Mer

Skype sure does have it's uses!

Brilliant!

Ah that music, brings back memories of fun, banter-filled TPM rides

Nothing wrong with that viewing tower in Brighton - imagine how far out to sea you could look! By what the article was saying it sounds very interesting and exciting If anything the Brighton Wheel was a silly idea, because it's not exactly high enough to view much compared to the tower Whether or not people think there's much to view in Brighton is their opinion, but it's an historic city plus being able to view for miles is something some people would find pretty cool. Also from Wiki: "It will be Britain's highest observation tower with views along the coast, across the South Downs and across the Channel." The South Downs are beautiful! On a very clear day you can just about make out France from the Booster which is only 135ft! It's something do to, it will make money and will create more jobs. Perfect! Eyesore? What about the burnt out remains of the West Pier, much worse than a shiny new observation tower I was going to say they could maybe save that money for doing something with the West Pier but then I read at the bottom of the article: "Fingers crossed this will kick start the redevelopment of the West Pier itself." Yay! Now all we need is to get a new decent ride on the pier to replace the joke-of-a-simulator...which replaced the Super Booster...which replaced a simulator. KMG ride please! Or an Extreme! EDIT: Just been reading about it and the Wheel will be removed once the Tower is built lol

HAS NEW SHOES!

Is a fish.

LOL I have no idea! It's after the Spider Scene which also has those scary men, so I was probably too busy laughing/recovering from that

Love the improvements made to Duel this year, the lighting changes meant I noticed a lot more theming! Like this skeleton dude in a cloak pulling a leaver, never noticed that before!

Right, my review of Sub-Terra, copied and pasted and slightly edited from my trip report: We queued about 30 mins for it, not much to say about the queue really but I liked the queueline videos. I also really liked the staff, it's great how they have the uniform and have to get into and stay in their roles. While we were queueing there was one going through the queue staring at people and making humorous comments, which was a good addition! This is something I would love to see on more rides, I wish the Swarm actors were permanant or that they could have themed staff like this ride does. We got inside, where you wait to go on the first lifts, again the staff were great, shouting at people to stand on the spots on the floor. Then it had a breakdown! We stood there for about 10-15 mins with the Phalanx Control thing playing continuously on the TV screens...then it re-opened! The first lift...not much to say really, the effects were ok but I didn't feel that much from them. The ride itself - well, I enjoyed it for what it is! I went on expecting nothing amazing so I'm not disappointed I liked all aspects of the theming, the egg and everything else I thought was good, although I think I could have paid more attention to it and probably will notice more next time I go on. This was also partly due to there being some confusion as to where to sit; I noticed on the floor in front of the seats there were numbers and I thought they corresponded to what row you were in before the first lift. However, the staff didn't tell you this and just shouted at you to sit down, so whether the seats are meant to correspond I don't know, but I guess the confusion it caused could count as part of the experience The drop I actually found was quite good, I didn't feel a huge lack of force compared to Extremis which is what some people say. Although on Extremis, you know when you are going to drop even the first time you go on, whereas Sub Terra, you don't, so maybe that's why it still felt forceful, because it was more of a shock? Infact, it felt like it went on a bit longer! I don't actually remember much about the part you dropped into, apart from the poking and leg ticklers which both worked well, although at first I didn't feel the back pokers because the drop had lifted me up and forwards so I wasn't leaning back against the seat The strobes and other effects when you come off were effective, as were the effects in the second lift, they really worked well IMO. So yeah, I came off without any complaints, the people that complain I think are expecting too much. Yes it would be awesome to have something like Alien Encounter but as Benin said, that would be far too scary for a family orientated park. Overall, it's nothing amazing and is definitely more of an experience than a ride, much the same as Hex (still prefer Hex though, much better theming, music etc). If I missed out on it during a trip to Towers I wouldn't be disappointed, and it's certainly not something I would queue up for! I both agree and disagree with th13teen - I agree it is/will end up a half decent ride that no one will go on, but how can you say that Duel is half decent?! You can't compare something as epic as Duel to Sub-Terra, what an insult Not a bad ride, does what it's meant to do. 6/10, would probably be less if it wasn't for the staff.

Ooh er that pic! That pic is also on this article, and it also says that he was arrested for "public nuisance". Good! http://riderater.co.uk/?p=1758

Great page there about Colossus, felt quite excited reading it, especially the description of the day it opened Agreed with everyone else here, it's great to see the team putting effort in! Cheers Mark!

