JoshC.

Any idea when a Part 2 might make an appearance? Always love your blogs to provide some inspiration!

One thing which I find odd is that Drayton said the child would need to be measured at every ride. Surely by now they've thought of the whole wristband height check thing that so many other parks offer?

With small scale projects like these, Thorpe and the council seem to have an understanding whereby Thorpe commence work before the plans have been officially approved. It's happened with this, it had with Swarm's billboard and I'm sure it happened plenty of other times too. Wouldn't be surprised if similar things happen at other parks where they have good relationships with local authorities.

There's good news and bad news coming out of Walibi Holland... Good news: Speed of Sound, their Vekoma boomerang, is being repainted, with the same colours. Bad news: (H)El Condor, their atrocious Vekoma SLC which causes pain to every inch of your body, and should be ripped down as soon as physically possible, is also being repainted, also with the same colours. Source: http://www.looopings.nl/weblog/6497/Walibi-Holland-verft-deze-winter-drie-achtbanen.html I wonder if all this money bring used for repaints has come due to the presumed non-appearance of the 2017 attraction?

Yesterday it was running 7 car trainsinstead of 5; apparently they had to be bought over from Germany. First time this has happened out of Oktoberfest too. Obviously proving popular...

Could potentially be part of winter maintenance? I know it's not common to dismantle swinging ships during off season , but always a possibility...

Nothing's really changed as of yet. They've likely got a vision for the future of what they want to do to that area (and the others); to me, it feels more like a potential evolution of Canada Creek rather than a retheme (ie - change the name and keep the same generic theme to reduce costs). But my point is that Canada Creek, technically, no longer exists. It's now Old Town, and that's it's direction...hopefully

I don't see why people are talking about the loss of Canada Creek in future tense, when it hasn't technically existed for the past 2 seasons; it's technically Old Town now... Don't get why they'd remove Rocky Express either. It just needs something else near it for it to sustain a bit more popularity, and it's not exactly like it's not running well. And it takes up so little space it's not exactly like it's removal would create space for anything of any substance. Probably in the minority who wouldn't want an RMC in the Loggers location though - would much rather something a bit more family friendly, so that there's something in that area which is for everyone.

When you look at their other water rides though, Storm Surge - in theory - fills a good spot... Tidal Wave - A ride which 90% of people will only ride during summer / hot spring Rumba Rapids - A 30 year old rapids ride which isn't very rapid, isn't very wet and which many people forget exist Depth Charge - A 10 second ride with a very low throughput. Good bit of fun, but far from a staple water ride. Storm Surge is a family ride which can be 'enjoyed' together, features height to give it a bit of a thrill, can get you a bit wet and I guess is memorable in some sense. No other water ride offers that at Thorpe at the moment in my opinion. Obviously, if Loggers Leap was open, or if a substantial amount of money way pumped into Rumba, Storm Surge would be a spare bit and easily lose-able. But at this stage, I honesty think that if Storm Surge was ripped out and not replaced by a water ride, there would be an obvious gap in the ride line up, and it would hit the park really bad during summer.

For a bit of scale to this addition - this will be the second tallest and second fastest coaster in Europe when it opens (only behind the lovely Red Giant in PA when that opens), so this thing is HUGE. Couple of minor things have changed since the layout above, with the inclusion of a tunnel after the first drop and 4-across trains also seeming to be happening. Could be exciting. Where on earth is all this money coming from for Eastern European parks to be springing out though?!

Voting has been open for 10 days, and I can exclusively reveal some awesome statistics... So if you haven't already...

I always find it interesting how so many people like Furius Baco and feel as if they're in the minority. On this forum at least, it seems to be reasonably popular, and the launch seems to be loved by most.. Much love for the guys who don't like Slammer; you're all awesome. I'd say that me liking DBGT is a reasonably uncommon opinion, but that's when everything flows well. I hate Scorpion Express, whereas most people seem content with it. I like Hollywood Tours at Phantasialand; it's fun. Speaking of Phantasia, I think Mystery Castle is pretty naff as a ride. Theming is good, actual ride is bad.

Travelling backwards makes many people feel queasy. Mix that in with the darkness, stopping and starting multiple times and the unknown of where people were going, it was a recipe for sick.

The park's director said back in February that 2019 would be a unique coaster costing more than Lost Gravity (though there's been no mention of how much Lost Gravity cost). 2017 was said to be a thrill ride, though no sort of monetary budget was rumoured.

Can we please stop the all this petty bickering now - any more of it here will just be deleted. If absolutely necessary, take it to PM. Thanks.

