Theme Park bloke

This was an OK theme, but stone me, you mean to tell me you're actually gonna miss it? Because I'm not.

I agree with that. It could be made to look better. Keep the camera there though.This is what Mark9 listed - where there is a tick symbol, I agree: Improved Signage around the parkGet rid of Tiny truckers and create a second entrance to Land of the Dragons Repaint key rides in the park (Vampire, Black Buccaneer, Rameses, Runaway Train, Rattlesnake) Refurbishment of all the toilet facilities in the park.LED Boards on all rides Complete refurbishment of Safari Skyway and Runaway TrainMark9, don't you regard Fury as a key ride? It is used a lot for marketing and advertising. Also, I never knew a refurbishment of Safari Skyway and Runaway Train had staered in the past. What?! You do realise the Rattlesnake was 10 years old last year, yeah? A landmark birthday. Relaunch? What is the relaunch, something to do with the new area opening? With regards to the speakers, perhaps they need replacing. Although the ones in the station above the queueline gates are in good working order and blast out music at not the highest volume, they could upgrade them. Mind you, it would probably be a case of choosing JBL over Bose.

Is that the same sound as used on Rita? Or does Rita have a screech? I know it has "vroom" noise.

Try being my mate in the front seats of any "segment" - he has size 15 feet. The floor room is very minimal.

*starts tearing hair out in anger* - when will it re-open?!(I'm being sarcastic BTW). They should remove "temporary" from temporary delay. It may cease operation and close down.

Yes, I have got the hang of that now. Slowly but surely, I am getting used to it. I can deal with change (whatever it may be in life), but this change is taking longer for me.I have been using a computer in a library this week, as I sometimes do. The "block filter" would kick in at the most inconvenient times. For example, I could log in OK and then view a topic, but if I was to flick forward or back a page by selecting the page number at the bottom, it would block me. Weird. I may use that library again, and have to speak to them about getting their IT department to sort the problem. Surely block filters work on a whole site, not just a part of it?Another reason I prefer the old skin was because Thorpe Park Mania's homepage and the forum homepage do look different, the TPM homepage looks more like and reminds me of the old skin. Also, I can't see Fast Reply anymore...?Perhaps I've been a miserable sod regarding this change this week, and for that I apologise. But I really am trying to get used to this, as much as I prefer the old one.Are members now allowed to make signatures the text, size and colour we want? Or is it still the small text we can't change?

Certainly. I can't find my way around easily, when I wanna lok at the last post of a topic and click the link, it goes to the first page.I know the admin team are doing a fantastic job at upgrading the forum, and change is good, but too much change isn't. I'm sorry but this whole new scheme is so totally "in your face", I feel as if every text size (that is now bigger than before) is shouting at me.It's another Invisionboard design - it looks like it's not even one by Invisionboard. The old one was modern, clear, easy to read, and maybe needed a tidy up here and there. And if anything, it stood out from other forums, you look at scheme/skins of forums generally on the net, some are so old and outdated it made TPM's previous skin look one of the most modern around.

Right now I am so confused. Bring back the old skin all honesty! It was much more clearer.

As promised, latest images of the chained oak tree:

OK people, I've promised it for ages and finally it's here. After months and months of me promising I'll show you my work on RCT3, I have finally put together a video. Thanks to the help of Photobucket for getting this video online - the actual screenshots of the rides may go on Photobucket if you guys demand to see the screenshots in all their glory!Click here to see the video!

It sounds rather like a sore roar. A sort of real painful eechy roar. A kind of sawmill roar.

I remember where it happens.

Wait, I'm confused - where's the new entrance going to be?

Oh - my - god.Seriously - where's Microsoft Word? I need to do a letter of complaint soon I think.Crazy.We've all seen these queue boards at Alton Towers:And Thorpe Park's:The difference? Well Alton's are actually very accurate and more informative. OK, so they're bigger and take up more room, and perhaps not as attractive, but I'd be in favour of seeing these put in at the 2 south parks.

Has pruning been taking place here? Things seem tidier.

Nothing is different - the same 11-minute long video is used in the zig-zag queue.

This may be what I'm experiencing, causing my vision to go for about 5 seconds. My hearing is fine throughout this though.

