JoshC.

3 of the 5 major Merlin parks have winged coasters now. A winged coaster wouldn't fit in with Chessington really and given Alton's constraints, I'd be very surprised if they had the space to build a decent winged coaster. The Swarm argument could go round in circles for months, but I think one thing worth remembering is this: 2013 saw the addition of a new, large-scale piece of theming (the billboard), which many see as the best near miss of the ride. The backwards rows, despite all the stick they are given by enthusiasts, have been well-received too. Given that, I don't think it shows they're *completely* out of touch with their customers, but rather they needed to give it a kick start for it to be as popular as they wanted it to be. I think you might have hit the nail on the head - they simply need more staff. I don't think having extra trains would help, as that requires a lot more storage space (which Thorpe simply don't have), and they would probably end up doing a Stealth and always having two ready and the third in the middle of a major strip down. It must be a pretty major part for it to be down this long. The ride was fine for AP day and the first few days of the season, and then died, so it must be something quite serious and unforeseen to be waiting this long.

The short answer is no. The long answer is no, and here's why: Apologises for the crude diagram, but here's the farm in (more or less) it's current state. The green line shows, to the best of my memory, the perimeter of the Farm in the last couple of years before its closure (though I think it used to be larger?). First things first; there's now a school there! Part of Thorpe working closely with the community, etc. So any new developments over there would lead to the moving of a school. The blue line circle / box shows roughly where the train tracks / station were. Part of the infilling of the new islands meant that some parts of the Farm were used for 'relief' essentially, and were flooded. So the old train route literally does not exist any more! You can see similar relief next to the yellow circle (which used to be where the water jetties picked up from I think?) The red circle shows the barn that's being replaced (so it wasn't even something that used to be accessible). Essentially, it's an old barn that had seen better days, and had suffered damage (fire, weather, a vehicle bashed into it...,etc.). Thorpe still use parts of the Farm area for storage and other things I believe, and were of course worried that it was unsafe to staff who would be in the area, and to the public (since it's close to a main-ish road). It was beyond repair and just needed replacing really - nothing exciting unfortunately! Some pictures of the barn in its old state, if you're curious: *Pictures taken from the plans about replacing the Barn) (As a side note, it was kind of weird seeing how much the Farm had changed from an aerial perspective. Hadn't Google-mapped Thorpe in ages, and now it's just mad me a little bit sad ) --- Bringing this back to the topic of CCR... I don't think it would ever be extended back to Thorpe Farm (there's no need for it to), and I couldn't really see it being extended to go round the park more - it would take up a lot of space, and the park just isn't that big enough to warrant it in my eyes. I would still love to see it return and do a short loop, add in a bit of theming / interactivity. It doesn't have to be anything big or special, but brining it back would be a nice little thing to help mix the day up!

Last season, technical service shifts were starting at 6am (and we still had similar issues of one train service, etc.). Maybe it's a case of they just need more people on? Whatever it is, it does seem like it simply does boil down to not enough funds being pumped into maintenance.. Not saying that they haven't gone above that, but I genuinely can't remember seen / heard / experienced queues of over 140 minutes in summer, despite going on really busy days. The only times I remember queues reaching that length are around the openings of rides or during busy Fright Nights* dates (and even then, that's only been for one attraction, not all the attractions). *I'm ignoring last year's Fright Nights with quoted 3-4 hour standby queues during Reserve n Ride.

You see, this sort of comment is one that swings to the complete other extreme. Yes, Merlin do good things, but it doesn't mean that they don't do bad things. Never ending negativity is silly, but so is never ending positivity (unless, of course, there are no real negatives, though unfortunately there are negatives with Merlin). Let's face it, regardless of how much good Merlin are doing, if queues are an hour long and they aren't adding on a second train to a coaster, that IS poor. With regards to the earlier comment about today's queues, maybe I'm just 'used' to long queue times at Thorpe, but an hour for the main rides and two hours for Colossus on reduced capacity (which would presumably be about an hour if it had two trains) isn't exactly unusual or ridiculously long for a Saturday outside of the holiday period... Even in the busiest periods, queues haven't even exceeded 3 hours in my experiences over the years, so to suggest anything over that is a ridiculous over-exaggeration in my opinion.

