Sheepie

Welcome James, I'm glad you're able to share this exciting time with us here. I agree, we've been so spoilt this closed season. We're very lucky!

Ugh, it's just ridiculous! I'm in love with the scenic work for this ride. It's projects like this that inspire me to become a Scenic Artist. This station could be potentially beautiful and stunning. So far, it is putting every other ride station to shame. Just over 13 weeks until we see the finished thing.

If I'd known Charlie Brooker wrote Black Mirror then I'd have watched it far sooner than now. There is something about him, channel 4 and his style of writing that just gel so wonderfully and manages to produce original, dark and powerful television. There were some fantastic actors in all of the episodes, especially the first one.Each episode had stand-out moments and I can't really pick a favourite between the three.Couldn't help but really feel for Liam at the end of the last episode though, how many of us replay memories of relationships once they're over? Or go on to Facebook and look at pictures of the both of you? I can imagine a lot of people will relate to that one.Elsewhere, American Horror Story is about to air the finale episode in the States this evening, I shall be watching it tomorrow night. After last week's episode, I'm pretty sure we're in for an emotional, dramatic one! Tate/ Taint (what is his name?!) will always be welcome round my house. The hot, unhinged, destructive psycho!A lot of shows are taking their mid-season breaks now, such as Grimm, The Walking Dead, Desperate Housewives.... there have been a lot of great shows this year!

Here's a cheeky bit of speculation- could the last day of the Thorpe Advent Calendar be of Swarm's trains? I can see them presenting them to us in this way. Especially since there have been whispers of them being on site for a good while now.

Saw this on Facebook and found it really touching. Applies to bullying in general but I thought this was really powerful that Disney made this video. What a wonderful company.

Oh, I agree, it does get tiring reading it's Merlin's fault for this or it's totally Merlin as a whole at fault for that. The more we learn about the company and the way it works, the more it is becoming apparent that they have very little personal involvement in specific operation of the parks.The more I think about it, the more excited I get about the scenic elements on this project. The station is a destroyed church. That is seriously cool!

Haha, too right! Everyone is guilty of generalising with the term "Merlin". I find it interesting what you say about Raptor's station audio and lighting Benin, I wonder how Swarm will compare!

Lighting and sound really are a major thing for me in a coaster station. It should feel eventful and almost climatic (apart from the ride itself) I'd imagine seeing those massive trains depart and enter the station will be pretty impressive, with the added lighting and sound, I can only imagine it will be as impressive as Air's dispatch sequence or Inferno's when it first opened. You mean the freelance company's that come in and design their ride audio for them? :PI can only imagine it works like a theatre production. A creative person from Thorpe/ Merlin act as the directors and provide a brief for what they want and the freelance people provide a service and work to that brief. Either way, as long as it's awesome, that's all that matters!

We can only hope Benin! There are so many possibilities. Area theme, ride theme/ station theme, themed announcements, dispatch theme. Some of the recent specially composed tracks for Merlin attractions have been some of my faves. Thirteen's soundscape is also very good I think!

How weird. I was thinking exactly the same whilst watching the finale last night! Something along these lines with the same type of atmosphere would be perfect. Here's hoping it'll be a specially composed track for the ride. Eeee, music! <3

I'd imagine there will be an Annual Pass preview, considering this is a major addition for the park. If it was handled like Saw's then I'll be pretty happy. Before that though, there is likely to be a media preview as well and as many more preview events you can shake a destroyed plane at.

So I've just watched the season 6 finale of Dexter. Was an average season although I did enjoy the exploration of good/ evil and religion. The twist at the end though.... blew my mind. Goosebumps just thinking about it. AHH.

BOOM! :PYou're more than welcome everyone. Was a pleasure. We didn't have to do it but we thought it'd be a neat little extra because we love our members so much!

Thank you! Spent ages doing them. I realise they may be a little too big for signatures, but any smaller and you struggle to read the writing. A quick resize in paint though shall solve the problem of them being too big. If anyone would like the full size image then just feel free to ask!

Take your trophies people! Congratulations to all winners!

Read it. Really fantastic Josh. A lot of effort obviously went into this. I'll be looking forward to more in the future! Only 13 weeks until THE SWARM!

Josh, I haven't read your review yet, but I just want to say, wow! I'm very much looking forward to reading this later. Again, without having read your posts (I apologise), are you going to be doing this for other parks too?

These things really freak me out if I'm honest. From the elevator section to the track design itself. I just don't really get the point of them really. Not for me, personally. I'll enjoy following construction, no doubt though!

Just read the last page on the Saw topic, that'll give you many reasons why people dislike Saw! By all means ask the question again but all people are going to do is repeat what has already been said!

Looks as though it's straight out of RCT.

Today's enthusiasts are SPOILED, let's not forget that. We're treated to pictures, interviews and info almost on a weekly basis, especially with Thorpe rides. Merlin in general do a good job of treating their fans to teasers, mini-sites, pictures and behind the scenes opportunities. Let's have a bit of patience and less of the "must have more now" mentality that is prominent in today's society.Was just over a decade ago when enthusiasts were told next to nothing about new developments. Even in recent years some parks have chosen to go down the more secretive route. Thorpe have been nothing but generous.

Is in love with the Spirit of London taxi ride as much as I am! Creepy Fireman!

I would imagine the water-splash effect will be going on the very low turn over water leading into the third inversion. Judging from the testing video of it, I would say there are still quite a few tweaks to be made with timings and pressure of the jets, once that's finished, I'm sure it'll look as good as Raptor's and Manta's.

The station themeing seems to be coming along nicely! The only thing that I'm slightly disappointed about with this project is just how short the actual ride experience is. We're looking at Inferno's length here if you disregard it's pre-lift section. I'd much rather the ride be short and allow for the whole experience to be complete though, it really is looking to be very exciting!

Thank you so much for posting that Benin! This sort of thing is right up my street, particularly when we're using UV on our current set and literally just learnt about the different painting techniques and methods, very exciting to be able to apply it to a theme park attraction.