Goliath, the park's headline coaster, is getting a repaint to help celebrate the ride's 15th birthday next season... I like the colour, though some of the community seem to be a bit wary of the loss of the iconic green. In other news, the potential new ride for next year (which was said to be a thrill ride replacing the old 4D theatre near Lost Gravity) might not be happening. One of their Halloween attractions, The Clinic, used the space this year, and had a lot of money thrown at it apparently, and is also returning next year (if you're a fan of scare attractions, I'd recommend looking it up!). But given that this is Walibi, who knows what they're planning...

Ooh, nice thread idea! UK-wise, Vampire's tunnel immediately springs to mind. Also, The Antelope at Gulliver's Warrington had a surprise drop somewhere which 8-year old me loved (see my blog post: http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/317-what-was-the-thing-with-the-antelope/ ). European-wise, Huracan at Bellewaerde is a standout for it's awesome pre-lift dark ride-esque section; the coaster section is a complete waste of a theme and location! The vertical loop on Typhoon at Bobbejaanland deserves a mention for being so darn intense.

Canada Creek Railway back in 1994. [/OldSchool]

I don't even need to add a comment.

I think we need a "Most Desparate to Want an Award" category at this rate...

Couple of photos of the demon costume in making from the company hired to make it if anyone is curious... http://www.plungeproductions.com/archives/7668

I don't get people's problems about this topic being made at this time of year. Not like there's much else to talk about, and with this year's event still reasonably fresh in mind, improvements will still come to people's heads.. Not only that, Fright Nights is Thorpe's headline event, their busiest part of the season and one of the UK's biggest and well-known Halloween events. With Thorpe growing in popularity and getting more attention overseas, it's also expanding into being well known across Europe, which is only a good thing. So what's the harm in discussing such an important time in the park's calendar a little bit early, and throwing out some opinions? I'm totally against reviving mazes though; especially ones which have been gone for years. I'm not even a fan of having a maze's name brought back in name as a sequel after so many years (so no "Experiment 10: Contamination" please). I don't mind if mazes are sequentially year-on-year (like the Black trilogy at Warwick Castle), but bringing back mazes / maze themes just doesn't sit right with me. Might just be me though.

UK-wise, I guess it'll be the standard Merlin quartet. Would like to be doing Paultons next year since I couldn't fit it in this year.. Abroad, Liseberg, Efteling and Phantasialand are all high up on the list and pretty much must-dos. Plopsaland (if Heidi ever opens), Movie Park Germany and Bagatelle would all be very nice too. Aside from them, I'd like to look into Port Aventura, Disneyland Paris, Europa Park and Walibi Holland (for Halloween), but all of them would very much be time and cost dependent..

It's come to that time of year again - it's the Thorpe Park Mania Awards! Once again, we are using SurveyMonkey to collect the results. If you've never used it before, don't worry - it's dead easy! By popular demand, we've kept the same awards as last year, which are... PARK AWARDS: -Best UK Park -Best UK Coaster -Best UK Flat Ride -Best UK Water Ride -Best UK Dark Ride -Best UK Themed Experience -Worst UK Ride -Best International Park -Best International Coaster -Best New-for-2016 Attraction (can be in the UK) -Best International Themed Experience -Most Uncomfortable Ride -Most Disappointing Merlin Moment 2016 -Best Looking Attraction for 2017 -Best Manufacturer FORUM AWARDS: -Best Member -Best Team Member -Best New Member -Best Quality Posts -Best Official TPM Meet -Most Knowledgeable Member -Most Dedicated Member -Most Sarcastic Member -Most Likely to be Banned in 2017 -Funniest Member -Biggest Fanboy/girl -Sexiest Male -Sexiest Female -Storm Surge Award -Cutest Couple -Member you'd like to see more of And here's some clarifications in case any of the above are confusing... You don't have to vote for all the categories if you don't want! Please you forum usernames rather than real names - makes things easier For the park awards, feel free to vote for parks / rides you like the look of the best (especially the case of International Awards, where members might not have been on many / any foreign rides). Team Members are any member with an orange box underneath their username. We're working on a way of finding a list of new members for 2016 as we speak. Member's join dates can be found on their profiles if you have someone in mind! Storm Surge Award: Vote for the member who you think reminds you of Storm Surge or should be awarded a Storm Surge for their efforts in TPM. Member you'd like to see more of Award: Vote for the member who you'd like to see post on the forums more often / see at meets / generally get to know a bit better! These are of course meant to be a bit of fun, so just enjoy the ride! CAST YOUR VOTES HERE! Voting will close at 8pm on Friday 16th December. Please do not vote after this time as your votes will not count but you may be charged... If there's any questions, problems or whatever, please PM me and I'll get back to you. Happy voting!