JoshC.

2015 dates have been released and tickets are now on sale: https://www.thorpepark.com/events-experiences/events/ministry-of-sound/ Dates include: 16th May, 18th July, 26th September and 7th November, which seems to be a fair fewer than previous years.

Placing a bet on the codename being HC20. Nothing constructive to add though. Thorpe will presumably want their next (next) big thing to be a coaster at heart. But what and where seem to be anyone's guess.

But then you can say look at Dragon Falls, Tomb Blaster, Land of the Dragons, Vampire, Bubbleworks, Rattlesnake, Safari Skyway... The list goes on equally as long at Chessington as it does for other parks and it includes many of the major rides on park! I want to add a lot more to the conversation than that (but don't really have the time unfortunately), as you do make a good point when you talk of the upkeep of other rides at other parks, but I personally find there's something 'off' with Chessington. They're clearly doing something right to be getting people to keep coming, but doing something right and doing something well and different things. If I have a bit more time sometime soon, I'll try and elaborate a bit more on what I'm saying. Also, the £8 million investment into the park last year really doesn't show to me - Thorpe got Inferno for that price!

Those two plus Slammer are closed still.

Blimey, that looks stunning! And all for a set of Tea Cups! Is there any indication when all that theming will be finished? Visiting here in June, and mostly can't wait for Anubis which looks fab Also, can we expect a trip report for yesterday's trip in the near future Benin?

Just because they're a staff member, it doesn't mean what they say will happen. In all likelihood, they either won't know, or will know but wouldn't (be allowed to) say.

Some seats in Rows 4 and 5 have two belts attached; these are for the 'larger' guests I believe.

It's not a roller coaster simulation game! Despite how that video makes it seem, it's more a puzzle-esque game, where you have to destroy things and achieve certain scores to move onto the next level (think Angry Birds, but with roller coasters instead of birds!) This game is completely different to RCT3 and NoLimits - RCT is a mixture of being able to create your own theme park whilst having that ridiculous edge, whilst NoLimits is all about realism. This game was for a different market.

Going to the Monkey Puzzle will be a nail biting end to the day Hope everyone has fun tomorrow; large numbers should make it a great meet!

I'm not.

I'm guessing you mean the 10th here, unless you're The Doctor?

Source: Theme Park Guide Still nothing major happening on the site, but the first photo would seemingly confirm an Annual Passholder preview event for the ride, which - other than Saw - I don't think Merlin have done for any of their major new additions?

Would be much better if they used this sign: You'd have thought they'd have already done something like this really given it's been on reduced capacity for a month already. Seems like it be a lot longer now though...

I think laser shows don't happen any more because of the number of planes that fly over the park (not 100% certain on that, just what I've heard!). Local residents, to my knowledge, have rarely, if ever, complained about any of Thorpe's fireworks events in the past. One problem with it is they have to significantly reduce the number of people they have in the park during the show for safety reasons (6000 was the maximum capacity at Blow S#!t Up in 2011 I heard). So unless they kick everyone out and then bring them back in, they have to set that maximum for the whole day. I do wish they'd make use of the lake more too, but they seem quote limited with what they can do. Move Saw Alive and that will solve some problems I reckon..

Legoland Bilund too presumably?

You ignore the fact that all of Chessington's rides are now open (and they all were after the first weekend, bar Vampire), Drayton Manor is doing alright for itself, Paulton's is coming on leaps and bounds, Dreamland Margate is reopening, etc. It's a dull year for UK theme parks, yes, but I would hardly say the UK industry is going down the drain!

That was a typo; it was meant to say 7pm (though even that is not fully confirmed, and just assumed from previous Summer Nights)! Fixed now; thanks. I assume the idea is that non-passholder guests would only want to visit to see their favourite act, so will only visit once. I highly doubt they expect many, if any, non-passholder people to go to the Friday and Saturday events! The ideas which people have thrown about of Summer Nights becoming an evening ticket and Lost City flats closing off for the concert make sense too. Hope this is a success for the park; especially if it means longer opening hours!

