themeparkaddict

This is amazing! Good find! Is that a silhouette of *something* I'm guessing some sort of person, in the centre of the GIF - like someone lurching forward?

Googling 19:30 (the time the watch stops on) and Mind Control brings up... "Mind control: a revealing summary of three landmark books on government mind ... Dr. Cameron began conducting unethical, unscientific, and inhumane brainwashing experiments in the 1930's". Tenuous link but thought I'd throw it in!

The clocks go back on the 24th October, so we gain an hour. If the countdown is static, it will finish at 10pm, if it's tied to the clock (somehow) it'll finish at midnight. I don't really know what I'm saying but the clock change will affect that countdown somehow! My brain has imploded trying to work it out. Probably not that relevant but still kind of fun.

Does anyone know if the Black Buccaneer audio is aaaanywhere on the internet? I don't know if it changed in the last year or so (or it just wasn't working before) but it's amazing, and I want to listen to it forever. Unfortunately, a dodgy 28 seconds iPhone recording in the queue line is as good as I've got at the moment. Have a listen: https://soundcloud.com/black-buccaneer/black-buccaneer-theme-chessington Did it come from somewhere else? Does anyone have it? Could I ask any more questions? (Probably). Thank you!

I absolutely love the Fright Nights audio this year, especially the director and the themed announcements. I know the SAW Theme and music from You're Next has been playing around park, but just what *is* this? (Start properly at around 10 seconds!). I've looked everywhere. I can't figure out if they've made it especially, or if it's from one of the films! http://vocaroo.com/I/s1L3k88iiLzO And the quality's too bad for dear old Shazam. Thank you times a BILLION. P.S. The FN meet and tour of MBV was epic! Thanks for being fantastic you guys! x

Because I'm slow....Did anyone else notice that LC12 happen to contain the initials of a Mr Les Coogan?

Just a quicckieeeee.I haven't been on here in approximately 29642912 years, but when I came back GOSH IT'S AMAZING. The little notification blob thing and the chat - oh and the statusey and comment boxes. Hello Facebook, minus the spammy ads, add in some amazing people.Good job, well done (now read the last four words without the patronisation that seems to be there, but genuinely isn't).I'm now off to enjoy the site some more.

I looked on here Thorpe Park Ticket Booking System and it appears the 2010 season doesn't start until the 20th March....isn't that a week later than the usual main season at Thorpe? (I have a feeling that's pretty much the date for Alton every season and maybe Chessington too). Also on there, it looked like it shut on 31st October. But on Paul's link above, it shows 5pm closes planned for November and from that it looks like Thorpe Blast is dead.That's STUPID. I'm guessing they cancelled it because they had to spend revenue on a mega big display of fireworks x 3 nights and they don't want to spend their profits, just make more. Doing a sort of Adrenaline Week (Alton Towersy idea) is nice but Thorpe Blast isn't just good stuff, it's GREAT! It makes the season go out with a bang (literally) and turns a last, cold week into a fun with the audio changes and fireworks at the end of the week. Even if they don't have it for Fri, Sat, Sun as they did last year, can't they have it on the LAST day?That's a case of me honestly thinking Merlin have taken their eye off the ball and got profits and guest satisfaction blurred together. I totally understand they're a business, but hey - they still have a massive focus on 'making a difference' and having fantastic 'location branded entertainment' and a sad, lonely, 5pm closing week to a season ain't too fantastic in my view.

SO MUCH SICK. So little fun on X. No seriously, three consecutive piles splattered everywhere. I wish vomiting people would have a better aim, maybe not try for the direct centre of the exit queue, or just round a corner where EVERY single person steps in it.If you're sick after Saw or something, bad times, but sick after X.. you have absolutely no dignity whatsoever.

Rich would like to point out how much he thinks that Pokerface is basically Just Dance all over again. It's even got the twanginess.And that's why I reckon it's topped the charts. </rant>

That's one thing I would say is an ickle bit bad. The obsession with water sports, motocross, motor bikes, skateboarding or anything else from this category. Can't they do something a little different?

It's cleverly done with the whole above/below water idea, and I know they want to attract families, but for the good old fashioned thrill seeker...? Couldn't they have had oblivion in the background or something?!

During Thrill Chill, day one (with literally nothing open) I noticed the Se7en marquee was still there. Being a very unobservant employee I wondered if they've actually taken it down now. Otherwise I see a walk past the arena on the cards tomorrow.

Then James you clearly need to be in the Samurai frame of mind, only attainable when a certain person is attending on it. You'll *think* it's the best ride ever, or your money back*.(*such intricately worded terms and conditions apply that you'll never get your money back, unless of course you choose to upgrade to an annual pass in which case you'll get your entrance fee refunded).

Completely agree. I swear it has the ability to de-childrenise people. Bad times. I don't know why there can't just be restraints that once locked, can't lock lower in the way that SAW does.

