Longleat Safari & Adventure Park has been one of the UKs best-loved attractions for over 60 years. It features an extensive Safari Park, is home to BBC Animal Park and CBBC Roar and also has over 15 fabulous attractions, including the new multi million pound Jungle Kingdom and Longleat House, one of the most stunning stately homes in Britain.
This half term, I used my brand spanking new longleat annual pass to see what animals were leaking around the corner!
First stop was the safari park!
Back in 1995, Thorpe Park was an extremely different place. Rather than being an island screaming out to the world about its thrills and spills, it was a quaint little family theme park, that kept itself to itself. Instead of the skyline being dominated by the likes of Stealth and Swarm, a large diving pole was the centre point, with Loggers Leap and Depth Charge being the highest rides on park at 60ft and 40ft respectively (and yet wouldn't really obstruct the skyline from outside the park too
Well the CD is still stuck in the car player, so this week what I have been mostly listening to the hum of rubber on road. I've given up and turned her off.
Once at work though, I've had an unusually office based few days. Most of the time I'm out in cars without music radios so it makes a nice change to be inside with some audio company even if it is frustrating not being out and about fighting crime. Some genius in the office had left our little DAB on the superb Absolute 80s which for someon
Since the turn of the century, we've seen Thorpe accelerate from a quaint family theme park into a park which offers one of the largest array of 'thrill rides' in Europe. During this period, there has been quiet on obvious shift in target market - from families looking for a nice day out to young adults (which arguably is the 16-34 region in this case) looking to do something for a day. Many question the viability of this strategy, mainly from an economic perspective. However, are Thorpe righ
As I've mentioned elsewhere, for me the music that comes with me always feels like it is defining the narrative of my life and will cement the memories I keep of certain times. So I thought a little blog of what that music is as I go along could be fun. Here then will be what is currently in my head, be it things I like, love or that are just inescapable whether I like it or not...
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Whilst this entry may seem technically coaster related (and, in a way, is), the core idea about the blog isn't, so I'm giving this blog a bit more love...
For my university course, one module I've had to take is Geometry and Motion, with the key element of the module being to learn about curves. Each week, we're given assignments (which count towards our final grade) which consists of multiple questions. In last week's assignment, the final question was this:
Simply put, we were asked to s
In the past two decades or so, roller coaster manufacturing has seen many technological advances. Back in the 1980s, the idea of having a roller coaster where the trains were underneath the track or having a launched roller coaster was about as technologically superior as the industry has reached. The first 'suspended' coaster, 'The Bat' at Kings Island in America, opening in 1981, only to close two years later due to being highly temperamental, whilst the first launched coaster, 'King Kobra'
Some alright songs were released in 2012. I've made a list of ten of them, including some that I think are a little bit better than I give them credit for.
AWOLNATION - 'Kill Your Heroes' (from: 'Megalithic Symphony')
AWOLNATION are an odd band. One minute they're happy enough screaming out erratic, borderline psychologically-damaged odes to pyromania and suffering as on 'Burn It Down' and 'Soul Wars' and the next they're plodding along to pop-lite melodies like 'Jump On My Shoulders', com
So... Today in history we got to write pretend twitter messages pretending we were the native Americans and white settlers! I want to share you mine
@WhitePeeps: Wussup my red Indes! Y u no been online lately? I wanna make you a deal blud... Init. We get 24 mil acres of your batty boy land and we build you a house! #epic
@SmexiSioux: Oi burbs, you taking all our land cos you think we want a stupid house! #Earth_To_White_Peeps Why don't you leave my baby Pocahontas to me. I'll bang you if you
Regularly with new projects in the UK, and even some internationally, are compared to Nemesis; Alton Towers' map-defining roller coaster. It's natural really when you consider that Nemesis is pretty much in every enthusiasts' top 10 coasters / rides, and usually near the top as well, and that it's been ranked even as a top 10 roller coaster in the world at one point/ So, with new projects, there's always talk of 'Will it be better than Nemesis?', 'Will it do a Nemesis?' and so forth. But what
So, in a contrast to my other blog, these entries will be about all things not related to theme parks. There'll be entries which are a little bit serious and / or personal, like this one, and there'll be some which are just random. Either way, hope you enjoy!
So, this is going to ramble on for ages, but basically it's about me and exercising / sports. Probably sounds quite boring in honesty, but hey-ho. A few years back, (about 7 or 8 years actually thinking about it; I'm starting to feel a
Welcome to the first semi-serious blog post from me. As the title suggests, I've subsided the music talk for a brief moment to consider a more emotive reflection about why I have the religious beliefs I do. I consider myself atheist, though on paper I am a Roman Catholic and was raised a devout Christian, at least until my father was ex-communicated for a reason none of the members of our family are completely clued-in about. I believe it had something to do with the Parish priest wanting to ble
This is a blog entry that relates to the hot topic of Fastrack and Fastrack sales. So why's it in here, and not in that topic?
