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Hello TPM peeps, Please find below a provisional plan for the year ahead. Dates are provisional until I confirm in the new year. Jan/Feb (Date TBC) - Bowling and meal (other ideas welcome) Saturday 30th March - Thorpe Park opening meet Friday 5th to Sunday 7th April - Blackpool meet Saturday 18th May - Chessington meet Saturday 29th to Sunday 30th June - Alton Towers meet (likely to go up Fri evening) Friday 2nd August to Monday 5th Aug - Phantasialand international meet (2 days - Sat and Sun) Saturday 12th October - Thorpe Park FN December (Date TBC) - London attractions/Winter Wonderland I might look at adding a few smaller parks in at random weekends across the year as well. Any thoughts/opinions/ideas are welcome.

The unprofessionalism all round from Thorpe Park is shocking. And no offence but it's pretty embarassing to see a self-appointed theme park 'personality' seemingly using their job at Thorpe Park as self validation for their inflated enthusiast opions. I know many enthusiasts (in the real sense of the word, not this enthusiast "community" cult ideology) who are extremely hard working and have been in the attraction industry for years. They make it all happen to entertain others, they dont get any wider recognition and they dont seek it either. Whereas this Jordan character trying to get PR attention at any opportunity, the tweets, that dumb enthusiast awards thing and many other enthusiast cliques, seem to be far more interested in themselves than working in entertainment. Or getting their enthusiast friends 'in' behind the scenes so they can boast about themselves too. Thorpe Park needs to get back to basics, get back in touch with the public (especially if it's wanting to go for families more like it says it does) and offer a good value day out. Not a day in a tarmac car park sponsored by a hundred fads, with signs constantly reminding you you're on "the island" (whoops, you built over most views of the water years ago!), and then getting egotists to tell others why they're wrong online. Theme parks are really just about having a laugh out with friends, with a day of fun. Isn't that what we all got into it for? People behind the scenes need to be open minded, less self congratulatory and sort the park out properly. But I guess massively glamorising the 'brand' to the point that it bears no resemblance to the park is what they're better at and all they're interested in currently.

It's official - 2018 was the tightest year yet! Some spectacularly close fought contests were had, and there's even a TPM first. But more on that later... For now, the winners... PARK AWARDS Best UK Park 1) Alton Towers (13) 2) Blackpool Pleasure Beach (6) 3) Thorpe Park (3) Best UK Coaster 1) Nemesis (7) 2) Icon (4) 3) Stealth (3) Best UK Flat 1) Rush (8) 2) Detonator (5) 3) Samurai (4) Best UK Water Ride 1) Valhalla (12) 2) Tidal Wave (6) 3) Tiger Rock (3) Best UK Dark Ride 1) Hex (13) 2) Derren Brown's Ghost Train: Rise of the Demon (3) 3) Duel (2) Worst UK Ride 1) Derren Brown's Ghost Train: Rise of the Demon (13) 2) Hero (3) 3) Storm Surge (2) Best International Park 1) Europa Park (8) 2) Phantasialand (5) 3) Cedar Point (4) Best International Coaster 1) Steel Vengeance (5) =2) Taron, Helix & Shambhala (3) Best New-for-2018 Attraction 1) Wicker Man (9) 2) Icon (5) 3) Steel Vengeance (4) Most Disappointing Merlin Moment 2018 1) Fright Nights; specific mentions included Vulcan Peak (10) 2) 'Everything' or words to that effect (4) 3) Alton Towers' infamous "It's better than nothing" tweet (3) Best-Looking New-for-2019 Attraction 1) FLY/Rookburgh, Phantasialand (5) 2) Untamed, Walibi Holland (4) =3) Rulantica, Europa Park & Taiga, Linnanmäki (3) Best Manufacturer 1) Mack (8) 2) B&M (5) 3) RMC (4) MEMBER AWARDS Best Member 1) @JoshC. 2) @Mattgwise 3) @Cedar Creek Best Team Member 1) @Marc 2) @Mattgwise 3) @JoshC. Best Quality Posts 1) @Wumbamillio 2) @Coaster 3) 4 runners-up (see below) Most Knowledgeable =1) @Wumbamillio & @JoshC. 2) @Coaster 3) @Benin Most Dedicated 1) @Cedar Creek 2) @JoshC. 3) @Mattgwise Most Sarcastic 1) @Benin 2) @Cedar Creek 3) @Coaster Most Likely to be Banned in 2019 1) @MarkC 2) @Coaster 3) Thorpe Park's Twitter Page Funniest Member =1) @Martin Doyle & @MattyMoo 2) @Benin 3) @pluk Biggest Fanboy 1) @Cedar Creek 2) @Marhelorpe 3) @Marc Sexiest Male 1) @Cedar Creek 2) @Ryan 3) @Martin Doyle Sexiest Female 1) @terrortomb 2) @jessica2 3) @Cedar Creek Storm Surge Award 1) @Ivsetti 2) @Cedar Creek 3) @Coaster Member You'd Like to See More Of 1) @Coaster 2) @BenC 3) @pluk Congratulations winners! This year was one of the tightest yet, so wear your victories with pride! As for the six-way ties, these will be decided by a...*cue dramatic X Factor music*...public vote. Head over to this thread and cast your! The nominees are... Best Member @Cedar Creek, @Coaster, @JoshC., @Martin Doyle, @Mattgwise and @pluk Best Quality Posts @Cedar Creek, @Coaster, @JoshC., @Marhelorpe, @pluk and @Wumbamillio The votes will be open until Thursday, 23.59, when hopefully a winner will be decided! These votes are anonymous, but you can see how many people have voted for a particular person at any given time. In the nature of good sportsmanship, nominees - don't vote for yourself! Happy voting all!

