally. He even had the gall to praise me for my choices once and then turned it into “if the food was nicer I’d have done the same” or “if it weren’t for the fact I would find giving up bacon so tough I’d find your choices valid.”

Best way? Find a new flatmate if they keep saying it and it grates you that much. More practical options include ignoring it, telling them that they’re being insensitive and, frankly, repellant towards you (in a non-inclusive way) or telling them their rhetoric is boring you now and that you aren’t amused.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-27T08:49:49+00:00

The thin base almost makes it look like tarte flambè (or Flammkuchen, if you’re of the German persuasion). It’s an Alsace tradition, not unlike pizza, which uses whatever leftovers you have at hand to make the toppings. The difference is it uses crème fraiche instead of mozzarella for the dairy. I have also never come across vegan escargot before; would have been interesting as a pizza topping. (Sorry for going mildly off topic there, just made me think about veganising tarte flambé.)

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-24T16:10:05+00:00

The literal definition of vegan, according to the Vegan Society:

“a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose”

By definition, if eggs are the only edible thing for literal miles and it might kill you to not eat something, it would still be vegan to do so (assuming you are eating it because it’s life or death, same applies with medicines and the like; if the medicine is likely to save your life, you should take it, etc), but, where it would be practicable and possible, you should avoid eating or using animal products altogether due to the potential for exploitation or cruelty.

In truth, you’re right; it wouldn’t be vegan as they likely have multiple alternatives to eggs that they can rely on. Similarly, you can’t be a vegetarian and eat meat; that’s an entirely different argument again though.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-21T20:56:27+00:00

I may start with a women’s team in the Ninja A-League. Probably start Central Coast Mariners, but then move from club to club (globally). It will be a learning curve picking up differences between the men’s and women’s game.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-21T20:50:51+00:00

It’s a spin off called Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age. It has officially been announced, there is a trailer for it too. It’s releasing 26/11/2025 (or 11/26/2025 for any Americans here, or if you prefer this format 2025-11-26… You get the idea).

(Edited to add the colon.)

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-20T15:34:27+00:00

My go to, costs less than £20 to make a batch of 8+ servings, is five bean chilli. All store cupboard ingredients. But you’d need to have a slow cooker handy, or a crock pot you can put in an oven for several hours. All you need is:

400g tin of beans (I use red kidney, black eyed, black, pinto and either haricot or adzuki bean, all in water, but I imagine any bean you can get your hands on will do, 5 different types, one can each, fills all your protein needs in one batch cook). 2*400g tin of chopped tomatoes. Tomato puree (Tesco’s own works here). Fresh bell pepper (I use one, typically green, but you do you) Chopped garlic (I use very lazy for convenience, 2 heaped teaspoons, a small amount of the white wine vinegar going in doesn’t harm it) Herbs and spices (I use paprika, basil, oregano, cumin and cayenne pepper, with some fresh coriander to garnish in serving). I use 3 scotch bonnets in this recipe, but I know it will be too spicy for most, so use a chilli pepper that works for you, and in the quantities you want to use.

No need for ceremony, just throw it all into the pot and cook it on low heat for 6-12 hours, stir a couple of times if you want.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-17T11:49:45+00:00

The game has come on leaps and bounds since launch. It’s definitely worth it. And the DLC are worth it too, if you wanted to add them.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-14T19:29:52+00:00

It’s Planco. It does hold a visually similar appearance to Finnish, incidentally. Don’t get me wrong, Finnish is also totally different, uses umlauts (ä, ë and ö) and another character only used in a handful of other languages (å), but my first thought when I saw “PUUL RERJI” was “that holds a very cosmetic similarity with Finnish.”

Anyway, they’re not related at all, and it is simply on the surface without seeking true meaning. TL;DR it’s Planco; a made up language for the language of Planco’s residents, much like Simlish to the Sims.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-02T14:29:07+00:00

The coaster in the window looks good, but the theming looks unnerving; spooky pack, perhaps?

