Mer

I went with a group of people from here for the meet, although there werent many of us. I was a black cat - black clothes, a black tail and cat ears

Really? We didn't have any problems at all, apart from seeing some n00bs standing up on Storm Surge on the final turn, splashing people at the squirty guns, totally ignoring the staff's desperate shouts to sit down!Theming was dire, espesh as it's an anniversary. Some barrels? Wow. I didn't even see any nooses! Music is all over the place, some rides playing normal audio (Inferno, Storm Surge) some playing FN audio. Some rides have new audio but it's NOT an improvement! Vortex apparently has Th13teen music, well whatever it is, the old theme was miles better and more atmospheric. Same goes for Samurai, ridiculous repetitive dance thing playing. It's not a funfair! Again, the old music was much better!Don't know what actual music Stealth had but at the entrance had the Asylum sirens blaring out. Speaking of recycling the Asylum audio, the queue music was playing in Canada Creek and Ranger County (apart from the day where they both played the awful new Loggers track list!). As for the other rides, no idea what they played, which says to me they can't have been that great or atmospheric as I would've noticed them. Apart from Rush, which still has the same audio Didn't see any roaming actors but some staff had make-up on, as they get free face painting in the canteen. I suppose the only good thing was the lighting. Samurai had a nice change with green lighting instead of blue. But seeing as lights are essential, do they really count? :PLittle things like smoke machines would've really made a difference. Someone on here said Vortex had a smoke machine, well not yesterday! Would loved to have seen it as it's something I really wanted when I worked there! Sources have told us that towards the end of Fright Nights, more theming etc will be added. Right. So we now have to choose between a nice quiet park (like yesterday) with no atmosphere, or a horribly cramped park with atmosphere? Hmm. I know it's because of the FN days atm just being weekends but surely things like smoke machines can easily be removed/put back? And it doesn't explain the lack of roaming actors either! If they were there last weekend, why not the weekend just gone?However the park being quiet, we had a great rid count and spent it with lovely people I shall post a trip report soon, which should be more positive than this post!

LIFT HILL LIFT HILL LIFT HILL!!!! :D Lol Sheepie! I barely know the layout as it was ages since I saw the plans etc

Dam you beat me to it!

Swarm is costing 20 million? Blimey I didn't know that!3 hours ago the Developer Diary FB page said the lift hill would soon be complete with photos and a video to come. I'm still waiting! Grrrr hurry up

Haha Sidders, I wondered that too :PIt's suddenly hitting me what the scale of this is, that we're getting a B&M, a reliable ride, and something to look forward to and keep me entertained over the next few months :DSAW's construction wasn't the same as this, for some reason (well apart from B&M just being far more epic). As they started construction at the end of 08, I was still working there so witnessed some of it, maybe that's why I wasn't quite as excited? Also I don't remember many photos of its construction, probably because it wasn't easy to get photos of! Either that or I've lost part of my memory!Plus there has been more and better advertising/promotion etc for Swarm such as round the park, the Facebook pages, etc. This is going to be a great addition to Thorpe, especially after the joke that is Storm Surge

Yes, going through at a slower speed should mean more airtime too, or at least you would certainly feel it more! :DI love the website and the effort that has been put into it. I entered the competition and tried the thing where you enter your address...so brilliant! The video is so clever! :DGetting very excited now

There's always one :rolleyes:Well I love the site and think it's awesome :DExciting times now we actually have construction!

That house fire that killed a mum and five of her children It's so awful, and according to the LFB, the worst house fire in the capital in over a decade. And the poor father and daughter that managed to escape; as lucky as they are to be alive, it's tragic for them to have lost the rest of their family, and of course their home. How they will get through it all I don't know, but I hope they have other family and friends there for them. The neighbours heard the father screaming "My wife, my wife!" I had tears in my eyes when I read that. And how awful for the neighbours to witness, it's going to be tough for them to cope with it all too. The latest news is that a chest freezer at the bottom of the stairs in the hallway is a likely cause of the fire, the make of it is currently unknown. IMO it would seem likely, considering how the fire engulfed both floors, and electrical fires tend to cause particularly toxic fumes, which is what caused the deaths. Although, of course, any smoke from a fire can kill. I don't know if they had working smoke alarms, and I don't want to make assumptions or seem harsh, but I can't help but wonder. Seeing as, from my knowledge, electrical fires smoulder etc quite a lot before actual flames start, one would assume it would set the alarms off and they all would've escaped. But then it isn't always that simple unfortunately, and it does seem the fire spread severely and rapidly (as I said above, if it did start of the bottom of the stairs then it would explain why so). According to the Daily Mail (!) a friend of the father says the father saw smoke coming from the back of the freezer and the wallpaper caught fire, he left the house to raise the alarm then tried to go back in to save his family. Not sure what to make of it, and it is the Daily Mail...it doesn't seem right that a father would leave his family in a burning house? Yes the sooner you raise the alarm to others/call 999 (I'm assuming this was why he left) the better but one would assume you'd instinctively save your family etc first. Like I said, Daily Mail. Anyway, the reason I mentioned that wasn't to rant or gossip (for lack of better word) about what the father did or anything. It just made me think about how important it is to know what to do in these situations, and how it really is important to have an escape plan etc. As someone with a fire phobia, I will always be cautious, even if seeming paranoid, and I hope me or my family never have to experience such a thing.

