Theme Park bloke

I said it'd be back. And it's playing throughout the entire queueline now, not just the station.

Shall we ask Thorpe to find out for us? We'll both get on the ride if you like. This was a bit of a sad scene to see on Sunday, the mighty warrior trapped down. I took a look at the cross motor before I left the park, and the guys working in the hole it goes in were on their tea break (or drinking Coke at least) and saw me looking at it. With a smile, they pointed at it, and then the hole, indicating where it went. I then did the hand movement as if to say "Want a lift?"Is that the new one or old one?And so was it tested on Sunday or Monday evening?

That's what I always do, pull the shoulder ones down a little bit too far. But then you don't worry about that during the ride.

Can you let me know when it is please. I don't think there is a Rush one.I am no good at digging holes on RCT3. I did it OK for Oblivion and then tarmaced over it to level out the ground. To date, that is my best one. I will one day post a piccie of it, I keep saying I will.

The Thorpe Park fire in July 2000, the worst thing to ever hit the park, destroyed Wicked Witches Haunt, as we all know. But was it called that or Phantom Fantasia?Because I went in about August 1999 and then not again until August 2000, only to discover the fire had occured. I don't recall hearing about the fire in the news during July 2000. I was devastated to discover one of the best rides at the park at the time had gone. It was one of the reasons for purely going to Thorpe Park.I still walk past Detonator today and think about Phantom Fantasia, the better name.This YouTube video brings back some great memories: This one brings back some bad memories - the fire aftermath:

Err, yes that's wrong. The Killers' song lyric is "My sign is vital", mine is meant to be "My ride is ready" - I obviously forgot to take out the "sign is" bit. Oops. I've corrected it now.

Looks like B&M are in demand - more news from Towers Times:Complaints regarding increased noise from Nemesis, the parks oldest and most celebrated thrill rollercoaster, began a fortnight ago when the famous "roar" suddenly got louder. As reported previously, a number of calls had been made to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council in Leek calling for the park to reduce the noise. To be fair to Alton Towers, they have responded immediately, and manufacturers have been on site working with Alton Towers' Technical Services. It appears that the problem was caused by new tyres on the ride for the 2009 season. The problem is being rectified at the moment, and both trains should have new tyres on in the very near future.Some residents were fairly understanding of the problem, while others were deeply dissatisfied. The ongoing problem of noise created at the theme park has been a major local issue since Stephen and Suzanne Roper of Farley successfully secured a noise abatement order against the park in 2005. They claimed that Air, Nemesis and Oblivion made their lives a misery.Local newspaper, The Sentinel, has published an article today about the noise issues, and of 16 comments posted on the story by residents in the Stoke on Trent area, 15 are overwhelmingly in favour of the park - many claiming that the "moaning brigade" are just coming out of their shells yet again.

I am not scared of any rides. Some people are scared of some rides. I do it all the time and you get used to these rides.

From the crossroads? Blimey, have you got binoculars for eyes?!

Spot on - if you sat on Samurai and let them remove the counterweights, you'd go flying and the pods would all land god knows where! Samurai relies on that counterweight like Stealth relies on the catch car - it can't work without it! That counterweight weighs something like 3 tonnes alone!

Waterfall - I'm struggling to think which one we're on about here although I'm sure I'll notice it tomorrow when I go, as I'll probably be somewhat drier when I come off the ride!

This year Chessington's entrance speakers have finally been sorted out, with the old speakers being removed from their tubular leather casings, and new speakers being put next to them, hidden amongst the bushes, although you can't tell if they're Bose or JBL. Does anyone know?

Old loop, new loop - can't they decide? But Amity Cove's, near Tidal Wave, is still the same? We'll hardly spot the difference!Has Saw got Bose speakers?

Grr - when 8 cars? Well I haven't seen the station with it's lights on, but like I said in this topic after the first time I rode it last month, it just goes to show how overhyped the station is. All that excitement for nothing. Overrated is another word that can be used.I ain't blaming Thorpe Park Mania for misleading us or anything, but the pictures of the station with it's blood-stained floor show what the station ain't.

That is fantastic. Can you download it off the net somewhere?Did you create it yourself or did you download it? One small thing I have noticed about the Colossus is the bunny hop is not as gradual. But, meh, it can't all be to scale.

Once again, thanks for this Louis.However, when I ran it, moving around the park was somewhat difficult because it kept moving in "stages" (stopping and starting) because it's such a large file with so much detail in it. And Colossus was running the same, in "stages", even on the on-ride view. Is it normal for such a large file to run like this? I had no background programs running and my computer is very new with lots of RAM.Is this normal?

Yes, the one I like is the first corkscrew after the lift hill. And it makes a fantastic noise as it goes round that low bit (Zero G roll?), near the rocks, before hitting the second corkscrew.Proof the monster is still alive!

One thing that annoys me about Vampire in the last few years is the fact that nobody seems to be checking Fastrack tickets. The other day I had walked the entire queueline, and Fastrackers (who I am not doubting bought their ticket fair and square) just came through that little gate and filtered into the main queue, whereas a few years ago they let them through when stopping the main queue. It comes down to manning that section, at the end of the day.

Several years ago you could see the top of Dragon's Fury from the crossroads at Malden Rushett, however, I don't think you can now because maybe the trees have grown back...?

Or, let's remincise:

Perfectly explained - thankyou.

I have read it. For anyone here who's never been to Alton Towers and reads that sign before going on it for the first time, I advise them not to read it. Because it could send shivers down the spine of the highest of thrillseekers...except me.

With reference to the noise, this may interest you from Towers Almanac (originally from BBC News):Nemesis is 'roaring' around the track louder than ever in 2009, causing many locals to complain.More than 20 complaints were received by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council from Alton residents, who said the sound could be heard from outside the park.One local resident, Dr Jack Eardley, said: "It's loud, it's intermittent and we can hear it in every room of the house. The noise is uncharacteristic."The problem has been caused by new tyres fitted to the ride over the closed season, prompting Alton Towers to apologise to the villagers.A spokesperson for the resort said: "We are aware that there has been an issue over the noise coming from the Nemesis roller coaster this week, and we are in a position to resolve it imminently."We're very sorry that this has been an issue for some of our locals, and would like to reassure them that we will continue to monitor the situation."And also, from Towers Times:Nemesis, probably Alton Towers' most famous rollercoaster, is well known to have a "roar" as it goes around the track. This is one of the unique features of the ride and partly why it has such a well regarded reputation. However, it appears that something has happened on the trains, presumably maintainence, which has suddenly caused the roar to become twice as loud. Such is the volume of the roar, that it can be heard from other areas of the park - including Mutiny Bay, which is nearer the parks main entrance. In the queue for the ride, there is noticeably more noise as the train passes. Whilst clearly of concern for local residents, it adds even more ambience to the 1994 ride.The BBC has reported that some "villagers said the sound could be heard from their homes" and that the District Council has received 20 complaints. Whilst hardcore rollercoaster enthusiasts may relish the noise, clearly such roars between the hours of 10:00 and 5:00 (or later) every day would start to aggravate even the most understanding of local residents after a while.The park are monitoring the problem and are trying to rectify it as soon as possible. In the mean time, if you want to hear a rollercoaster roar like never before, head over to the theme park to ride on Nemesis as soon as you can!

I know how you feel, mate.