The aim here is to illustrate how Fastrack sales affect the main queue of a ride, and demonstrate what many bring up - those who pay for the premium service (Fastrack) negatively affect the service of those who do not pay for such a service (those who use the main queue). Unfortunately, this will be quite mathematically thought out, will ramble on a bit, and uses many
This Halloween! Spixworth Fields Theme Park has been celebrating "Spixworth Horror Fields" running from 13th-31st October, hosting an event of horror attractions, fun family games and fantastic theming!
Here is Spixworth Fields Mania review of 2012 SHF:
The Park
The park themed top to bottom with Halloween objects, right at the end of Farm Lane is the mighty haunted windmill, below it is objects of the previous visitors of SHF...
When reaching the end of Field lane, you reach the f
Shrinking violets of the pop scene One Direction shocked the world to the sound of a million swoons upon the release of the lyric video for their new single 'Little Things'. And in a completely unexpected turn of events, the second single from their second album strips back the tuneless walls of sound and multi-layered vocals that made them sound like the posterboys for Jim Steinman's perverse dreams of starring in Glee, and instead we see a barely-there guitar backing to some overly-observed an
The introduction of Thorpe's new maze to Fright Nights this year has been quite a hot topic. Since 'The Passing' was announced, many were left fearing (or, depending on your views, hoping!) that their underwear would be stained brown after going through a maze which puts a bag over your head and simulates your death.
However, reviews have been mixed, with some feeling as though it is not worth the additional charge, feeling as though there's many wasted opportunities, whilst some - like mysel
Girls Aloud have a new single out. It's called 'Something New' and it's a whizz-bang poppers o'clock femme-fest about mastering the holy grail of all feminist endeavours - control. (Natalia Kills has sealed herself away in her bondage basement, weeping into her handcuffs.) 'Something New' is/was/has been produced by Xenomania, so on the pop spectrum of lamazing to balls-out fandango fantasticality, it's bound to end up somewhere near the top of the list, isn't it?
First off, 'Something New' isn
I loved The Passing, I thought it was a great addition to the Fright Nights lineup that provided some great scares, however one thing that could of been done better was your death.
The only thing that comes close to a simulated death in The Passing is when a gunshot sound is played when you get your picture taken, if this meant to be the simulation of death then it just makes no sense, as in the next scene you get your bag. They cant kill you before you before you get the bag, then it would jus
Check out my review of The Passing on my shiny new WordPress, CoasterGeek, providing reviews of rides, events and attractions in the UK!
"Disturbing, Haunting, Unique. Those are the three words I would use to describe The Passing, Thorpe Park’s latest & most extreme Fright Nights maze yet…
After hearing many reviews of The Passing, I had low expectations, I was expected it to be crap, to my surprise though it turned out to be my favourite maze of the year. After getting the usual safety br
There's been a tectonic shift in the face of the music industry since 2007, not that anyone cares. But the last time it was recorded that a song like 'Grace Kelly' had a fair chance at becoming a national UK Chart phenomenon. Whether you loved or loathed Mika, 'Grace Kelly' was pop music genius. But now, in a world where acts like LMFAO thrive in their own deadpan idiocy, it's hard to imagine the same style of music ever being successful again. The legacy of wonky-pop acts like Mika, The Hoosier
With Fright Nights, Scarefest and all other things Halloween drawing ever nearer, I guess it's time for some Halloween-themed blog entries!
Dead End was seemingly a one-off scare zone that hit Fright Nights in 2010, and Thorpe's first attempt at a scare zone since about 2002 / 2003, when the event first started out. Located on the pathway next to Zodiac and The Crust, it was perhaps a typical Merlin scare zone, in the sense that it wasn't technically a scare zone, but rather a set route with a
Last update of September!
Hey! As we move into Halloween month, Spixworth has been racing ahead with its 2013 project & SHF construction!
In today’s update we will be looking at:
Major rumours about the 2013 project
Spixworth Horror Fields construction
2013 construction update
1.
Lately, the 2013 site has been very busy construction wise! With the animal enclosures being put up at a rapid pace, but recently major SFM members have noticed the site expanding and construction takin
First off, I don't really get this bloging thing. In case I haven't mentioned it, I'm old. Well, older than most here and so I haven't grown up with computers and internet and forums and now blogs, so some times it takes me a while to 'get' it. I had to grow up the hard way when if I wanted to see one of my friends I had to get on my bike, cycle to their house and ask their Mum if they could come out and play, not send them a text or Skype them or comment on their latest blog about Thundercats a