There's no plans for the ride on the council's website though (well, as far as anybody can see at least!), which is unusual. I assume Legoland are under similar restrictions to Thorpe and Chessington in that they have to submit details of big things like this. Even if they don't advertise it, it seems odd for them to just install a ride without plans for it going online; especially with the frosty reception they have with local residents!

The Blair Witch shed has probably been dismantled to allow access to the 2016 site (which is also why there's the huge blank space next to the I'm a Celeb queue). I'd expect it will be rebuilt in the same place around late September and the walkthrough to be in the same space. It leaves questions as to how construction of the dark ride would continue during Fright Nights, but we'll see I guess... Of course, it could move elsewhere, but where could it go? Very few options. As for CCR returning, it's been rumoured for ages, but I haven't seen any visible work going on during any of my visits. I don't want to say it's not happening, but it really is one of those things where you can't believe it's happening until it's actually happened...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32315904 I wonder if Thorpe have ever paid a visit to Merstham?

Baggage rooms are an odd one. They're not universally good and they're not universally bad. Some don't work very well (see Swarm, due to its awful positioning), some do work well (I've found Stealth's and Saw's to usually be fine, for example). I don't think one would work on Vampire though, simply due to the fact you fit it in anywhere nicely without having to do some changes to the ride queue and the exit. Bags not allowed in the queue line is a not a good idea in my opinion.

It's kind of sad when people see this as a positive (same thing for Slammer and Thorpe). This is just a negative in disguise really. As a positive, this feels a bit forced to me. Yes, having a new / good hotel is fabulous for the resort as a whole. But for people who don't stay at the hotel or use its facilities (which is presumably the majority of guests), it means nothing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying a new hotel is a negative thing - it is a very good thing - but I wouldn't see it as an 'on-the-whole' positive.

I haven't heard of any of these... Does this mean I've become a boring old fart out-of-touch with the kids already? :/

As someone who's been in a boat that's scrapped along the bottom during the ride circuit, it feels very worrying! Why there's low water level should be a bit of a concern, but I imagine it's not an uncommon occurrence to be fair.

Warwick Castle are hosting a 'Sounds in the Grounds' music event in July: https://www.warwick-castle.com/explore/summer-concerts-at-warwick-castle.aspx Surprised they've been allowed to do it to be honest! Given that some of the acts are also performing for Island Beats at Thorpe, I wonder if this gives an indication to some of the other big acts performing at Thorpe (Kaiser Chiefs would be great for example!)

This information all comes from a public screening, of which a document from the council can be found here: http://publicaccess.staffsmoorlands.gov.uk/portal/servlets/AttachmentShowServlet?ImageName=101930

Dare I say launched woodie? We know Merlin's obsession with a killer image and tagline and Towers' history of world firsts. Would make sense with the 'sound tunnels' too. I guess only time will tell, but that certainly does indicate wood is on its way...

The joke was more aimed at that infamous sign that came around when Falls' theming (in 2012?) was taken down and said it would be replaced in 2014. Looking back, it's rather stupid of them to have even given a time frame for it. Hopefully it will be sorted out one day, but it is one of those things where I'll only believe it when I see it.

The only refurb that's happening is of Dragon Falls, and that should be ready by last year. I personally can't wait for it.

That music is just Having a >62mph launch as well as at last one other launch well make this coaster pretty darn intense. How do other Intamin multilaunches ride in terms of comfort and intensity?

One thing I absolutely hate about the one train operation at the moment is how on social media, they say they will add second trains "when there's demand". In most cases, there is always demand - anything above a 15-20 minute queue, and they really should start whacking out a second train. It surely must be a smokescreen behind the actual reason (they can't be serious in saying a ride with an hour long queue doesn't have enough demand, for example?), but it makes matters seem worse to be honest.. In fairness though, when I've visited this year, the number of trains has rarely been a problem (on the one weekend I went, all coasters except Saw were on maximum capacity I believe). So it does happen, just not enough as it should.

I've seen on some other forums people comment that the quality of food at the Foodloop at Europa isn't the best. So hopefully that's not a negative to this. Nice to see something a bit different and quirky come along mind.

Diggerland - The Ride confirmed.

Assuming my graduation date isn't moved to this date, I'll be there for all the non-MOS stuff.

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!