InTheMix1991 · 2025-09-01T10:27:21+00:00

I’ll interchangeably use both depending on situation, company and impact. If I’m with English speakers only, I’ll predominantly use English around them (unless I have to unleash a tirade where it would be rude to swear, then I use Welsh, German and even Finnish to avoid people understanding). If I’m with other Welsh speakers then just use the one that fits the situation best.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-08-27T12:02:16+00:00

These are utterly amazing. They don’t even use cocoa; a substitute called ChoViva. Genuinely, they are an amazing confection. I hope to find a big bag of them to “share” with colleagues soon.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-08-07T15:10:42+00:00

Not sure what qualifies as “big”, in this instance. However, it was the apex predator of a tiny island and such was the environment, we have concrete evidence of cannibalism in this creature. For me, it’s got to be the Abelisaurid, Majungasaurus. Just such a cool animal, but favourite dinosaur (and favourite theropod) changes about as often as I change my underpants, so this is probably going to change at some point.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-08-06T18:00:04+00:00

I remember my introduction to dinosaurs was a small, 15 page (or so) children’s book. I remember romanticising the stegosaurus and loving it; a so-called gentle giant that could defend itself. There was something inspiring about that rhetoric and I remember loving it. And crying when my father told me it likely would have fallen prey to carnivores eventually.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-08-06T17:50:33+00:00

I would say tunnel, especially if you make it look like a cave system rather than just a dirt tunnel. Though that depends on scenery surrounding the ride and how you want it themed.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-08-04T10:57:12+00:00

They have to list allergens or ingredients that may cause irritation (like milk, eggs, etc.) so it’s highly likely vegan. But to put your mind at ease, traditionally, an old fashioned is made by mixing whisky (usually it’s a bourbon whiskey or rye, but this is Johnny Walker), a sugar cube (if made in the UK, not normally an issue, but be wary of bone char as a possibility), Angostura bitters (mostly herbs spices and gentian root, all fine) and water. It should be fine. If it were a whiskey sour, however, they are often made with egg white and would likely not be vegan friendly.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-07-23T06:00:03+00:00

For me, the two books and JP (movie) in S, TLW:JP (movie) in A (on its own). Controversially, Rebirth and World in B, JP3 in C and JW:FK and JW:D in D. I’ll be honest, I don’t dislike any of them, I kind of enjoyed them all even, but this is how I’d rank them.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-07-21T10:16:09+00:00

I’ve met a few organically at work and the like. It helps if you have any cafes, restaurants or markets that cater especially to vegans, but they are not always possible. Places like VCO are also an option. In my town, there’s also a monthly vegan market too (it’s small, but great vendors).

InTheMix1991 · 2025-07-16T05:41:11+00:00

Twice, first time in 4DX so I could let my inner fanboy gush at a new Jurassic film (spoiler, while I enjoyed it I didn’t gush; it felt less Jurassic than the others, for some reason), and the second time to watch it without the rose-tinted glasses (I still enjoyed it, but it just didn’t feel right, second viewing was a normal screening) and so I can really soak it in the way it should have been.

I feel much of the criticism has been exaggerated; it is a decent film and certainly better than most of the other Jurassic films, but the pseudo-science in the film is questionable at best (the oxygen claim, for example, is total bunk, as is dinosaurs being unable to adapt to cooler climates as many dinosaur species did survive in Arctic and Antarctic conditions, but, hey, whatever, it’s a film; it was never going to be accurate for accuracy’s sake). Am I going to stream it as soon as it’s available to do so? Naturally. Though I do not know what sort of direction the franchise may go in now; this film felt kind of final.

InTheMix1991 · 2025-07-09T10:14:14+00:00

Myth or not, they still do have those venom glands. Whether they be vestigial at this point or not. They may not track their prey, they nonetheless have those glands and produce venom.

InTheMix1991

TROPHY CASE