Marc

^Its always done that I think its by design, most rides do it if theres no other audio playing will play the area theme. Thats why sometimes vortex will have chart music if they dont play the announcements.

Staines mc donalds would be kind of on the way - if not then your looking at Heathrow Mc donalds.

I know why it looks like it but I'm not sure why it looks so bad so quickly, its quite surprising really even last year when it had been open just a couple of months it looked awful, its track has not aged well atall, wonder what it will be like in 10 years time!

Its probably around a 15/20 min drive so that late id assume quite expense, it may be worth calling a few local firms and getting quotes. As for mc ds near that hotel, not within walking distance unfortunately.

Its hard to compare, they are totally different rides. Rush has had its share of downtime - but its also important to remember that was a prototype ride.

It has programs, it either spins 2 times each way or 3 (usually 3) Its restraint system is fine and perfectly safe! You are just as secure as you would be if it had full over the head restraints!

Just did the same search at Chessington and that was £632.00! So Thorpe is quite significantly cheaper than both, offers 2 events (Thorpe park Live - We don't know much about that yet) and Summer Nights. I think thats quite good value personally.

TBH I wouldn't be all that surprised if the Shark Hotel is a success we see them push on and build the full hotel, once complete maybe keep the Shark Hotel as a lower price alternative? Most people who complain about the Shark Hotel / Crash Pad haven't actually stayed there, the rooms them selves are actually very nice, and I don't think its priced all that badly... Of course if you look to go in the middle of the Summer Holidays its going to be pricey...

Agree with this - Although believe it or not it wasn't *fully* working today - the bit which goes around the entrance to the tunnel wasn't on it was just the bit which was in the middle, its the best I've seen it work in years though - maybe ever as I don't really remember it from 2003! Fingers crossed they keep up the good work

Yes, normal flushing toilet and no more see through door! There are don't worry! 2 sets of 2

Now the hotel is open have created it a new topic separate to the one following its construction / Plans. Am quite impressed with it so far, the Reception area is themed well, like the little touches of the Thorpe Park signage. The style of it all reminds me of Alton Towers in a way, which is a good thing. The rooms are of a good quality, slightly bigger too but that may be only noticeable if you've stayed in the old Crash Pad. Quite impressed with the TV system, probably one of the better ones I've seen in a hotel.

I think its a nice touch there using "junk" from the parks history - should be quite unique if anything IMO.

http://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/03-04-2014/Construction-Updates got some pictures here - the inside looks good!

Will get some for you!

Not sure about this year but last year they ran a on the day deal which was £29.99 per person - I thought that was of reasonable value (A lot of travelodges around the park are more than that - especially on the day) I guess time will tell if a similar deal will be in place this year.

https://twitter.com/JasonPWills/status/451788051258552320/photo/1 They look nice inside too!

Moved the Merlin v Disney stuff to the Merlin to the Merlin topic http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/7118-merlin-entertainments/page-10#entry179992

This £40 price line does seem to crop up quite often, when you say on the day entry to Thorpe Park is £48 that *does* sound like an awful lot, but when you compare it to say going to a premier league football game, it suddenly dont sound quite so bad. Along with that if who ever is planing their trip shops around its £25 a couple of days in advance which IMO offers pretty good value for money.

The parks official Twitter may be able to look into this for you to @thorpepark Hopefully they will be able to sort it out for you

Agree with the bathroom door and that seems to be what most of the negative feedback was..- being their own units I suspect they have listened to guest feedback and have addressed this. It wouldn't surprise me if in years to come the hotel appears and this becomes a cheaper alternative, they can build the hotel based on the feedback from this to make sure what they produce suits the parks needs.

But from the aspect of actually staying there before, it really actually is quite good. Ok sure the rooms are tiny compared to a standard hotel room, but they are built and finished to a very high quality and offer a comfortable nights sleep (the beds are much better than the ones I stayed in at PA!) Time spent in the room is in my experience actually very little and aslong as the park offers things to do in the evening be it rides open or entertainment in the dome I expect people will be happy with there stay. You only have to read the reviews on TripAdvisor to see the vast majority do actually like it. I do hope they go ahead and build the full hotel sooner rather than later, but until then I think the Crash Pad served its purpose well and the Shark Hotel will most likely do so, and maybe even be a bit better too.

Ha yep - Dont worry guys just an April Fools! Glad it got some of you though!!

Just because it dont appeal to you doesn't mean it doesn't appeal to anyone else, the Crash pad version 1 was clearly a success for the park hence they are expanding it and taking it further, so people are clearly happy with the offering? I stayed there a couple of times last year, with prices at around £29 per person on the day I thought it was good value, although we dont know the on the day prices yet. As for comparing to the others, its all about demand, theres no point Thorpe Park building massive hotels just yet if they cant fill them, if people are happy paying less and staying in a room like the Crash Pad then I dont see the problem?

Nice find http://instagram.com/bneerectionservices Looks much the same as the crah pad - hope they've fixed them bathroom doors!

I've always found Mondays and Fridays to be the busiest week days, I guess people are more likely to take a day off for a long weekend Instead of an odd day in the week