JoshC.

I wouldn't read too much into the Feb half term thing yet. The full line up hasn't been announced yet (at least, I don't think so?). Last time I checked, it was just Stealth (their big thing), Swarm (their latest big new thing) and ABL (their new thing) on the list. The full line up is probably going to come in the next couple of weeks. If Flying Fish were to move, they'd require planning permission and nothing has been submitted. If the park wanted it to happen, then it would be easiest for it to happen for start of season, so I'd doubt that we'd see planning permission soon for it to happen mid-season. So I doubt that will happen. I think the main reason for Fish's early closure was due to maintenance / engineering being understaffed. Like PLC, I'm expecting the Fungle spot to primarily be used as an access point for works for the 2016 site, and maybe to give a slight extension to the path. I doubt we'll see anything new this season. The best I'm hoping for it a retheme of Rumba Rapids or Canada Creek; both are of dire need of TLC and a retheme would be a reasonably cheap and easy way to get a 'new' thing for this season. Even if we don't get anything new, I'm sure Thorpe will have their ways of pulling in the masses.

Having a quick skim read of TTF and the guy who said about the 18m seems to be mistaken. The maximum building height is around 10m. A relatively large pit is being made too, but that only goes 3m deep. So the absolute largest total height is 13m. Even then, it will be less, because of course you can't go right to the very top. Even then, the plans seem to suggest to me that the pit is more likely to be used for mechanisms and such, as opposed to the actual ride itself. Who knows though! I don't think the height necessarily suggests anything about the ride experience either. It's quite easy to make a laser ride / slow guided tracked vehicle ride go two floors, for example! As for the 2018, I think that bit of the conversation related to the opening of the main hotel.

I believe I have an exam on the 27th, so it's a no go for me. Have funs.

Think of it like this - opening in February Half Term gives the rides an extra 45ish hours of operational time to the public. In the main season, they'll be operating for around 1600 hours. If you think of it like that, you realise it should make little difference to the long term running of the rides!

Watching that video really makes you realise just how many missed opportunities there were for this ride's overall experience. Those clips really epitomise what The Smiler is all about - it's creepy, intriguing, but also a little bit funny. Yet, you really don't get the same vibe from the queue line and such. It's a real shame that the best video and storytelling of the ride comes in the ride's shop which most people won't pay enough attention to to absorb it.

Is the cinema room the start of the dark ride though? Or is it just a clever way to make you not feel like you're queueing, whilst you are in fact queueing for the dark ride? I guess you could argue it's the start of the "dark ride experience", but then, you could equally argue the experience starts as soon as you step foot inside the building. I personally much prefer Hex's preshow experiences to that of The Haunting at Drayton (using that as a comparison since it's the only other Madhouse I've done). They both use a similar idea I guess, but Hex's is so much more dramatic, as well as much simpler and effective.

Storm Surge logo reminds me of Storm Surge. Ewww. However, there's humour there. Woo. 5/10

I didn't experience the original NST, but from what I've heard of it, it was awful and just didn't make sense. It's almost worrying to think that those who worked on it would have thought that how it opened would have worked. The current way it works though is great in my opinion; I really really enjoy it. With this ride, as others have said, I expect they'll want to get it right first time. There's no room for mistakes. Of course, there'll be slight tweaks within the first couple of months (after all, most dark rides / mazes see such tweaks; sometimes you don't know what's best until guests try it after all!), but they can't afford for it to open and just not 'work' like NST. However, given that this is a major project for not just Thorpe, but Merlin too (and, if an IP is involved, that company too), there'll be plenty of people working on this to ensure it opens with the highest quality possible.

I think it's worth remembering that rcdb is not necessarily an accurate source of information - they simply gather details from other sources and collate it into one place. Whilst I've very rarely seen a mistake on rcdb, I'd be very surprised if we see a 4000ft, 60ft-odd tall coaster on the old Beastie site, as rumoured...

I think the most surprising thing in that photo is that is shows Chessington actually do try and maintain their rides. Who knew?

