JoshC.

I must have been lucky with Rush and unlucky with Slammer then!

Rush opened in June-time I think and Slammer opened for the start of the season, if I remember correctly.

Did you miss the part where Slammer seemed to be closing down a lot of the time when it first opened? I didn't get on Slammer until late-May in 2005 (well, around then) and I was going quite regularly from opening! On the other hand, I got on Rush very quickly after it opened. Rush was temperamental, yes, and had it's fair share of troubles, but Slammer's reliability hasn't been great from the start.

Never knew it had two different programs! Always seen it do 3 cycles both ways; never 2. Well, at least Thorpe pretty much always run it on the longer cycle. [/ThinkingPositive]

It's a fair point you make; I do agree with you to a certain extent. The thing is, the everyday customer won't know there's a plan for a proper hotel. In their eyes, it's Thorpe's hotel at the moment. It's not exactly an ideal situation for them, and one which no one wants to see really.

I don't see why you can't mention Ben Dowson's name on here (at least, I assume that's who you are referring to?). He was relatively open on his Twitter account about his involvement in Smiler.

What would you class as a 'capacity dream' for a flat ride, just outta interest? Given how long the ride cycle takes (especially the going up and down), I doubt that it's maximum theoretical throughput can reach above 600. I wouldn't call that a capacity dream for a flat ride. I wouldn't call it THAT popular either. I think I've only ever seen Slammer have a queue of over an hour once or twice since it opened. Considering it was probably barely reaching 500pph, it's not exactly the most popular ride out there from that perspective.

I don't think any of us know the exact reasons why Thorpe haven't gotten round to building the 'proper' hotel yet. They've got the approval, and they've tweaked the plans on occasions. We can speculate (costs, Thorpe having a bad year, etc.) but don't know why exactly. I don't think it's really fair for us to judge why Thorpe have gone for shipping containers over a proper hotel at the moment considering we don't have a clue what's happening behind the scenes!

Because, hopefully, Merlin's wallet will eventually have a bigger say than their fetish for wanting world firsts / world onlys. (Now there's a sentence I didn't think I'd ever say!)

Never get people's obsessions with wanting to replace Detonator with a different drop tower to be honest. It's a good drop tower and, form what I've heard, packs more of a punch than most others out there... As for the next coaster, it can potentially have a maximum height of 164ft.

I'm not really a betting man and have no idea about horse racing, but usually take an interest in the Grand National. Won't be betting this year, but if I was, it'd be on Double Seven... (Obviously haven't just chosen the first coolish looking name I saw that had okay odds)

I totally agree with you about the lack of coherent story. What always gets me is how (if you're in the second car), Billy tells us 'This is what happens if you lose...' when you leave. Yet, at the end of the ride, we're told we've survived. It doesn't make sense, and it is a real shame (waits for some ironic comment saying that the Saw films don't make sense, but I'd disagree with that ). It's a real shame; they had such a good opportunity to create a good story, but they didn't. It's also a shame about the lack of soundtrack too; it's one of the key things you associate with Saw. I think it would have been perfect as a background noise in the building; both in the queue and the ride itself. I also forgot about this; actually can't remember the last time I heard it! Hopefully it can make a return... I don't know what they would have or have not considering to be honest. But, of course, they wanted the riders to remember they're in the Saw environment, so it makes sense to have a nice little touch to end the ride. It doesn't mean they can get away with cheap effects. What they have is a small addition which keeps in line with the films, and the gist of it is well known enough outside the films in such a way that if you haven't seen the films, you can see why it relates. Of course I think the experience was analysed so that people who haven't seen the films are kept happy - this ride is suitable for anyone over 12 apparently! The designers no doubt wanted to make sure there was actual things from the films so you see this was 'Saw - The Ride' and not 'The imitation of Saw ride'. I don't think it's a coincidence, either, that most of the traps that come from the film relate to the first film - in fact, the only that isn't is the actual Rack Trap from Saw 3. They only took things from the most iconic and likely-most seen Saw film so that there's a greater chance that more people can relate to it. Then, everything else is generic 'Oh, this can kill you if this was real'. It is indeed an ideal situation to be in that riders are receptive to everything around them. However, that isn't just a trouble for Saw, it's a trouble for all coasters! However, just because not every rider is receptive to their surrounds and pays attention to everything, it doesn't mean everything has to been shoved in your face. There should be things which are subtle, or even just less obvious. Yes, it means people will miss some things, but their experience on the whole is still going to be good. For the 'ideal rider', or even just a rider that is really into the ride, the ending is fine. In your last experience, I'm guessing your average riders were who were in your car, maybe one other car as well? You can't really base a view on a couple of cars. I still think that, overall, the average riders are going to be people who haven't ridden Saw many times, if at all, have maybe seen one or two Saw films and, given the audience of the ride, going to be teens / young adults who are looking forward to the ride.

Yeah, I get what you mean. Just don't think it's right to call it a kid's park.

My point was, you're making it sound awful. Just like saying Smiler's ride ending is just 'A bit of blurry writing on the wall followed by a corridor with some projectors in it'. That makes it sound rubbish, when it's actually clever. Likewise, if you say Saw's ending is 'A puppet that gets lit up with a bit of audio, followed by walking down a staircase', you're making it sound naff. As for not being able to hear it...Well, when the timings work properly, you hear it fine. Granted, the timings aren't always perfect - and why that is, who knows - but when it does work, which is quite a lot of the time, it's fine really. As for seeing it from a guest's point of view, that's exactly what I am doing! In fact, I'd say you're the one who is not! Your average guest is probably riding Saw for one if the first times ever. They may have watched the first Saw film, or at least know the gist of it. They might not have been to many parks (they may not be aware of 'a theme park world outside the UK'). For that sort of guest, see it from their view - they've just been whipped round a final inversion, and then crawled into the station to, hopefully, been told they've survived. I don't see how that's not effective to your everyday guest really? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the ending is perfect or the best thing since sliced bread. However, it does the job in my eyes; which is a start at least.

Nope, Chessington is a family park, not a kid's park. Big difference.

Being at the John Wardley talk on Sunday, I think it'll be easier for you to see where I'm coming from with this post... With Saw's station not on ground level, we have the memorable ending to be the final inversion. We don't have an low-key, dullish ending to the ride; we finish we a finale which is suited to the ride - an inversion which is intense and fast-paced. The car then quickly arrives into the station, and you're given the 'Congratulations' speech. When you get into the station, you're still reeling from the ride itself really. You're surprised and still trying to comprehend everything. The Billy puppet lighting up and congratulating is simple, yet oh so effective (and works very well with those who have seen the films - especially the first one). If you look at it as 'Oh, the ending is just a puppet that gets lit up when a piece of audio is triggered', then of course it sounds rubbish. Accompany it with what's just preceding it, then it is a very fitting and memorable finale in my eyes.

Don't believe everything a staff member tells you. Granted, it's more than likely the next coaster will end up on that island behind Swarm and an engineer is a more trustworthy member of staff than, say, someone in F&B, just don't take everything staff say on future projects as 100% accurate!

Assuming he was there all day; about 8.5 rides an hour (9:30am-6pm. Thorpe doesn't close at 5 on weekends!)

Plans for the Shark have come online! http://planning.runnymede.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=188130&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Runnymede_AA/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Runnymede_AA/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING TPM article - http://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/03-04-2014/Shark-Feature-Planning-Application I love how similar it is to the concept art! It looks great and, especially based on the model, this is exactly what I was wanting and expecting from this. Really does look fab!

Not really. With the photo you posted, that clearly relates to the Saw films (for those who have seen it, of course). You can't say that it relates to anything else really; well, in my opinion at least. The photo I posted is arguably related to the Saw films - I guess you could say the monitors and that relate to Saw 2 when the police are in Jigsaw's Lair? - but none of it screams 'Look, I'm from the Saw films' to me. The point I'm trying to make is, there's very little that does indeed scream 'Look at me, I'm from the Saw films!'. The Billy puppet, catchphrases, Jigsaw's head in the exit walkway, the trap plans, Rack Trap, Barbed Wire Trap and Bathroom trap are, in my opinion, the only things that do scream that (and shotgun trap as well I guess, could go either way on that one though). Even though that seems a lot, take them away, and you still have pretty much the same ride, with generic theming, bar a couple of neat little touches which could easily be replaced by other generic-like things.

Yep, that's not generic, and does indeed relate to Saw. However, that's a very subtle point within the station area, isn't it. It's great that such subtle pieces of theming exists, but it's a shame that some of the other bigger pieces are very much generic. For example, this can relate to anything... From TTP.

Think you're thinking about Saw 7 for the spikes, which was released in 2010. So either that's a lot of good work between Thorpe and Lionsgate or sheer coincidence! (In Saw 3, he's in a wooden crate and just has to crack it open.) As for the crossbow/needle thing, I swear you can hear crossbows being fired as well. Yes, you have the 'pss' noises, which is made by the air, but I'm sure there's also woosh noises as well, which I think to be crossbows, hence my confusion. I could just be imagining things though I guess...

Jeez, Jack's back! Done the poll.

I've seen price of staying in the Shark Hotel knocked about a few times. So, I've done a little experiment. You're a family of 4 - 2 adults, 2 children (1 teen, 1 9 year old, say) and you want to go to Thorpe for the first time ever for a couple of days and stay at a hotel for the night. I choose a random date, so - arrive on Friday 30th May, leave the day after. Here's what the prices will look like: Shark Hotel Total cost: £273. Includes: Family room, park tickets for both days, breakfast, ERT in the morning; access to the Dome in the evening. Chertsey Travelodge Cost of hotel: £37 Cost of 2-day tickets (if booked online in advance): £30.99 for the adults - including the teen - and £28.99 for the 10 year old. So, cost of tickets in total, £121.96 Cost of travel: If you go by car, you're paying £5 each day for parking, plus petrol. If not, bus tickets from Chertsey strangely vary an awful lot. A return varies between £3 and £4.50 for an adult(?!) and about half price for anyone under 20. Again, as I say, this varies a lot. So, if you bus it, it *should* cost a minimum £18 in total for 2 days worth of returns. You could get a taxi for probably £5-6 each way. Or, you could walk about 30-40mins for free. Total cost: £168.96 Includes: Family room, park entry. Baring in mind that, if you stay at Travelodge, you need to get dinner and breakfast. Say you get both of these in Chertsey, it's not going to be the cheapest thing ever (I wouldn't be surprised if prices are hiked up in some nearby places when the hotel opens in a couple weeks too). I've no idea how much it would end up costing, but at a guesstimate, if you went to one of the many Indians in Chertsey, you'd be spending a good £30-£40 on the family, and going to the nearby Chertsey Cafe for breakfast would end up costing a good £15-£20. So, if you do the sums and are savvy, you can see that the Shark Hotel does end up a bit more expensive than staying at the nearest Travelodge. However, what you have to bare in mind is the things you're getting with the Shark Hotel that you're not getting with the Travelodge. The first thing which springs to my mind is ease. No faffing between going to the park and a nearby hotel, breakfast sorted, you know where to go for dinner, ERT in the morning, etc. Another thing is the location - I'm willing to bet my bottom dollar more people would love to wake up, look out their window, and either overlook a lake or a theme park, as opposed to a naff gym, a set of offices or an accountancy firm... Plus you get to walk through a Shark at Thorpe. In Chertsey, you'll get to walk through a cloud of smoke. Okay, so the Shark Hotel might be a bit small, and a bit more pricey, but from where I'm standing, if I lived far away and had a choice between Thorpe or Travelodge, then I'd be shark bait for Thorpe.

Would just like everyone to bare in mind during this post, I DO quite like Saw... Everything I've put in bold does indeed relate to the films, as you rightly explain. Though, if one wants to be facetious: -There was only one pendulum blade in Saw 5, as opposed to the two shown on the ride. -A board of spikes doesn't relate to the films exactly - I certainly don't recall a trap like that. -The indoor MCBR has always confused me. If it's needles, they why on earth are their crossbow noises being fired when you go across?! However, everything in bold IS also generic. To anyone who hasn't seen the films, they won't be confused, they'll just think generic 'look at these things which could potentially kill me if all this was real'. The only relevant Saw theming, and the only theming which I reckon would actually need to be removed if the Saw/Lionsgate contract ends, is the Rack Trap in the queue line, anything with Billy on and slogans like 'Face Your Fears'. I remain unsure about the barbed wire maze in the queue and the bathroom trap under the first inversion to be honest; whilst they DO relate to the films, you could quite easily keep them / tweak them slightly. Even the shotgun could be kept; it's all very generic. It's one thing I really dislike about the ride in general. There's actually very little Saw in there; especially the big pieces. Even if a lot of it can be related to the films / Saw universe, very little of it is unique to Saw, which is what people are trying to get at, from what I can see.