"Fred" - was there really any need to use such harsh words towards me? I mean there's having an opinion and then there's just being over the top. Rattle, I bought up his personality because IMO kind people wouldn't post anything offensive. You seemed concerned about his reply to Kevvy so I was just reassuring you it was nothing to worry about. Basically what Sidders said in his last post :)Come on guys, this forum has been so harmonious for a while now, let's keep it that way

YES LUKE! :DI must get myself some more off eBay soon, not had any since June/July! I've been having an endless supply of Coca Cola though, due to regular Dominos I get 4 bottles of coke to raise the price by £5 to get it to £20 so I can then use a £5 off voucher. Cushty! Free coke!I don't think I've ever paid full price for everything at Dominos, thanks to voucher codes

Chill Rattle :PSidders is an awesome, kind member of TPM, so I doubt any harm was meant by his post (although I myself don't understand it either lol)

That Haribo ad used to annoy me but when I saw it the other day, I laughed my head off! Don't get me wrong, I don't like the thing, just have a more positive reaction to it :PAnd agree about X Factor. Ugh. Loud crappy music, annoying audiences that boo when a judge makes a valid, honest point just because they disagree with them. Here's another thing. Downtown Abbey - not something I watch but my mum and brother enjoy it and I know it's good TV, you can tell it is and it got very positive feedback etc. It didn't win any BAFTAs, but The Only Way Is Essex won the YouTube Audience Award. However at the Emmys, Downtown won quite a few. What does that say about us Brits? Never let them vote (or make them be of a certain age, intellect, intelligence!)

People who rant about everything ;)I dunno, I'm just so happy recently and I can't help but laugh at everything, including things that would normally annoy me. :DIt's pretty awesome, and I don't think it's a coincidence that I've not had a drop of alcohol for 2 weeks either! Feel so much better for it :lol:

Hello there Miles and welcome to TPM :)The rides stay open until 10pm. I believe Friday 14th is a school day, so it will be quieter. Although Sunday 16th is the day of our Fright Night meetup You would be welcome to join us or even pop along to say hello The following day is also a school day so the Sunday shouldn't be too busy either. Friday will be quiet in the day, but possibly with people visiting in the afternoon/night. Sunday could be busier in the day but definitely quieter at night. Sorry if that sounds confusing! The mazes can get very busy so it's often best to start queueing long before they open (4pm). This is another reason to go on the Friday actually - the mazes should be quieter!The mazes are good generally. Of course everyone has different opinions, but generally they do well. The actors are good, they make you jump, freak you out, the atmosphere is *literally* dark...average scare maze. The main "feature" is being made to jump, rather than a scary storyline to follow. Hope I have helped

Storm Surge.

Erm no, Mark is just expressing his opinion on a forum :rolleyes:And I'm so with you on this one Mark.

Courtesy of Ricky:

I hope that's not referring to me...there is a reason why I have trouble speaking to people, and anyone would find it hard to speak up and say to their friends that they didn't like the things they were saying to them...so put them both in the same situation, it's definitely not easy :blink:It's all too easy to say the person, whoever they are, needs to get confidence. They'd probably give anything to have that confidence but it's something that takes time to gain, and depending on the situation, could be almost impossible to speak up. And maybe they didn't want to bring the mood down and look like they were moaning or taking it too seriously when the others were just having a laugh.I quote Dumbledore from Philosophers Stone: " It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends."

Great Scott! That's enough to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity needed to send the DeLorean back to the future!

Shame, I haven't been tagged in those yet Got me some Monster Sausage Surprise.

YAY! :DAnd it's more effort to say HAITCH than aitch, cos of the H sound, what a waste of breath...I mean you don't say AD HIATCH D. So why be like "I have HAITCH D TV"? That should totally be a way of getting people to learn at school, like the other rules like "I before e except after c" etc... :glare:I mean no offence but it just makes no sense. Scone, bath, etc etc...the words that we can pronounce more than one way, usually because of regional accents etc then fine, I accept that (even if the other way does sound funny ). But HAITCH is something someone illiterate fish made up and it's all a load of silly stuff...people caught on and then it just spread and now people sound daft

People who cannot pronounce the letter H.IT'S AITCH, NOT HAITCH!!Sorry, I know when people get corrected online chatting they get all like "omg it's the grammar police" but this isn't online, this is real people talking, and the correct pronounciation is aitch. It does not have two ways of saying it! So people don't have a reason to say it like that :blink:It's really grinding my gears! Whenever I hear anyone mispronounce it I just have to fight the urge to correct them and rant...so many people say it, even intelligent, well-educated people! I'd love to know how it all started.Apologies to anyone here who does say Haitch but...grr! Especially when teachers at school/college used to mispronounce it! I mean really??AAAAAND breathe......

Oh you dirty Sheep!

My teeth! But I couldn't stop laughing!