Wow! 16 times, maximum queue time 20 minutes?! And it was Bank Holiday! This is great to hear, I hope the park keep this up, especially during the busy periods such as summer and Fright Nights. Well done to the staff for setting a new record too! Great to hear about the improvements to the water effects too (well not the ones that are out of time!). Anyone have any idea what's happening about the onride DVDs? Also how is the timing with the ORPs these days? Must be sorted by now!

So, I have been up to see Ben for the past four days and during that time we went to Fantasy Island, Skegness and Alton Towers. I thought rather than doing just a Towers trip report, I may as well mention FI and Skeggy, plus the Capriolo we went on at a fair on the way back, it totally deserves a mention! Fantasy Island...hmm well it was fun, that's all there is to say really! The rides aren't bad, the place is a bit random though; they have a market there which makes it feel pretty tacky and you get some strange, shouty people! And it's quite strange seeing a main road basically going through the place! My favourite ride there was probably The Beast, best topscan I've ridden. Fast, decent long cycle, lots of proper flips/upside down-ness and generally far more forceful than Samurai at Thorpe. Makes me feel less gutted about not getting to ride it when it was at Chessie! Millenium Coaster really is the smoothest Vekoma, smoother than XNWO! I don't know how it's so smooth but it is! The only thing is, it would probably have been better at the back but the staff has some bizarre policy where they have to load from the front. If they'd given a decent reason, such as it being to do with the weight or something then fine, but all they could mumble was "S'company policy". Rer! Jubilee Odyssey...oh my poor head! We were front row (great view!) but it was so violent, dread to think what back row would be like! The lift hill is pretty cool as there is no platform below you, the drop and first loop are good but after that, it gets violent! If I put my head back it got bashed into the restraints, if I put my head forward, my ears got bashed! So I can't really comment much on the ride experience because that's all I could remember/think about! The Crazy Mouse there was good, much faster than the one at Brighton! I wonder if the speed of Brighton's is affected by the sea air, I mean it's right over the sea whereas Fantasy Island is near the sea but next to it/over it like Brighton Pier. Plus, Super Booster had issues with rusting and getting stuck because of the sea air. Plus Brighton's Crazy Mouse just looks so much rustier and older! Inside the pyramid, we did The Magical Sea Aquarium (for the lolz) and Dragon Mountain (a water raft ride, in Depth Charge style boats, but longer and more fun). Magical Sea Aquarium was just weird, not too sure what was going on but that actually made it quite amusing. It's a water ride, similar to Bubbleworks although the boats are much smaller, almost had water come in! You go through various scenes of fish and fish and more fishy underwater things, was quite trippy...and the final scene had no water, so the fish just lay there looking dead. So yeah, had a good laugh on that! The music that plays throughout most of it was stuck in my head for hours though! Dragon Mountain - supposedly a fast raft ride which gets you wet. Again the staff didn't really communicate well; when I was sat in my boat waiting to go, they let some air out of it. I asked why and he mumbled something about it going slower, then sent me on my way. At first it was kinda fast and quite fun but then it slowed down and when I got to the end the staff member (who looked lie Barry Chuckle) said "Oh never mind, at least you didn't get wet!" So I have no idea what happened there or why they wanted me to go slow, I said nothing about going slow or not wanting to get wet! Only a water raft ride but would've been nice to experience it properly or be told what was actually going on! Ben on the other hand had a normal boat that wasn't randomly deflated and flew down the ride...but got soaked and took hours to dry off properly! Guess I can't complain then really! We also did this monorail thingy about the secrets of Fantasy Island, again was really random and trippy like the Sea Aquarium ride! Amazing Confusion (the only Mondial Ultra Max in the UK) closed when we joined the queue so we left and headed for Skeggy. Skeggy again was a laugh, wondered over to the Pleasure Beach and went on the Extreme and the Waltzer. The Extreme was great, I've seen videos and know what it does and that it's a fast, intense ride, but it feels more so when you actually ride it! Makes me want to get on a KMG Super Spin/Experience even more now! Argh! Waltzer was great too, they come out and spin you so it's pretty intense, forces your head right against the seat. I was surprised at how old it looks though, like the platform is wooden, I wondered at first if it was going to be any good, but it was! It was raining and we'd done everything so we headed back and on the way drove through a town called Boston where they had a big fair going on. It was closed on the way there but open on the way back, despite the weather, and one of the rides they had there was 2Xtreme aka a Mondial Capriolo. For those that don't know, it is probably one of the most, if not, the most intense fairground/flat ride. In terms of what it does, it's similar to a Booster, except only one end has a gondola, with 8 people, 4 on each row back to back. It also starts off by swinging back and forth, rather than spinning straight away like Booster. Plus it is far more intense. It was £4 each which isn't bad at all considering what ride it is and how it's the only one in the country. The ride experience: as I said, you start off by swinging, which is good fun. You soon reach the top where you are upside down, about 150ft in the air, hanging for a second or two before going back the other way. When it reaches enough speed, the operator releases the car brake and you continue in the same direction, with the car spinning freely. This is where the intensity comes in. The speed at which you flip is insane, I couldn't let go because of the high G forces! I can't explain enough how intense it is! I had heard from members on here and seen off ride and on ride videos but nothing can prepare you for it or