Illegal online response, but heck you could see this stuff today.Engineers EVERYwhere you could imagine. In places unimaginable. No, scrub that, just about imaginable places that aren't twisted. Dirrrty minded people.PLUS Mike Vallis has been over in that area actually with the engineers (doing what I have no idea) so much, I have to say in my view they are doing everything imaginable to fix the problem. It seems they're replacing every last bit of it. Even the bin4gum bins that were pointless since they had no bottom, and that G was easily graffiti-able.

You're dead. The uber sad thing was, I was actually trying to think of other brands of tea to name each member my pod of crazy girls. All I could think of was Yorkshire Tea (wtf?!!) and PG Tips. How utterly crap.Yo Tetley, where's Yorkshire? Biggin' it up to the PG.Don't worry, I'll just leave quietly.

I HAVE to tell you X is TINY. It feels so big in the dark, but they locked it off at 5 for our "tour" and fired up the lighting (sounds brutal). It really isn't as big as it seems. (Oh, and it's crap).James, you're completely right. Coming out of X after 5 minutes explodes your retinas. Still, there were four of us going round X... so perhaps they can forget they wanted to train me on it... Samurai anyone?!EDIT: Rich (it's like I'm talking to myself here!) I was platforming from about 3ish. How amazingly fun is Samurai? I used to *like* it. We've progressed quickly with our relationship. Hannah was operating, and then ANOTHER Richard turned up. Also, in our XNWO tour there's yet ANOTHER Richard. I make that two Rich's and two Richard's. Hell, that'll be a fun "Rich to the console please!"

Haha! But which one's that? Smiley or Chinney?

Day One = Learning how beautiful the interior of the TP canteen is, for 2 hours. Then a bit of Samurai training (get in! xD).Day Two = Meant to be an assessment to make me a proper ride attendant... happened at 2pm! Followed by joyous loading of the upside downy, spinny roundy ride which I may have accidentally fallen in love with....I say that because just as the park shut we were given the first bit of training on X. Nooooooooooooooooo (Way Out).Samurai could never compete.It's a mighty warrior after all. I wanna be on Samurai tomorrow. Well, it's all I'm trained on! As for whether that happens or I get to be all jolly outside Stealth again and tell people that Stealth ISN'T the new attraction but SAW is, and point at the clearly visible drop, is to be seen.That genuinely happened with 3 separate groups of people. Shocking but true.But it's ACTUALLY amazing. Someone called me Tetley. I have no idea why. But the whole of one of the pods on Samurai was Tetley-ing me as it came down. (Fear not, it didn't fall down).

Completely USUAL perhaps, but I reckon I saw Marc on the park (argh, rhymingness) today.Bit of a double take and then he'd gawn.So I stalked his picture out, and it's definately this smiley guy I sawNote: Not the smiley chin dude, which I have a feeling is the other Mark. The one with a 9. That'll be Mark9 then..So HI MARC, with a 7 hour delay from seeing you to speaking. I'm a bad staff member. Next time I'll shout at you. Nicely, of course!This is all rather amateurish, but I saw a TPM person at Thorpe Park (really I hear you cry, does it happen?) and well, woo!</Rich's random crapness>

Are any delightfully cool people on here starting work at Thorpe this week?Je suis.

With the whole actor changeover thing, did anyone see how they changed the victim over. The hooded person can just go and come back (and have miraculously changed actors) and we saw a new hooded figure bring in a "acting sedated" victim. But I just wondered how the victim gets out of the trap and they swap them over. On Friday there was a woman and a guy who swapped three times. If this hooded person (is it a character from SAW, I feel such an idiot keep calling them the hooded person) was to unstrap the victim and lead them out, it kinda takes away the reality of this trap being the last thing the person is ever going to be in....*BREATHE* So did anyone see "the changeover"?

I was lucky enough to ride SAW on the 13th... VERRY bumpy, totally intense and theming I'd enjoy queuing for. Not as crazy as that sounds. As we were going in the entrance though, there was some immense bassy track playing, for SAW. I can't remember how the heck it went... but I wanted to hear it... I was pulled along to actually ride though! Haha, a muppet I am. I know for everything beyond the entering the building section, there's no music but the music at the entrance did exist right..? I suppose it could have been for those weird tall people in leather who got some guilty pleasure out of anglegrinding their chests and wearing bat wings?Plus, I've just worked out that Marc and Mark9 are two different people. The spelling's pretty damn obvious, but I thought Marc just enjoyed signing in with two accounts! Woo. Impressed.When we re-rode... for the sixth time on Friday, there were two girls stood outside the building section who were adamant they weren't going back in "cos the had grabbed her ankle". I'd love to know how, 'cos there's a fence separating the normal queue from the fastrack queue, and another between fastrack and ."Oh and we heard some velcro on the leg bits. Atmosphere temporarily lost there!

This picture is on the "blueprint for torture" bit off SAWTHERIDE.com. I wondered whether there'll be bits that aren't really queueline and you'd have to get, say, from the entrance of this room, out the other side maybe trying to avoid a live actor... or two on the way. Or not? Were there ever any plans showing the queueline inside the building?L'image: