JoshC.

Do they? Where? The only time I've ever seen them compare themselves to Disney is when they say that they are "The second largest theme park operator in the world". So it's not even a direct comparison, they're literally just stating a fact about visitor numbers, and then people will think to themselves 'It's popular, so it must be good'. It's just words really. I still don't quite get the claims that this is "lazy", "unimaginative" or "dreadful" being made by people in general. As in, people's opinions are that's it's lazy, but they're not saying why... Maybe the choice of theme is lazy, and a quick appeal to families, but I wouldn't say the final product comes across as lazy. The metal plates on the walls are simple, and maybe they could have been positioned to look a bit more realistic, but I guess it's a game and cartoon - things aren't meant to be totally realistic. You've got to let there be a bit of make believe and stuff. I'm not a big fan of the signs, more could have been done there in my opinion (and, when you compare it to a lot of the other signs on park, they don't feel as good), which is a shame. Be interesting to see (well, hear) what the audio's like in an area - it can make or break it really! The budget is an interesting one, but I wouldn't say that Thorpe's only concern is the profit. That's a Merlin thing. Thorpe really want to focus on customer satisfaction this year, and no doubt there'll be some smaller changes along the season (for the entire park, not just this land) to reflect this. I'm not going to go with the old 'Well, it's not for you' or 'What would you have done?' comebacks either; those points have been argued to death enough times already! Whilst this isn't the peak of originality, the pinnacle of theming and a bit of an easy way to appeal to families, I don't think there's anything wrong with the area, and I wouldn't exactly call it lazy.

Towers Nerd are doing live updates for CBeebies Land today - http://live.towersnerd.com/ Have to say, looks like it's really good. I personally can't make comparisons between the old area and now as I never went in there, however it does seem to be good quality all in all. I wonder if it still has the 'soul' and 'life' in it though when you're in there (certainly looks like it, but you can't tell from a photo!)?

A small selection of photos from TPM's Facebook... Also, a photo from Thorpe's Twitter, which shows Thorpe Divisional Director seemingly doing a small opening ceremony... All in all, it looks good in my opinion. Yes, this isn't a thematic masterpiece that we'd see in the likes of Phantasialand, Disney, etc., but it looks and had a bit of humour to it. I bet younger kids will lap it up too, which is obviously the key point of the area. Can't wait to go down next month and try it all out. So, a promising attraction which I think shows that, with bigger budgets and bigger projects, we'll see grander things to come soon (and if there's a small ceremony for ABL, fingers crossed for bigger opening ceremonies with the big attractions, ey?)...

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.