JoshC.

"Catch the Mouse" is it?

*Awaits an angry pluk to give a link to the Health and Safety thread and explain the lack of three trains isn't H&S-related*

That's a fair point; unless it's going to take a long time to clear (for reasons we may not know), though that seems unlikely. The more I think about it, the more it would be a good space for something for Fright Nights; like maybe for the overnight experience or something. I guess there's nothing stopping it from being used for both Fright Nights and a future development too! EDIT: This is something I've always wondered. I'm pretty certain it can't be kept wholly secret, so if someone contacted the council's planning office directly and enquire, then the council would have to allow them access to it. Also, people within a certain radius would be informed, and usually sent all the details. But there might be a way for them to ask that it's not put online!

I hate adding fuel to the fire, but... A lot of the previous investments haven't required many (if any) trees to be taken down. ABL, Storm Surge, Stealth and Rush all replaced rides/sideshows that were in operation, so the work on those areas would naturally be left as late as possible. Swarm, Saw, Saw Alive and Flying Fish were all on infilled land, and didn't need any trees to be taken down. So really, the last time Thorpe had to clear a tree-area for a ride was for Slammer, and that started quite early (which I guess was more for flattening out land?). All I'm trying to say is in the past, there's been little need for Thorpe to start work like this for a new attraction. So, I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that this removal is for a permanent future development. What that development is and when it arrives, however, is sheer speculation and rumours, and there's nothing concrete we can say about that.

This was tweeted Southampton University's SU and retweeted by Thorpe Park. Linky - https://twitter.com/YourSUSU/status/515447375553654784/photo/1 Could this be one of the 13 roaming actors?! And could we see 12 others crop up around 12 different places? Would be a different way to marketing FN, and could be effective!

If a ride is on a reduced capacity, then there will be less Fastrack tickets sold. It is rubbish to suggest they'll sell more Fastrack tickets, or indeed encourage more people to buy them, when a ride isn't running at it's full capability...

I doubt Vortex could be modified to go 360 degrees over. Or, if it could, it would take so much modification it would be easier top just straight out replace it!

Just want to make it clear, I'm certainly not defending Thorpe over this! I can understand the park sometimes running coasters on one train, or that there's times when one train operation is necessary for a short period of the day, but doing it on a regular basis is silly, especially when they're aiming to make off peak days busier and improve guest experience on the whole. It's simply a case that I think comparing how Thorpe operate their coasters to the likes of Europa or Cedar point is a bit unfair, given the differences in the places. Admittedly though, it doesn't really take away from the point, so I guess it doesn't matter that much anyway! But given that Alton can do it, Chessington can do it and every decent park all over the world can do it, why can't Thorpe? There's clearly something up, and I just hope that they can sort it out...

http://www.gardaland2015.it/en/operation-orange/the-spiral-experiment Another video, 'The Spiral Experiment', is online. Seems to be the beginning of a new chapter too. Very nice and slow build up; fingers crossed that it all ties together nicely!

I think the idea behind that one was it being 18 years after Inferno's opening, much like how Sub Terra was 18 years after Nemesis' opening. Y'know, because of the long-standing joke about the parallels and whatnot..

I get what you're saying. However, I think to compare the operations to parks that are much busier, or that are run independently is still a bit unfair. It makes it too black and white, when there's a variety of colours to consider. That's why I think it's fairer to compare the operations to other Merlin parks, as that's the best way to make the comparisons. Even then though, I agree that Thorpe and their one trains seem a lot worse than the other Merlin parks. It's surely something Thorpe will want to tackle though - given that they're trying things like Reserve n Ride, it's obvious they're trying to get people to spend less time in the queues (so guests can enjoy their day more and spend more money in the shops and all that). One train operation doesn't help achieve that. That's why I'm thinking it's perhaps something to do with engineering (not enough staff / budget / whatever) which is restricting them, as opposed to them not caring enough (which seems less likely given what they've been doing this year).

I'm pretty certain that all the trees on the Fungle spot can be removed - there's a second set of trees past the service road (so around Monk's Walk; which Thorpe don't own as you say) which I think are taller and hence block the view. The MTDP also stated plans for a 'Staff entertainment building' behind the site, so a plan of a building there isn't wholly new. There's enough space for the park to build a dark ride in the MHFS and surrounding area if they're clever. (Image from TTP) Yes, achieving planning permission would be extremely difficult, but not impossible, especially if they stay within the constraints of the MTDP about floorspace, building heights and so forth.

