JoshC.

Keen.

Costumed character alert! From Thorpe's Twitter account.

http://www.scruffydogltd.com/sharks-sighted-thorpe-park/ Article on Scruffy Dog's (the makers of the shark) website about the shark. It really is coming together nicely, and I think that once it's finished, it will look really striking and be exactly what the park are aiming for. By the sounds of it, it won't be completed by the end of the month (which is a shame, since Thorpe said that the feature would be finished in May), but I guess a couple of extra weeks in the short term will do good in the long run.

No idea to be honest. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking the limit is either 6 or 10 guests (no idea why though ). Best thing to do would to be to ask Merlin.

From here: http://www.merlinannualpass.co.uk/perks.aspx Looks like the cheapest way is to book through the perk, since an adult ticket when booked online for Thorpe is about £24.99. Since most guests won't have a MAP, it makes sense for the park to advertise that the "cheapest" tickets are from the main online booking.

Following the persuasion from some members, and the fact that the poll station was on my way home from the bus stop, I voted today. Well, 'voted' - one spoilt ballot.

I imagine the 'retheme' will consist of new signage and new audio, and nothing else. Considering that, I guess they decided to not close it for any period of time. Shame, as it would have been nice to see more theming in the area. But I guess there's still a case of 'waiting and seeing'

Unfortunately, this time at least, I just can't be bothered to actually go down and all that. It is something I've considered doing though!

^I just quickly took that quiz. Says I most side with the Scottish Nationals, despite the fact that I don't think Scotland should become independent... On a serious note, I'm exercising my right to vote by not voting. At home, I live in a very Conservative-strong area and, unfortunately, I'm somewhat anti-Tory. Even the European Elections will led to so, so many Tory voters. In fact, it's so Conservative-strong, I just don't see the point in adding my vote. Any difference my vote would make would likely end up being superficial anyway, so I just don't see the point. Whatever happens, it's not like me voting or not voting makes a difference, so may as well just let time past until we're in an anarcho-communist situation. Then I'd be happy.

Sidders showing his true UKIP ways?

Go here: http://planning.runnymede.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/GeneralSearch.aspx In the Site Address, search 'Thorpe Park' (Okay, sometimes linking the result it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's worth a try). You get taken HERE The first few (at time of writing, 5) applications are ones that are permanently there for some reason. After that, it goes in date order, with the most recent ones being displayed first.

Morals guys:

Actually want to build on this - if we compare the plans to real life, so far, everything that has been said to be in the plans has been included. It will probably come as little solace to those who moaned that the plans have been rubbish all along, but it's a good sign in my opinion. With Thorpe's projects in recent year, not everything from the plans has come to life. Stealth's grandstand queue, Fish's lack of scenery, Saw had more exterior theming around the building, Swarm had a car embedding in the church and more that I've probably forgotten about. Indeed, it's a general thing across the Merlin parks it seems. It's a good sign to see that everything they planned came to fruition, which would imply no budget cuts and everything went smoothly. Just something for everyone to bare in mind I think.

The Smiler sent me to marmalise you with 6 mind manipulations: -The Inoculator -The Tickler -The Flasher -The Giggler -The Hypnotiser and finally, the infamous, not-included-in-the-final ride: -THE BANNER.

Clearly Jason was a fan of not having lap bars on the Dodgems...

I'm worried that Jack's account may have been hacked... I thought Inferno was Jack's favourite ever coaster? Jack </3 Inferno.

Leamington Spa / Chertsey / Coventry (in order of the length of time I'll actually be there this year.. )

I think it would be depend on whether Mark's got a voucher for a renewal of a Pass, or a voucher for an entirely new one. If it's a voucher for an entirely new one, I think it's unlikely that he'll be able to get the time 'added on' because it would technically be a new pass, even if it's with the same details. Would be interesting to see what Merlin say though; I've been in the position once or twice where I had to cash in my MAP voucher from the January sale (when they had expiry dates) before my old MAP ran out, and I always assumed I wouldn't be able to get the couple of weeks extra chucked on the end.