In recent years, I don't think there's ever really been complaints from locals about the traffic spilling into rush hour for 5pm closes. The only real concerns locals had was about MoS and people leaving then late at night, but I think the immediate locals (ie - those who live in Penton Park just opposite) have not been bothered by that. It would be interesting to see what the council would ask Thorpe to do if it were a real problem though.

You have not been to Disneyland. Alright. We get it. 0/10

Also, Storm Surge is a pretty unique experience, but I wouldn't call that a positive.

You say in reality that people don't experience all five scare attractions. I went on a busy day last season and Hot all five of them done, plus Swarm in that time too. So it is possible, and I expect quite a lot of people do experience them all in one event if they really want to.

Double post oopsies: Plans have been approved!

Alton's system has its flaws too. I remember hearing stories from last season of queues over an hour long for the charged mazes? Never good for a time-slotted system, where you would usually expect minimal queues. However, I think that system is more suited to Alton Towers and their situation (Scarefest is a more family-oriented event, and there's only 2 mazes they charge for). Equally, I think the system used at Thorpe suits them and their situation (FN is scare-oriented and has many attractions). Personally, I would prefer to pay £10 to experience Fright Nights and allow the opportunity to get to do 5 scare attractions, than to faff about paying £6 a maze and have a time-slot system which would struggle to work.

Because X is not a dark ride! X is a roller coaster inside a building. A dark ride is a ride which usually isn't a roller coaster, and focus more on telling a story and theming, rather than a thrill. For rides in the UK, see examples like Hex, Nemesis Sub Terra, Duel, Tomb Blaster, etc. And even if you did count X as a dark ride, what's wrong with having another indoor attraction? Having another indoor ride makes sense, as it's a ride which can open whatever the weather, will likely attract all the family, and is something different. What's wrong with that!

http://9gag.com/gag/avZwPjb

Thank you pluk for trying to protect me on Night 1, even if you're efforts were blocked! And yeah, cheers Paige for killing me so soon. All I wanted to do was to be the very best, like no one ever was. Alas, I could not explore this new region to see if there were any Pokemon I could catch to understand the power that's inside... Thanks Turtle for running this again, was fun! Would love to see another one run in the future (if you have the time of course! ); this one seemed to go quite smoothly this time, even if it finished quite quickly.

I really think people over-exaggerate what the Standard Pass will become... You're not included in two special events at Thorpe, free parking and some dates for the London attraction. It's not going to descend into things like just being a discount ticket or anything... As for Feb half term, I'm hoping to visit, but it well be determined on factors like the full line up and how busy I am at the time. If I was living near Thorpe and had a Standard Pass, I would likely visit just the once, though.

It might be possible, and I'd imagine the upgrade fee would just be the difference of cost between passes now. Best way to check would be to ask Thorpe directly though!

Double post but ah well... Thorpe are advertising their Premium, and it also includes free access to Summer Nights: That's rather good to be honest!

I think you're underestimating how big a task "changing that attitude" is! Goes back to what I said earlier, people view theme parks as a 'day out', and that day out will normally finish no later than 6-7pm. Enormous task trying to change that attitude for most people during the summer time! Again, this goes back to what I said earlier - for many people, a 'day out' will probably finish around 6-7pm. You do notice the park get less busier for the last hour, that;s for sure! Beyond 7pm, far less people will stay at a theme park. The busiest Summer Nights last season saw around 1600 people from what I heard, and I expect that if the park had just been open until 10pm, only about 3000-4000 would have stayed anyway. Fright Nights remains popular because of the additional attractions, that fit the time of year, and there's traditionally less things going on in October evenings than there are in July/August evenings. Even then, many people do leave FN at around 9pm. It would be interesting to see the park try extended hours with evening performances / shows, but would they be an incentive enough for more people than not to stay on? I'm not so sure

BPB is in a different situation to theme parks like Thorpe Park and Phantasialand. It ust doesn't make sense to compare a tourist attraction of BPB's popularity and nature to opening times to theme parks!

Across the year, BPB also manage to provide better opening times (ie - they are open for more hours) than Phantasialand. PHANTASIALAND ARE SUCH A BAD THEME PARK AND NEED TO INCREASE THEIR OPENING TIMES AND STAY OPEN LATER, ESPECIALLY DURING SUMMER.