^^Comparing Thorpe's operations to the likes of Europa and Cedar Point seems a bit unfair in my opinion. Yes, they have great operations, but they are very different parks to Thorpe run in a different style of company. The comparison to Towers though is spot on. It certainly seems like Thorpe need more engineers and/or a bigger engineering budget, taking into consideration Fish's early closure. 1 train operations shouldn't be happening at a park like Thorpe, which is one of the most popular in the UK and rarely has very quiet days. Or maybe there needs to be a slight change in philosophy: a 15 minute queue with one train on an off peak is not good enough - especially since a 15 minute queue on one train feels a lot longer than a 15 minute queue with two trains. Whatever it is that's making one train operation a regularity, Thorpe/Merlin need to sort it out. I can understand the reasons behind it happening sometimes, but not all the time..

Topic resurrection much. Well this thread seems to be about creative things and the like, and cooking is creative, so I present to you my latest creations... It's a lemon drizzle cake, cut into chunks and piled on top of one another, on a crushed-Oreo base. There's then fingers made out of marzipan, with almond fingernails for good measure, coming out grabbing the cake. It's a practice run for a Halloween cake I'm planning. The fingers are meant to represent a zombie-hand coming out of dirt (the chocolate), which will make more sense with the Halloween cake. That cake will probably be a special chocolate cake, but that'll require some thought and practice.. I'm planning on doing a 3 course meal for Halloween, with eyeball soup and 'brains' being potential other courses; with the dessert being the cake of course. Looking forward to experimenting and trying it all out a bit more..

Depends on what the dark ride is I guess. They could make the building quite tall and wide, and then that has some interesting possibilities. If they really wanted to, they could even extend it as far as the Burger King in Canada Creek and the mini arcade there, making it very wide. There's plenty of room for it in other words, and it's far enough away from the lake to be a considered spot..

Like Benin, prefer it when it was plain frame work. Still, looks nice. Though it is a bit of a shame that (based on last year at least), that this is the best maze entrance we have - more of the same please Thorpe!

They only claimed that they've heard plans about it earlier in the year. Plans can change and it may not end up happening; who knows. Not saying that won't happen, but until something more official is said, it's just a rumour in my eyes.

^There have been rumours flying about that Neptune's Beach may be getting some work done it, but nothing's confirmed as of yet.

Happy birthday Jason!

Love it. It's simple, keeps with the theme of the maze and is striking at the same time. Interested to see what else they do here - a couple of spinning spotlights, maybe a camera or two and the occasional blood splat would keep the simplicity, but do really well at setting the scene (if you'll pardon the pun!).

Just did this Quiz (since I'm not around at half 7 ) - was a fun little quiz with some cracking questions. Everyone should go do into Chat and do it; just sayin'

For those curious, the photo is from Thorpe Park's Instagram/iconosquare account - http://iconosquare.com/p/816667800420614617_460696151 I've noticed some 'fan pages' on Facebook and Twitter have posted it without giving the source though...

I won't not judge a maze from one photo whilst it's still in construction. However, that does look very nice - fingers crossed for plenty of scenes and a nice story!

I expect that the data for these results will do more than decide what sort of rides or attractions the park add in the future. Results will show what sort of demographic are willing to respond to surveys, to see if they've expanded their target market to more than just 16-24 year olds. They may not necessarily create an attraction from the popular choices, but may advertise when those shows are on, during the pre-film adverts at cinemas or in game boxes / in games themselves (which I think is now possible?). It will help the park see how we'll they're doing in expanding their target market and help them improve. They could also theme some events to shows. If X Factor / Britain's Got Talent proves popular, maybe the park will do another 'Be Discovered'-esque event like they did in 2006/2007. And the fact that they ask 'If Thorpe Park were to hold a festival...' suggests to me that a festival could well happen in the future, and if they know what's popular with the market, they can tailor it to the market. We're not going to see FIFA: The Ride any time soon. If we do, I'll eat my hat, and oldest, smelliest pair of socks to go with it. What this survey shows is that the park are planning on creating more events / extras, and they're trying to see what suits their newly-founded target market.