JoshC.

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.

Zero ban-ter.

"Gary" is a hero.

Selfie with my research poster. First time I've worn a suit in almost 2 years...

The most up to date info, and plans of the new dark ride, can be seen here: http://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/30-10-2014/2016-Attraction-Plans-Released Mr Monkey is staying around; no need to go bananas!

To my knowledge, Mr. Monkey's is not leaving! The plans for the new dark ride don't interrupt MM at all, and (unless I've missed something) the park haven't said it's leaving.

I think some people confuse 'kids rides' and 'relaxing rides' a lot. Things like CRC, Fungle, Octopus Garden, etc. were most definitely kids rides. Okay, something like CRC could be a slightly more family thing, but its primarily geared to a younger audience. None of those rides are relaxing family rides though. They're kids rides. And if we're being totally honest with ourselves, no child above the age of 7 or 8 would care about any of those rides mentioned above, and thus - given that Thorpe are targeting families with older children - have no place at Thorpe any more really. I do agree Thorpe don't really have many relaxing attractions to do - there's the cinema, but that's really it. Everything else requires you to go up high, be spun loads, chucked left, right and centre and all that. They need more 'other' things to do. To be honest, even just bringing back CCR and having a show in the Showcase would do a world of difference. Then that'd give 3 attractions for everyone to enjoy and relax, which not disrupting the flow of the day.

Meh, if I wanted to look at trees, I'd go to a garden centre, not go to a theme park watch Doctor Who.

But trees exist too, right?

This means I'll finally get to meet pluk and stretchy! Is it Christmas or something?

For the record, posts in Off Topic don't add to a member's post count.

Shame to see it go, but as I've said before, it just doesn't really fit in with the park any more. It's something I did occasionally, but not enough for me to be disappointed to see it go (this is no CCR!).

That edit. I didn't read that post as weird or stalkery. Now you've mentioned it though...

So it's now technically closed season. Here's some original conversation points to make this closed season fly by: -Will Logger's tunnel be rebuilt? -Colossus needs repainting. -Inferno should be repainted. -Was this Slammer's last season?!? -Intamin ZacSpin. -Rush needs some extra work done to it, it was disappointing this season. -Rumba Rapids retheme plz. -This should go on the Fungle Safari. -Intamin Aqautrax. -X should be re-rethemed. -*Insert old shipping container jokes that stopped being funny a year ago here*. -Will Tidal Wave's fireball return. -TPM awards ceremony controversy. -*Pictures of a snowy Thorpe Park from years ago so that we're not so disappointed by lack-of-snow this winter*. -"It looks like we're getting nothing for 2015, we know what's happening for 2016, so I've decided to start a 'New for 2017' thread". -Fright Nights 2015 thread. -And, of course, WHEN ARE THORPE GETTING A TOPSPIN?

Another couple of videos are up: http://www.gardaland2015.it/en/operation-orange/mysterious-finding and http://www.gardaland2015.it/en/operation-orange/excavation-first-results They're really dragging it out! And some cheeky flirting by Elizer during both of them!

I'll be there.

In terms of floorspace, this building is about 4-5 times bigger than Sub Terra.

I'm liking the look of things so far. One thing I'd change though is the Site Adverts bit; doesn't really fit in the 'Site News' subforum really. Stick it in 'Stuff' or 'Nonsense'; makes more sense that way!

Agree with what was said by Dan about schools. Plenty of schools / colleges have the mindset of making people apply/go to uni to help increase their own profile, rather than necessarily doing what is best for the person themselves. Then, of course, there's the 'party culture' thing which many people associate with uni (even though, of course, not everyone is like that!) and that there's little contact hours, especially when you compare it to the world of work. Those two things coupled together make university seem like the easiest choice for most people, when it is very much the opposite! Definitely think there needs to be change lower down in the system. During my time at uni, I have seen plenty of people who really shouldn't be here in all honesty. So many people who just coast through, seemingly treating it as three years to get drunk, high and christ knows what else, whilst getting 'paid' for the privilege. It just bamboozles the mind to think that these people were able to get into uni in the first place really... --- Anyway, I'm currently in my final year at uni. As you'd expect, it's a lot of work, and very difficult. This term, I've got 16 hours of contact time (lectures and 'support classes'/seminars). I'm doing 4 modules and each have their own assignment - all of which are for credit too - every one to two weeks, which is essentially a page of problems. For a bit of context, assignments are usually given out 7-10 days before they're due. I rarely get an assignment fully finished 24 hours before the deadline, not because of laziness, but simply because of the sheer length and difficulty of it all. I've just finished writing up an assignment in neat, and it totals up to 22 sides of A4. It's probably taken about at least 15 hours (spread out over 10 days) to get that all done. And that'll be worth 5% of a module, which itself is only about 7-10% of my year. Just goes to show that this well and truly is a full time thing. I'm also currently applying for Masters / PhD programmes. It's kinda weird to think that these applications are determining not only where I'll be for the next 4 years of my life (probably), but who I'll be working with, what I'll be working on, etc.. But, at the same time, very exciting. Research and academia has always been something I've considered, and during summer, I really did realise it was something I would enjoy doing, and could see myself doing. Some have said to me it's a cheat way out, or that I'm just prolonging going into the "real world". But meh, I'm doing something which I enjoy, I'm good at and contributes to something productive - what more could you want?