There's a board in Towers Street (next to the LED queue time & info board) detailing what's open for ERT - a sort of standard setup you could say. I can't remember if Nemesis was listed, I think maybe it was.Also, Google were on site yesterday - as I was walking out of Katanga Canyon towards Mutiny Bay, a white tricycle splattered with Google Maps info, and with a camera on the top of it, passed by me, coming towards me. A whirring generator noise was heard from the back of it. This guy was probably filming for Google Street View - I may be famous! ;)I have checked the maps and street view to see if it's on the site yet, but it's not. I will keep a close eye out for it.

What are they?

Thanks James. I think Nemesis is part of ERT as I was on it before 10:00am on Monday. It was just this morning it was playing up.

Hex is a fantastic ride - on of my favourites at Alton Towers!As we know, Hex came about during the restoration of the towers. The bookcase was removed to reveal a doorway behind it, after unbricking it, the secret vault with the branch of the oak tree was stored in there.I'm a little confused - was this bookcase in the Octagon, and if so, was it where the steps are where you go up to the ride? e.g "behind" the central column of the Octagon when moving forward through Hex.Also, is that the branch tree in the middle of the Hex ride? I touched it briefly as we left. It felt real. It looks a little dusty yet I'm sure it's been treated to preserve it for the ride, after nearly 200 years of being locked away.Also: I have taken some photos of the chained oak tree in the last few days, these will be posted in the Chained Oak Tree topic sometime this weekend.

My highest score this year was 40400. I dunno if I've had higher in the past.Has Duel got new laser blasters? They seem better performing.

I've just had several great days at Alton Towers.Yet I've been blacking out on Nemesis. I've been on it 5 times.Is it something I should worry about? I've come back from the park a little worried about this and and worried whether this will harm or affect me long-term in my life.The blackouts usually occur as halfway through the helix (or Zero G roll?), after the first corkscrew, and although I "see" white, not black, my vision is usually back as we exit the second corkscrew over the station. This means the ride photo you see of me is during a blackout.The only other ride I get blackouts on is Colossus, it happens as we exit the loop, meaning I miss half the bunnyhop.Is this something I should make a doctors appointment for, or just mention to the doctor next time I am there?Please can anyone help or advise?

I've been to Alton Towers in the last few days and I can safely say it was the best ever trip, beating my first ever visit back in 2005.All of the rides were on top form, except for the Sky Ride, which as we know is closed because of July's fire. Hex had a few technical hitches yesterday morning but got going just after midday. Nemesis was having problems this morning, it was showing no involvement with the ERT this morning, and half an hour later, a view from the Monorail showed a train stopped on the lift hill. I'm just glad I didn't go in this morning, I only went to Towers Trading for the gifts!What is left of the Monorail station near Charlie is a rusty metal frame after the fire, and I have to say it's spooky. It's amazing it took out so much, yet fortunate no lives were claimed. It was a real shame the Towers were closed as well in preperation for next month's Scarefest.Looking at the 2010 coaster development in Ug Land, well nothing much except groundwork is happening at the moment. Ug Land was obviously different last year with Corkscrew's last year, it's different this year now the site is being transformed, and it'll be different again next year when I go on the new coaster! Moving on to the new Cloud Cuckoo Land, and I did slate this area a little back around February/March/April. I'm now licking my wounds, because it's such a wonderful area! It's colourful, lively, the Ug Swinger which is now Twirling Toadstools looks much better in it's new home and theme, and the gentle music in the area is brilliant. Another tune to get hold of - any links for a download of that please, anyone? It has certainly brightened up the area and is better than Cred Street.Enterprise is looking old, rusting, and loud. Perhaps it needs a major overhaul? And please, give it a decent paint job instead of boring black.I can see a little why the Nemesis roar annoyed people earlier this year. Although it's now died down (and it's volume, to me, is no different than last year's), it certainly is sounding old. Yet it still looks fab and performs great.Has Air been sped up? It feels faster.Nemesis' decent off the lift hill feels faster than I recall in previous years - am I correct in thinking this too has been sped up?I was a little unsure of Mutiny Bay last year. I am now decided on the verdict I prefer it to Merrie England. The Sharkbait Reef Sea Life centre is fantastic, I was impressed by that.Out of the 2 full days I spent in the park, we did not queue more than half an hour for any ride. Infact, 20 minutes was probably the maximum!Also: I have taken some photos of the chained oak tree in the last few days, these will be posted in the Chained Oak Tree topic sometime this weekend.To finalise this report, I have returned from Alton Towers with the view that it's the cleanest, well kept, most politely-mannered park out of Alton, Chessie and Thorpe. Top marks to them, and keep up the good work.

I never ever saw them in use, so now my wondering as to why the heck they installed those, is now over!