JoshC.

Indeed there was: http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/11038-derren-browns-ghost-train-new-for-2016/page-11#entry223103 One of the few times when "a friend of friend" story has actually given correct information! Was it Jart?

POV of Flying Dinosaur... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG7A797CXbU Why do Asia get the best looking flyers? :'(

This is what Scruffy Dog have said was their design brief set by the park (more in relation to the Fin's design, but it also extends to the shark piece too). So it's not an official story per se, but it's the idea they were going for. Not anything they'd be trying to convey to anyone on park I think, or an excuse for the shipping containers.

Interestingly, the idea behind the Shark being formed from old signage / scraps (and indeed the idea behind Fin's theming) is that an "islander" has pieced everything together from whatever they can find. Presumably the idea is that the Shark is there to protect the 'islanders' whilst they sleep, and all they could find was old signage that was no longer need, and that Fin's was just with bits and pieces and they no longer needed.

Are we sure this ride isn't themed to Doctor Who? Because I'm sure I've gone back in time and have started to read the 'cattle pens are terrible' debate again.

Should be able to do both dates. No interest in waterpark, but I'd be interested in golf (on the Saturday).

Alas I have an exam on June 1st, so this is a no from me. Have fun!

If I'm not working I'll be there for the day.

Interesting that 3D mentions Storm Surge's marketing, given that that grabbed attention all over the world and was loosely based on an actual story / legend to do with the park. Despite its silliness, it did do the job rather well. Not to dissimilar to the doll campaign in my eyes. The secrecy vs SHOUT IT OUT strategy is an interesting debate. I can see why they've kept quiet, because if they did shout it what it was and how good it should be too soon, people will hold of their visit till it opens. So it would have potentially made the 2015 season pretty poor(er?) attendance wise. The likes of Universal and Efteling struggle less with this problem, since they're attendances (and overall quality) are so good they can cope with a slight dip one year better. That doesn't explain why they wouldn't announce all the details in closed season. But I guess without knowing the details of the attraction yet anyway, it's hard to know whether they've been right or wrong to conceal all the details.

^That was for a different competition run on Facebook. --- I can see why people ate frustrated by the revealing of the clues, especially since they are getting revealed so blatantly. But at the end of the day, this is a free to enter competition that is just there to create a buzz about a new attraction; everything to gain, nothing to lose. Also, I think people should keep in mind how the other 'ride it first' competitions ran. Stealth was simply a sign up to enter, Saw involved you playing a game (which you couldn't actually lose; it was just a case of cutting your leg off with loads of CGI blood) and Swarm was a sign up to enter. The very fact that they've created a series of clues is a nice, fun, touch.

Nice to hear. Wonder what their figures were liked this past year.. What's happened with the Immersive Tunnel thing? Is that happening this year or did the whole thing die away due to budget?

It is not known when Ghost Train will open. Thorpe have mentioned on social media it won't be open for Annual Pass day, so there's a good chance it won't open on the first normal day, which is Thursday 17th.

God it REALLY is closed season, isn't it...

In height restriction they're family friendly; I think they're commonly around 1.2m minimum? So certainly the sort of scale I'd like to see!

I'd be surprised if we saw a B&M for the next big thing. Realistically, there's not really anything B&M currently offer which Thorpe need. Of course, they could work on something entirely new, but I just don't see it happening. As I've said before, Thorpe need a large-scale family ride. Preferably a coaster. In a similar fashion as to how Towers needed (a new) one in Th13teen, Thorpe need one too. It's a shame things like the motorbike coasters and tilt coasters from Vekoma haven't proved that popular / good, as in theory, they could have been good family coasters that added to the line up the park already has...

The one at Walibi Belgium also had some problems with park and stuff whilst some of us were there. Don't know how regular an occurrence that is of course, but could fit a pattern.

In fairness, this largely isn't the case. Europe have some great and unique rides; there's only one flying coaster for example, a variety of smaller dive machines which are based more around theme, the Mack launch coasters in Blue Fire and Helix, some fab woodies, etc. There's only a select few examples where it feels like Europe has inferior copies of US coasters (and these sorts of coasters are one of them). I guess you could argue if you were to directly compare the two, not taking into account history and what not, Europe has 'smaller' versions of what the US has, but of course, size isn't everything.

Isn't there a way to upload your photo and get your pass posted to you? Or have they got rid of that option now? Might be worth asking Merlin via FB/Twitter if there's another option open to people in your situation

1) I'd assume height is one reason. Also, since Thorpe have the tighter height restrictions, they probably worked closely with Intamin to make there be a minimal number of high-level supports, and to make the lower level ones as 'strong' as possible. 2) The name is unknown at the moment. 3) This is just under 370ft; so a good 50ft shorter than TTD.

From TPR forums... It looks...erm yeah. Odd? Silly? Awkward?

TRAINS (Images from Coaster Crew FB)

What's Air? Unless you literally mean they've repainted / jet washed the air?

Couple more pictures of the Nemesis repaint, courtesy of Towers Street... I do believe that there will be some aged rust / dirt effects added (as in the photo a couple of posts above). The second photo really shows the difference this is making though!

Cheeky plug time by me: http://forum.maniahub.com/blog/10/entry-421-the-swarm-forwards-vs-backwards/ tl;dr - Forwards has better moments than backwards.