JoshC.

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.

I sure hope it isn't open then...

Back right forward facing would be lush

The thing is, what other names could those attractions have gotten? -Lego Movie 4D Experience. It's related to the Lego Movie and it's 4D. What other name could sell that? -Pandamonium. PUN PUN PUN. I like it. It's a stage show about Pandas and things probably get a little bit crazy. -Derren Brown's Ghost Train. It's an attraction created by Derren Brown, and it's his interpretation of a Ghost Train. It's a lot clearer than some obscure thing like 'Derren Brown Presents Automatons' or 'Derren Brown: Mind Gap' or something. -Galactica. It sounds space-y. This is actually one I think had more potential, and one that probably should have included Air in the name. But it's not a horrible choice, really?

Spring 2016 is going to be the best answer you'll get to that question. So literally any time between March and end of May (maybe even beginning of June if there's any delays).

By your argument, it would seem Meg is one of the most popular characters from Family Guy

You'd be surprised how easy it is to convince the general public. By simply saying something along the lines of 'The work we are currently doing to Loggers Leap is behind the scenes, so you won't see any changes yet', many people will accept that and move on. It is mainly the enthusiasts who will want to know more / not fully believe. The majority of guests will take that simple excuse any carry on.