JoshC.

http://www.treasuretally.com/collections/legoland-pop-badges-2016 They're pentagons

Interesting you mention about it being "rated 12". It's not any sort of rating, it's just a recommendation the park set themselves in case someone young finds anything disturbing. It'd be interesting if the BBFC, for example, did have to age rate some (screen based) attractions in the UK. Surely the disturbing / upsetting nature of the film in The Passing could have warranted a 12A rating, or maybe even a 15? I know that Hobs Pit has a rating from the BBFC, and from what I heard, they had to change things about since it would have been rated 15 otherwise. And course, Sub Terra also apparently had one, but since there's no reference other than a recommended age limit, I don't quite know if that was a publicity stunt?

^I blame not enough caffeine... Already been done

>The year is 2016. >2016/14 = 144. >144 years ago was 1872. >Derren Brown's Ghost Train is set in 1871. >DBGT sequel maze confirmed. Next!

Well if you were deafened in the queue then of course you wouldn't have heard anything on the ride...

To be fair, I don't think they've said "first to ride" in the minds wanted competition, but instead to just attend an exclusive VIP / press night? So they could in theory do soft openings (or they would like to call it) without making the competition seem pointless. That's not to say I think there will be soft openings, but I don't think it should be ruled out.

BREAKING NEWS - FAMOUS PEOPLE NOT IMMUNE TO DEATH

As Ryan says, this isn't something exclusive to Merlin. For recent examples at major parks, look at Baron's July opening last year at Efteling and Taron at Phantasialand (with it's still unknown opening date). Even parks like Plopsaland and Hansa have done it, so it really isn't uncommon. I can see the appeal, as it means that there's less pressure to finish off an attraction during the winter months, where weather can create delays in the construction schedule. At the same time, this doesn't really explain the likes of ABL, IAC or Galactica, for example, all of which didn't open with the rest of the park (though I guess if you look at them on a case-by-case basis, they all have their reasons). It also means there's good opportunities for on park advertising, encouraging return visits and building up into the busiest time of the season.

I see people's concerns given that Smiler was planned to open on 23rd May 2013 until the 22nd May. However, given some of the unfavourable publicity Thorpe received from the 12p ticket thing, plus there still being a close eye on Merlin from last year, I would assume that if it were to be delayed, they would announce it within a reasonable time frame.

A couple of photos from today: Couple of these signs have been put up. Possibly a good sign that the ride will be opening on time; what's the point of directing people to a ride's entrance which won't be opening for a long time? Don't know if this is new or something I just haven't seen before? Sorry for blurriness, but there's loads of these corner supports in the queue now. Nothing else of note to mention. Train carriage (if it's still outside) is completely covered so you can't see a thing!

For the record, Thorpe have said via Twitter that they don't plan on running RnR this season.

TPM social to Heide please. Chuck in Hansa for Gerstlauer goodness too if you like.

Name/logo of restaurant from PhantaFriends.de, which will be serving Bavarian food... The restaurant is still being constructed from what I can gather, and is Raik-side of Klugheim. Speaking of Raik, it is now testing.

If the reason for the closure is because of an incident on another Top Scan, I imagine Thorpe/Merlin will want to be as safe as possible and cover all bases. Following the Smiler incident last year, it's not all that surprising they want to be extra careful. I'm sure if they could cover all their rides and guests in bubble wrap, they would.

terrortomb: "Still a better ride than Storm Surge...still a better ride than Storm Surge..."

I personally cannot wait until Towers' SW19, the world's first theme park ride sponsored by a tennis competition.

Here's a press release and a close up photo of the demon... http://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/18-04-2016/Terrifying+Creature+from+Derren+Browns+Ghost+Train

Can't remember if it's been mentioned in the thread before, but Taron will have 4 trains - 2 running, 1 in onload and 1 in offload. It has also been testing on 4 trains of late. There's also going to be a restaurant in Klugheim. Yay!

Interesting that they've said "Coming soon" and not May 6th. Although it's nice to see some marketing for this. How this demon fits in with the rest of what we've seen is anybody's guess though.

Nice to see! Aside from Tidal's fireball, if we're still even counting that, does that now mean all of the previous operational effects on Thorpe rides are currently working?

Why does everyone want to get rid of the beach? :'( At best, the area needs a bit of a change, and turned into a small fountain show or something. But it needs to be a nice-to-look-at, non-ride area. No rides there please. If Thorpe were to ever invest in a non-major coaster as a medium-sized investment, I'd much rather see them go for a Vekoma junior boomerang, or even a racing pair. Reasonably small footprint (it could probably replace Samurai, for example, if they used the space correctly), fun for everyone, a bit of variation to the line up, etc.

A ride with no name. "The WORLD'S FIRST ride with no name!"

What makes you think that?

Saw this on TST, originally from TPR... Why Chessington, why?

Interesting hearing others' views about school favouring the best performing students, as that was far from the case at my school. At the time I was there, the main target was getting everybody to get at least 5 A*-C grades. If you were on track for that, you'd be left to your own devices. If not, you'd be getting all the support thrown at you left, right and centre. There were many times my whole year group were given workshops from external companies, whose aim was to ensure "you would reach that C grade". In turn, this made the workshops pointless for those of us aiming for A/A* grades, for obvious reasons. There were some teachers who were great at supporting everyone reaching their personal goal, but they were few amd far between until I got to college... I ended up being quite disappointed by my GCSE results. Of course, the blame for that has to fall down to me for at least some of that, but part of me still feels that if there had been more appropriate support avaliable to me, I'd have done better, or have had more realistic predictions. I do wonder whether this discussion is a classic 'the grass is always greener' conversation, whether the education system was/is failing the large majority of students, or if it's because my school was just awful. Probably a combination of all three mind...