Never a greater post on this forum.

Yes, I've not been about much, sorry about that! Been a little busy making one of these and then keeping her alive... ...turns out it's quite hard work and time consuming!

What sort of pillock breaks into a theme park and records themselves, including their face?

No work on Loggers?! Shocking.

No one.

I know everyone loves an excuse to bash but is colossus really that bad? It went through a stage of being pretty awful - and of course the restraints are not be the best design but it’s hardly unridable - especially in the last 2/3 years the trains are noticeably smoother IMO. Personally I think there are better things the park could spend the money on. There are rides out there which run much rougher!

Just got back from the Efteling/Netherlands and definitely struggled to leave (quite literally because our flights back got cancelled and had to be rescheduled). Key points from the park: Park was decorated with lots of little Christmas decorations, from a Vogel Rock Santa hat to several trees and ornaments in the main path Warm fires and numerous entertainers were scattered throughout the park, including a choir and Live musicians A large tent (with bar and ice rink) and a small Ferris wheel comprised of additional attractions, Park was lively on the weekends but literally dead in the week, with queues rarely excieeding 20 minutes (even on Symbolica) Bob Saw some of the longer queues in the park (probably because it’s getting demolished and has a low throughput) Villa Volta featured an ‘impressive’ projection mapping show on it’s facade at night (although riders had to use an alternative exit) Vogel Rock’s audio was ‘experiencing’ some major difficulties, on one train the music didn’t ‘synchronise’ properly whilst on another the music wasn’t working at all Dutchman and Pirana remained closed during the trip due to maintenance Apart from Baron, you have to take your bags on all the rides now Python is now incredibly smooth since it’s retracking It also snowed on our third (and what should’ve been our final) day, making it the ‘true’ Winter Efteling Park looked beautiful as always at night. The park’s dark rides as always were simply beautiful (Carnaval maybe less-so). From the magnificent set pieces of Droomvlucht, atmosphere of Fata, Villa’s effects and the ‘sheer perfection’ of Symbolica. A similar ride system at Phantasialand would make a perfect replacement for Geister Riksha (assuming it’s getting ripped out next year). The Coasters in general are fun and highly enjoyable all around. Baron compensates it’s small drop and layout which immense details and story telling (which makes it one of the better coaster out there), Joris is great and throws a trick or two. Bob for me is probably the weakest coaster, but is still fun and will be missed.

You can't judge performance on queue times. When I visited, the Big one had a longer queue as it was taking longer to dispatch. Icon was a shorter wait but the queue was moving way quicker.

