JoshC.

The only problem I've ever had with the food in an in-house eatery is Burger Kitchen (indeed, I ate there once last year and have never gone back...). Fried Chicken Co. is great, Pizza Pasta is nice, Chicken Shack is alright (though no Greedy Goblin), Mexican Cantina is lovely. The original places at Thorpe (Kebabs, R&R, etc.) are great too. Other than Burger Kitchen, I have had no problems with the quality - or the price - of the Merlin places. Getting more in house places is only a good thing in my eyes!

To be fair, with things like that, they may as well get as much money from the outside firms as possible, or just run it themselves with their own in-house versions. Indeed, one could argue that them pushing the outside brands for all they can is a good thing, as it leads to Merlin running their own outlets, which can be better value and quality than outside brands...

Nothing in the rules that says you can't vote for yourself either! Missed my opportunity to get myself 1 vote for Sexiest Male.

Great to see TPM going all high tech with Awards! Any chance this topic can be pinned so it doesn't get lost with all the other Nonsense?

Whilst it's true that things like Swarm's water jets don't run all the time (which I agree is not good and a shame), what's that got to do with things like theming on rides, original audio, queue lines, etc.?

So so so bored of Thorpe-bashing like this. It's needless and (in many of those cases) incorrect. Also, if you can point me in the direction of a park that will create a "plotful" queue line with character portrayal throughout the entire experience, whilst keeping the queue line itself short and interactive, for a topspin - a ride notoriously known to be a filler attraction which is mainly for spectators - then I'd love to see it...

Didn't seem particularly worthy of its own topic... Towers are planning to put in a high rope course near the Hotel - http://publicaccess.staffsmoorlands.gov.uk/portal/servlets/ApplicationSearchServlet?PKID=69394 It'll include a Cafe too. Looks good fun for everyone and the sorta thing that should be added to a resort to give that more complete feel. Plans suggest it will have an upcharge (which is reasonable in my opinion), and you can either purchase a ticket for it by itself, or in conjunction with the theme park or waterpark. It's expected to only attract 250-300 guests a day, but will be open all year round by the sounds of it. Hope it does come to fruition; sounds like a nice concept all in all!

The trouble is, whilst it may seem like there's space, it's not so easy and find a space and plonk a building down. And remember that Thorpe are restricted on the amount of how much floorspace they can have for buildings (and with this dark ride, they are nearing the agreed limit). It would be nice to see a small scale dark ride - or, indeed, any indoor attraction (I wouldn't grumble at seeing a small Sealife at Thorpe to be honest...) - they'd have to be careful and creative. I also wouldn't want to see one for the sake of having one either...

If Thorpe were gonna add a ghost train to the line up next season (or, indeed, any substantial ride to the line up), then we'd have seen planning permission by now; something which I believe Ricky and others have said in this thread already. Anything added to the line up next season will be minor at best and require next-to-no planning permission. So I can't really see a ghost train coming next year (or, indeed, any time soon - there's much better choices out there in my opinion!).

So I gave a research seminar-style talk today! It was based on the research I did over summer; giving a background to it all and explaining the results and conclusions I've reached so far. It was quite nerve-racking (and I did get a couple of tricky questions during the talk to keep me on my toes!), but I think it went okay. Hard to tell how good any sort of feedback is though, as people always seem afraid of giving criticisms (even if it is constructive), but heyho. Definitely a great experience and hopefully the first of many such talks I give...

Surely CBeebies Land should be several separate attractions? Also, surprised there is not a 'Disneyland Paris Ride Game 2014' or 'Port Aventura Ride Game 2014' given how many members have visited those parks this year...

Thorpe have posted on Facebook that they're going to be giving an exciting announcement soon (would post link but on phone). Potential news about 2015 investment? Or even the dark ride? Or nothing exciting at all?

A nice aerial photo of the construction site as it stands, from Tatenhill Aviation's Facebook...

Surprisingly, that was all the way back in Easter 2012, when Hunger Games first hit cinemas! Doesn't feel that long ago mind. Given what John Wardley said about IPs and dark rides in the BLNT video below, I'd be very surprised if we don't see an IP for this. Yes, it's a shame, but I can see why they'd want to minimise risk on such a large investment...

Just came across a review of The Ultimate Sleepover - http://www.scaretouruk.com/review---alton-towers-ultimate-sleepover.html (Warning - spoilers) Sounds like a good experience!

I'm gonna go with 3), you seem like a TV man more than a stage man!

Storm Surge is pretty bad if everyone's being honest. Maybe we, as enthusiasts, make it out to be worse than it really is. But it's still pretty bad. It's gonna be a looooooong Closed Season...

GO GO GO!

I must admit I was very surprised when I first saw the location. Given that they could have used the Fungle spot (granted, with a bit more work and whatnot), it surely would have made things easier? They could have then just themed one / one and a half of the sides of the building, and then everything else be naturally hidden away (something like Duel for example). But instead they've opted for the arena, where they basically have to theme 3 sides, and be a bit awkward about disguising some bits of it. There must be some long-term reason for it surely - are there long term plans for the Fungle spot? Was the arena decided to be the most likely spot approval would be given? Who knows. But personally, I don't think this is the easiest spot they could have chosen for a dark ride. Here's hoping they can pull off some sort of good exterior and - I guess more importantly - pull of an amazing interior. Speaking of which, I still think people's concerns about the size will be unfounded. A shop, ORP pick up and bag room can take up minimal room. Even with a control room and other staff-only access areas, they can take up a minimal amount of space. And then they can be very clever with the space as well if they want. Of course we won't till it opens how large the ride will be, but personally, I don't think we're gonna end up with a 'small' attraction by any means!

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Wouldn't take that as confirmation at all to be honest. Just as good as me saying I've heard from a member of staff that the dark ride for 2016 will be a world first. Treat it as nothing more than a rumour till we hear something a bit more concrete!

I can't see anywhere on SP they've said that? If it were moving, we'd see have seen a planning application by now, not to mention work on SS being dismantled.

Well done on making me visit - and post in - the topic before December... I guess like with all the big 'events' in the year (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving if you're American, etc), it all starts at different times for everyone. I make 'Halloween' into a near-month long thing now, what with how there's so many scare attractions around these days, but I don't care what I do on the actual date. Christmas as a whole seems different, as it always seems to be made out to be a big build up to 'the' day, at least that's how I've always viewed it. I much prefer just a couple of weeks before where you get in the 'mood' (so some decorations, roasted chestnuts, the annoying yet you can't stop listening to them Christmas songs, etc.), and then just have the day as a nice day to relax. I just don't see the need to drag out a build-up to that! So yeah, until December comes (and even then, slightly later December), I just try to avoid it all.

In the past, I used to dream about being on Slammer. Helped me get to sleep within ten minutes.

I'll join in.