Naughty me for double posting, but some more details and plans for y'all: http://www.thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/16-04-2015/Island-Beats-Details-Revealed So we have Tidal Stage returning for small acts (like last year) and the new Crust Stage for the bigger acts. It's a bit weird how it's working. On Fridays and Saturdays, when the big acts perform, you can either get a Summer Nights ticket for £15, which gets you entry into the park between 4-10pm (no mention of if there's AP discount, but presumably there is), but no 'entry' into the concert. The alternative is an Island Beats ticket for £37.50, which is access for 10am-10pm, and access to the concert to see the big name and a support artist to perform between 6:30-9. They're saying that they can have crowds of up to 2000 for the big acts, but whether that means 2000 including Summer Nights people or 2000 allowed into the concert itself is a bit unclear (I sure hope it's the former of those options - imagine 2000 squashed in the small space between Crust and that stage for 3 hours!). Seems a bit silly to me though. Surely even if you don't get 'entry' into the concert, you'll still be able to hear and see the artist perform, just from a bit further afield?

http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=88687 Confirms tickets set to go on sale 2nd May. Also, it seems like Summer Nights is returning:

Never heard of this Ella person either... However, Thorpe have posted a short video on YouTube about the event, and it confirms that Professor Green (who I have heard of) and Rixton (Nope? Me neither) are also performing, as well as daily 'breakthrough' acts. (I'm on my phone, so can't link the video at the moment) It sounds like 'Island Beats' is a full summer event lasting 8 weeks, with the bigger names performing on Fridays or Saturdays. So there could still be a chance of 'normal' Summer Nights returning. EDIT: Just got completely ninjaed here...

Presumably the entertainment budget his mostly used for the music events the past couple of years, MoS and Fright Nights and hotel evening entertainment. And now they'll probably be pumping money into IAC too. So it's nothing new really, but I do agree the park needs a regular show, or roaming characters or something still. I want to see that red Angry Bird roaming round ABL, or Max Thrill make a return!

In fairness, his condition just stops the muscles from working and, by the sounds of it, it was only affecting his legs. So there's nothing stopping him from bracing himself, and it probably wouldn't cause him any pain.

A simple check on Chessington's website; go on 'Plan Your Trip', then 'Disabled Guide'. That gives all the information they would need (admittedly it doesn't specifically say there's a 'Three Step Rule', but it highlights what rides require to be able to walk unaided). The information is very clearly there and if they didn't think to check 'Plan Your Trip' to see if that had any information for guests in wheelchairs, it is somewhat there own fault.. There is something I want to point out here. Try pushing someone in a wheelchair around Chessington. You very quickly realise how many little holes and dips there are in the ground, which make pushing someone in a wheelchair a very difficult task! Whilst I doubt this is the main point she's getting at here, there is actually something worth raising. Now this is concerning a little. The rules are there for a reason. Yes, this family have had a disappointing day, but does that mean they should be allowed to break the rules and go on rides they're not allowed to? No. What if one of the rides he shouldn't have gone on had broken down and required evacuation, and this boy needed to walk to get out? Chessington would probably get into a fair amount of trouble, and also the family probably wouldn't have been happy either..

I'm clearly on the wrong career path right now...

Thorpe Park have released some more details about their new summer event, 'Island Beats': https://www.thorpepark.com/events-experiences/events/island-beats/ Not entirely sure whether this is a rebranding of Summer Nights, or whether the park will be open from 10am-10pm, with say a ticket available for if you enter after a certain time. The 'Lost City stage' is currently being constructed by The Crust, so will be quite small and, as they say, intimate, which would make me think this will have limited tickets and thus be some sort of 'special Summer Nights' event. Sounds quite good, and The Vamps and Rizzle Kicks are two names that I've heard and are quite 'big', so hopefully this is a successful event.