So...I gave a revision lecture today to First Years! It was really nice as the stresses and strains of uni, and specifically revision, have been getting to me the past few weeks (and I mean REALLY getting to me). So to have something something different to do was very fun. It also worked out nicely since the module I went over is essentially background knowledge for one of the exams I'm doing in a few weeks time, so was nice to have that grounded in. Talking in front of 200 people (and making a fool of yourself by saying a question is easy then getting it wrong...) was strangely enjoyable! And now back to revision for my 5 remaining exams...

My guess would be it's an attempt to make it quirky and slightly different. Firstly, it's 'War has Evolved'. Evolved, not 3volved. It is an E turned 180 degrees. You can see from other letters used in the graffiti that they are capable of drawing curves. So it was a '3', it would be drawn like one. It's quite like it's an upside down E and not a 3. Sorry to be pedantic, but it's one of those really annoying niggles that just grates me a little bit Anyways, that I can imagine is done to make things stand out a bit more. With Swarm, and specifically the billboard, there's a lot to take in. By seeing a single letter not in the right direction, it draws you to it a bit more. It adds a very small amount of quirkiness to it. It was certainly the first detail I noticed on the billboard when I saw it for the first time in real life, and it made me smile. The Angry Birds graffiti is different, due to it being less subtle. Just going to throw this out there - maybe it was a Rovio decision. Maybe they said they wanted the pigs to have scrawled graffiti and make it seem like they can't spell? Maybe it's a way of wanting to hate the pigs more, because they are just so annoying. Maybe it is just s style thing because Thorpe have found out younger children like this sort of thing? I dunno, but there's plenty of valid reasons Thorpe could have done this. I'm not a fan of it, but - to go for the old cliché - there'll be method in the madness. I do think a comparison between this and Swarm's graffiti isn't really valid, and to say how this "is testament to how poor every new investment is becoming" is just, in my opinion, not fair.

You can tell there's been thought as to making it feel quirky and funny, but at the moment, it seems like something that sounded good on paper but hasn't worked in reality. Will wait and see, as more could be added / it could fit in well with the film. At this stage, it's by least favourite part of the area though..

Is going to be riding Banix at Liseberg soon!

The boat thing was a joke by the way I agree about the IP being a big issue. It definitely not as popular as it used to be for a variety of reasons (other games coming through, saturation of the market, etc.), so I think a lot of people are focusing on that. I'm still a bit wary of the choice, but I reckon that since we've got an Angry Birds film coming in 2016, the brand isn't dead yet and we could well see a new surge in popularity of the IP soon. Some of the IP choices Merlin have gone for recently have been a bit weird, but I think that Thorpe made wise choices with their IPs (Saw is a very defining franchise in horror films and I think all the Fright Nights IPs were good calls). Angry Birds is more a 'We'll have to wait and see' in my opinion. The Merlin debate is an interesting one, and I think some questions of how they spend their money should be raised. From an enthusiast perspective, I don't want to let Merlin's sometimes unusual ways of dealing with money affect my view of some of their rides. Perhaps crudely, knowing the budgets of things, I think to myself 'Well, given they had this much to work with, they've done well / not well / whatever is appropriate'. Of course, from a non-enthusiast perspective, it's a completely different ball game. However, in the eyes of the park, when they are still shifting between markets, maybe as long as non-enthusiasts who are in the family market are at least happy with the park, then they're on the right track. Baby steps, I guess.

Just as a bit of a reverse to this - how are parks meant to know how to improve when some people blindly attack them over everything? Not accusing anyone of course, as this is a general point, but some people do it. Angry Birds Land isn't perfect, but I do think some people are being unnecessarily critical of the area, simply because they don't like the idea. Oh, and didn't you moan about the boat link between the Thorpe Hotel and main park?