do it any justice. The only thing is, we only did about 4 complete rotations before the ride slowed down, and I would've loved to go through the station upside down (like the people after us did grr!). But I'm well happy I got to go on it, even if I did get a wet bum from the seats and Ben did, after just drying off after the water raft at Fantasy Island, it was totally worth it! Thank you Ben for walking in the rain with me and getting a wet bum again after just drying off, so I could get on it! Pic of the ride: Off ride video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151661023310391 On Wednesday we went to Alton Towers. As we hoped/expected, the park was absolutely dead! Straight onto the Monorail, always a good start to the day! Shame the music has changed though, it takes some of the magic away. Got straight onto Nemesis, back right, ooft! Straight onto Air then headed over to the Dark Forest as Sub Terra had a queue and we thought we'd see if it would die down later on. Got straight onto Rita and for the first time ever I think, it wasn't actually too bad! That corner after the launch was and always will be (I mean really, who puts a corner after a 60mph launch?!) but other than that it wasn't too rough and had a good amount of airtime! Th13teen was fairly enjoyable too, probably because it's the first time *I think* I've gone on it without having to queue, because all the other times I've been have been during busy periods. The first part was dull as ever but the indoor drop and the second part seemed more fun than usual, maybe because we were sat at the front? Not that that would affect the drop but the part afterwards? Meh, who knows, we all know the best part is that launch into the station! After that we headed over to Oblivion which had a 10 minute queue, good ride as always and lots of mist the tunnel! Glad it was open too, after the incident the day before with the n00b climbing into the tunnel. Also spotted the sheep from the top of the drop! Spinball had a 20-25 minute queue but was a good laugh! Next up was RMT, again walk on and a good laugh. Repeating myself a bit here but there's not much else to say! Staff were interacting great which was awesome. Next up...straight onto Duel! Wooo! Didn't jump as much at the "scary men", was quite disappointed lol. Still a great ride though and I noticed some theming more than previously, which must be down to the improvements they have made this year like the lighting changes. I really wish they would sort the guns out though, they hurt your hands/wrists so much! I only got 21300 Still one of my favourite rides there, even the smell as you enter the building is exciting/creepy! Wish we'd gone on again! D'oh! After Duel it was time for Sub Terra. Queued about 30 mins for it, got inside, where you wait to go on the first lifts, and it had a breakdown. Stood there for about 10-15 mins with the Phalanx Control thing playing continuously on the TV screens...then it re-opened! The first lift...not much to say really. The ride itself - well, I enjoyed it for what it is! I went on expecting nothing amazing so I'm not disappointed I liked all aspects of the theming, the drop was good, didn't feel a huge lack of force compared to Extremis which is what some people say. Although on Extremis you know when you are going to drop even the first time you go on, whereas Sub Terra, you don't, so maybe that's why it felt the same, because it was more of a shock. Infact, it felt like it went on a bit longer! I don't actually remember much about the part you dropped into, apart from the poking etc. The strobes when you come off and the effects in the second lift were great. So yeah, I came off without any complaints, whereas some people *cough*Ben*cough* keep comparing it to Alien Encounter and moaning! Just don't go on expecting anything amazing or terrifying and you won't feel disappointed! Also, loved the staff, it's great how they have the uniform and have to get into and stay in their roles. While we were queueing there was one going through the queue staring at people and making humorous comments, which was a good addition. Went to eat at Pizza Pasta which was yummy as always then headed over to Cloud Cuckoo Land to do Charlie...lol, it was something to do as it was so quiet, something to do whle our food went down and Ben hadn't been on before. I've only been on once before and didn't remember much apart from being rather bored. It actually had a queue, although only 15 minutes. The video that plays in the queue before you board the boat ride is annoying as it keeps repeating, the boat ride is so "Meh", the lift part is the only good thing about the ride! Afterwards was Hex, again walk on. Had these two girls waiting with us and they tried to open the doors into the first scene even though we explained the staff open them for you. Then in the second scene (don't know what it's called, the one with the curtain before the actual ride), one of them goes to the other "Ooh they've changed it! You used to sit on seats and go on't ride! Why have they changed it?!" Had to contain myself from laughing! Wondered back over to Oblivion for a second ride, again it had a 10 minute queue. Had a much better ride this time, although it was later on in the day and I had my restraint looser, love the airtime on the drop, the way it gets your stomach, and how you see the misty tunnel coming towards you! Went back to Forbidden Valley for more Nemmie times, again back right, and this time it was far more intense, thanks to the rain and being later on in the day <3 Took some pics then went on again, second from the back, again awesome. Took some more pics there and back in X Sector then headed towards the exit. When we were nearing Towers Trading, we heard this music start blasting out...it was Sir Edward England in his Shipmobile! Yay! Hadn't seen him all day so I'm glad we did! Very amusing, got some video footage. It's the little things like that which really add to the day! Loving the merch they have, got myself a black Nemesis hoodie and some other little bits and Ben bought me a Nemesis bear Got straight on the monorail and out the park, perfect! Video of Sir Edward England and his Shipmobile here: Took a few pics at Alton, here: https://www.facebook...=3&l=c395e321ba And a picture of me with Nemesis in the background, taken by the Benjy: Thanks for reading!

