JoshC.

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?

I too dislike Big Bang Theory (which surprises many people for some reason). I just don't find it funny and don't see why people like it so much!

Christmas shouldn't be a thing till December to be honest. I'll see you all in this thread in 3 and a half weeks time!

It's a bit of a weird one I guess. Here's a closer-look at The Cult: http://instagram.com/p/u_36_CuQdy/ The Night Terrors were more like the person on the far right of this photo:

This is the loop they use for the Studio 13 queue: (Yeah, it's music from the MBV film, but funnily enough, it's the music they use for the motel scene ) Not sure on any of the other tracks as I think they're all original mixes. Could be wrong there though!

The Cult are the people dressed in red robes. The 'Night Terror' are those with the black and white painted faces. From what I heard, they were two separate groups of roaming actors during the event.

The park is usually dead at this time of the season (quite possibly the quietest time of the season). I don't think closing an hour earlier will make much difference to anyone's day (even if it's a bit of a shame).

Well, in theory at least!

It could easily be shifted to another location, but - if we're being honest to ourselves - is it worth it? It's a carousel, a ride designed to be enjoyed by families with very young children. Thorpe aren't marketing towards families with young children (and indeed, less and less are going now because of how Thorpe have marketed themselves for the past few years), and the ride is just less and less popular. It makes sense to get rid of it really; sentimental value is the only reason I can see to keep it. We're not talking about attractions like The Flying Fish, CCR or Time Voyagers, attractions which everyone could enjoy, even if they were designed for the younger market. We're talking about an attraction which is essentially just for the younger market and, unfortunately, has no place in the Thorpe Park of tomorrow.

Make me a maybe. Got a few things planned next year and money will probably be my limiting factor for this. So we shall see.

No doubt this will be the closed season discussion for many years to come, after we get our Top Spin and Colossus gets repainted.

Don't think anyone's posted it yet, but Thorpe have officially confirmed that the Carousel is just being removed, and not moved elsewhere - http://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/03-11-2014/Resort-confirm-Carousel-Closure It's a shame to see it go, especially given how many nods to the past it has, but I don't think it's really worth keeping it. It hasn't fit in with the park for years and even the new family market is for families with older children; a carousel just doesn't fit in with it at all.

I think a potential difference between this and Maus is the ride system though. Maus is a shooting dark ride and presumably is marketed like that. If this ride isn't a shooter, and the park do successfully keep what's in the building a genuine secret, they're going to have sell the story first and foremost. Using an IP makes it a lot easier to sell the story, and thus bringing in more crowds. An original concept is still possible of course, but it just makes it more difficult to get that instant success. And given Merlin's short-sightedness about wanting instant return and success, and the fact that this is a major new attraction, they're gonna want to minimise risks. I'm not necessarily agreeing with the idea that IP is the best way to go by the way, but can see why they're exploring that route.

I don't see how you can say that when we haven't heard what the budget is yet though?

The Haunted Castle 2014 So, realised today was the last day of Warwick Castle's Halloween event, so decided to pop down to it and try out a couple of their Halloween attractions. Went to their Halloween event in 2012 (was unfortunately too busy to go last year), and did enjoy it, so was hoping for more of the same today. It was a very quick visit (literally, a couple of hours to try out two Halloween attractions), so no Castle Dungeons this time; hopefully the next time I'll go I'll actually try it out. Anyways... The Haunted Hollows - The Skeleton Ball Despite being only 2/5 pumpkins on my last visit, I really enjoyed this. A nice bit of fun aimed at kids, but the actors were clever enough to be able to interact with older audiences well. This year, the attraction was slightly different, with a new entrance where you can choose to go through a 'treat' door or a 'trick' door. Nothing special, but a clever little interactive touch. The attraction is an outdoor walkthrough, with lots of theming to create loads of different pathways (and one or two dead ends). Unlike in 2012, there weren't any actors within the attraction itself (maybe it was a bit too scary for kids?), but this was fine. At the end, there was a couple of actors greeting you to the 'Skeleton Ball', and a nice projection of dancing skeletons was shown. So yeah, nice little attraction which suits the audience well. However, one thing which I absolutely hated was the fact that there's a photo point MID WAY through the maze. You're forced to have your photo taken in front of a green screen as well; not like there's anything fun to it. Horrible horrible idea and just absolutely unnecessary. Blackout The 5/5 rated attraction - the big one. Blackout completes a trilogy of scare attractions: 'The Curse of Mary Black' in 2012 and 'The Revenge of Henry Black' in 2013. The Mary Black attraction revolved around a servant who was murdered in the house part of the Castle 100 years ago, having her mouth sewn up and eyes gouged out in the process. Mary's ghost still inhabited the house, and possessed someone, murdering several people in the process, and the public was taken to investigate, ending with us trying to perform a seance to rid Mary. The Henry Black attraction was to do with Mary's husband shortly after she was murdered, and how he wants revenge for what was done to Mary. From what I can gather, the attraction ended with Henry trying to burn the house down, but only managing to murder himself. Fastforward to Blackout, and we have two spirits inhabiting the house, and we need to complete the seance to rid them from the house. From what I heard, the Henry Black attraction was similar to the Mary Black one, using essentially the same route, same tricks and so forth. So, I expected much of the same for Blackout. How wrong I was... Much smaller groups (8-10 instead of 20-24) and lots more actors (4 when I went in 2012, at least 8 tonight). A longer route (starting in a different place) and no silly tricks like planted actors. The attractions is extremely dark - like literally pitch black all the time, bar the occasional light flicker controlled by the actors. The theming is still very good though; they're worked very well with the surroundings they've got! A great usage of the lack of light was the numerous life-size dolls dotted around the place, making you question if they were actors or not. Also, there were a couple of times when people saw others in the group, and jumped thinking they were actors. Very clever. I won't go into details about the attraction itself, but basically it starts of with us being told darkness is our friend, and light is our enemy, as we can only be harmed if they can see us. Pretty nice twist on the idea that darkness is scary. It ends with the seance seemingly finally completed, though I'm sure I heard a voiceover saying "It's still in the house..." Leaves me wondering - will there be a Black Part IV? Couple of things annoyed me though. One actor laughed during one scene, because of how another actors shouted whilst trying to scare someone. Lack of professionalism there really, and that did ruin the scene quite a bit. I know actors are only human and it's the last night, but if you can't control yourself in a serious situation like that, is acting the best role for you? Also, before the maze there was a photo point (again, in front of a green screen). After the maze, the photos were already printed out (yes, they printed out two copies, with different backgrounds), given to you, and then you're "You can take one home for £7, or two for £10". Seriously? That is just pure money grabbing and it just feels so cheap and awful. In a weird way, it feels bad to give the photo back and say no thanks; I wonder if some people almost feel obliged to buy the photos when they've been given to them? Seriously hope they stop doing it here and that it doesn't expand to any other Merlin places. Anyway, I don't want to leave this on a bad note, as the attractions are good fun and, for the most part, well executed. Hope that they can continue to expand and make the event as popular and successful as possible.

This is me with a skeleton at Warwick Castle. I think he felt sad for me since I had a body to go to the Skeleton Ball with.

One of the reasons they've gone for another 'dilapidated / abandoned warehouse' look is because it 'fits in with other looks across the park', according to the plans!