I'd personally say the rollercoasters at Efteling have more personality than any other park in Europe. Perfectly tailored to the family audience, full of whimsy and quirkiness. Baron is a painfully average dive machine but everything that surrounds it elevates it to one of my favourite coasters. Yes it doesn't have the big coasters but a lot of big coaster parks are completely soulless, lacking any magic or enthusiasm or anything that resembles pride.

Come on now people, who misread hottest male for most likely to be banned?

Thanks! By the way apologies if my language seemed 'personally' attacking, I dont care about what these people are like in person, only their professional involvement with the park and 'enthusiast' influence. I hope the post makes clear the reasons why, Thorpe needs something to save it from the way it's going and the current direction just isnt it.

2007 fright nights me and another old member of this forum who worked at the park, platforming Inferno 2 trains, 2 man team as short stagfed.....checked loaded and ready to dispatch waiting for the lift block clear for 2 hours no stacking took place, we basically worked the **** out of the queue, as we dispatched sonearly we had 30-45 seconds to get 1 person from each row to collect the bags rather than every person cramming the bag room etc.... it was great fun and a decent results ive never seen since! it just takes will and enthusiasm both with ride hosts and getting the riders on board for the challenge!

Would be nice to do a Tulley's meet alongside Fright Nights late September / early October.

LESS THAN 24 HOURS TO VOTE. If you don't vote, the results will be worse than Brexit. SO go on, vote.

I totally agree with you, this was my first Disney Park and its beauty just amazed though before I had only been to the likes of Merlin Parks, since then I haven't been bothered to return to a Merlin park because the attention to detail is next level! I'm so excited for all their expansion plans, soaring next year, Tangled land, Peter Pan Land, Frozen Land. I've also experienced Tokyo Disneyland and I must say you can tell its different because they just put so much into everything I'm so excited for the beauty and the beast ride coming to Tokyo Disneyland the animatronics look like they are pulled from the film!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM LINNANMAKI!

Thing is: 1) They won't cost £250 a night 2) They'll be themed, because it's Phantasialand 3) All things point to this hotel being within the park area (somehow), making it very different 4) If they did cost £250 a night, I'd moan and wouldn't stay there

*Meanwhile Elsewhere* Efteling re-tracks Python (despite not being that rough) Phantasialand re-imagines River Quest (with new theming, effects and soundtrack) Europa continue improving and reimagining attractions I.E Madame Freudenrich, Can Can, etc. Etc. Liseberg ‘quietly’ replace the trains for Banen Asterix begin retracking for Tonnere Colossus despite it’s roughness is a park icon for Thorpe and deserves a lot more than what it gets. The park ‘should’ take pride in it by adding new trains, effects and giving the whole area a ‘massive clean’, repaint and thematic elements. ‘However’ the park management don’t see this as necessary as it ‘apparently’ can’t be seen as worthwhile or marketable. So they invest their money better in other things like ‘gimmicky’ events, ‘short term’ attractions and other things that the park didn’t really need. But ‘oh’, it’s clearly paying off for them when 90% of their customers are complaining about ride unavailability, comfortability and the ‘supposed’ future of Loggers Leap returning (if only). And yet they wonder why numbers are doing so badly compared to other places? Don’t worry everyone, I’m sure they know what they are doing, so they will probably raise prices yet close more shops, restaurants and attractions when it’s not ‘super peak’. “Four months of Rumba operation” you say!

Clearly missing the point when a fair few members on this exact forum are technically illegal in Dubai and surrounding areas due to the out-dated laws... Accusing Mark of being a Daily Mail reader is stealth contender for Post of the Year...

Maybe it was on purpose and Pretty Little Thing exchanged that RT from BPB for an old Wild Mouse carriage lads.

You know it's been an "engaging" year on TPM when this is your Top 5:

I would say that is extremely unlikely. The ‘upcoming’ Hotel Charles Lindbergh is planned to be located in the brand new Rookburgh area, which is replacing the already demolished Atlantis simulator rides along with F.L.Y. The ‘potentially rumoured’ demolition project is expected to be for either The Temple and Hollywood complex or the Geister Riksha dark ride, the latter seems more likely due to the Fantassima situation and long rumours of the China area being upgraded. Most of the left side of the park just needs complete redevelopment. One must question though, that if the new area does not open until 2020, does that mean the ‘demolition’ project will be pushed back too, as a result?