Just thought of some more - not neccessarily favourites but just ones that made me go "OMG!" and all reminiscent Playdays (can't believe I missed that one out before!) Greenclaws Bump The Elephant Arthur (legendary!) Rugrats Noah's Island (more late 90s but loved it!) And also, what do people remember from the evening? Saturday night TV anyone? Noel's House Party (Mr Blobby woo ) Gladiators (used to get well excited/hyper watching that lol) Blind Date LOL Also things like Animal Hospital, Children's Hospital...and 999! Oh my god. Creepy music, scary program, can' believe our parents used to let us watch it, yet when Casualty came on they would turn it off incase the music scared us? Lol! God that music, it's so creepy! Gah! Makes me shiver!

Yeah, I'd be careful with saying that as there are people on here (including myself) with invisible disabilities. I'm not having a go but just saying I swear every year they change the rules but the system still gets abused! If guests are taking like 10 people with them/the group are going on without the disabled guest, well that is the staff's fault really. Rides staff need to be vigilant and enforce the rules when letting them on rides and GS need to explain the rules clearly, something disabled guests often complained didn't happen when I worked there. They'd come to the ride with the pass and wouldn't even know how it worked! Of course, guests need to cooperate too, but as pluk said, Thorpe seem to be inconsistent, and Stokesyboy's post clearly shows this.

Banned because their username makes me want Krispy Kreme!

Banned for banning someone for being short! Short people ftw!

Agreed, it's going to lose its charm by not being at London Bridge. The Dungeons IS London Bridge! The place has character, plus the sound of the trains above you adds a nice touch. The first time I went there I thought it was a sound effect! Of course I understand the reasons behind the move, but still, it will be a shame I wonder what date in December it will close? It's a while away, I know, but we need to make sure we do our winter meet before it's closed/moves!

Banned for now making me want to try both drinks and tell the difference. (Also he wasn't named specifically after the drink, we just liked the name I think )

Banned for wearing yellow trousers

Banned for having the same name as my brother

Banned for posting too much in this topic.

Maybe the attendant thought they looked over 18? This is something I've been thinking - people who are over 18 but don't look it (like me for instance) could get turned away, but people who are under 18 but look older could be allowed on. FAIL. Not that there's anything they can do about it, they're not exactly going to ID people But yeah, just something to think about.