JoshC.

Slap my wrist for double posting, but here's a couple pictures of Scorpion Express, courtesy of Chessington Buzz (who, naturally, are making a big thing out of being THE FIRST PUBLIC RIDERS OMG)... And this one comes from Theme Park Guide... Looks good to be fair, but the main centrepiece of the attraction (ie - the scorpion) looks very meh. Shame.

To satisfy your fetish... He looks chubbier now, so he reminds me off Prof. Burp a bit more now. He's also on the witness protection scheme after being the sole witness to the destruction of Chessington and, specifically, his Bubbleworks factory.

It's running now... Obviously a slight delay for the opening of a new ride. Looks alright; hard to tell from a couple of photos. Better than I was expecting at this stage though!

Very true. However, how many people actually really pay attention to the backs of theme park maps? (Serious question there; I have no idea. But I wouldn't be surprised if people get a park map, open it up, look at the map, see the rides and think 'Well, that looks good, it's that way, let's go there'. Whenever you see anyone looking at a map, they're looking at the main image - ie: the map itself - not really paying attention to the reverse. As I say, I have no idea, but I think just a reasonably-sized image saying 'Angry Birds Land - Opens May!' would do no harm. There's no doubt it'll be heavily advertised on park and that, but, as I say, would do no harm).

But surely if you advertise it on the park map, going 'Angry Birds Land Opening May 2014' and drawing some attention to it, then it may serve as more of a reminder to people about it all. Though I do agree that it's a possibility they'll release an updated / different version of the map later in the season (probably around the time AB Land opens), depending on feedback... I get a feeling that, in general, we'll see Thorpe try lots of different things this season, and respond accordingly to guest feedback.

Nah, that's the Friday before.

One thing I've been a bit confused by with the new map is that all of the 5 major coaster appear quite equal. I'd have thought that Stealth would have stood out the most, especially in this style of map, since it's the icon coaster. I get that in the year of the new coaster and the year after, the new coaster is more of major focus and the 'icon' ride gets sidelined a little bit, but I find it interesting that there's a lot more equality between the coasters at the moment.

Look at what Thorpe's Marketing Director Jason has been tweeting... Linky - https://twitter.com/JasonPWills/status/444219006095208448 Oooooooh....

Having thought about it some more, and seeing a full-sized image, I do like the new map. It's fresh and easy on the eyes. However, I don't like the fact that the 5 big coasters are essentially made out to be the only worthwhile thing on the map; everything else feels very forgotten about and very 'meh'. It needs a bit more emphasis on the other rides (specifically the water rides I think; they seem to be quite a big for the park) and a bit more of soul and life thrown into it. But yes, I do like it, and it is a step in the right direction. Also, here's what I assume is the reserve side: Saucey - http://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/13-03-2014/New-Brand-Unveiled

Tweeted by the park's Marketing Director. Nice promo image as well!

It looks like it's replaced The Showcase; the small enclosed area which houses The Asylum entrance during FN.

A cinema with Fastrack is still pretty dodgy to me; how long are we meant to wait for the film?! And yes, dodgems as well will be something I want to...dodge when it's busy and Fastrack is available for the ride...

Rush is a thrill ride and has a 1.3m restriction. But yes, Inferno has regulalrly been said to have a 115ft maximum height since being built. Here's a nice little info-graphic from the park:

It's an improvement, which is nice. However, I have two issues with the map: -Things are missing. When you don't have graphics showing your rides (like Quantum, Rocky Express), you lose the point of the map. It's meant to give you a visual representation! Other rides, like Rush and Slammer, feel swept under the carpet too. -Where's the soul? At the moment, I'm seeing 'We have 5 amazing coasters!' and 'we have other rides'. The old map had quirkiness at least. It just feels so corporate to me. It needs some life chucked in. As I say, it's an improvement, but it's like in fixing some poor features of the old map, they've created new ones. Lose-lose really

Not updated on the Android app yet, so I can't really judge the map on a dodgy grainy image. Seems more suited to the new brand, but I'm not entirely sure at the moment. And EC!, by the looks of it, the colours of the rides aren't going to be wholly representative of what they are in real life...

One more suggestion from me about this ( ): After a while, there'll be members with loads of awards, which could end up cluttering the signatures a bit at the bottom. Is there any way to have coloured medals, so say if you've attended 5 meets, instead of having, for example, 5 silver medals, you have 1 gold medal? Then 6 means you have 1 gold, 1 silver, etc. Not sure if that's even something which is possible / already in place, but think it'd be quite cool if that could / is happening!

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with 'ugly Smiler queue line extension'... Photo from Tatenhill Aviation

^That was my original thought and I was somewhat sceptical about it. However, it could be a continuation of the small performances that happened last year, where lesser-known artists / comedians / etc. are showcased as well. Or even a mix of that and Be Discovered. Could be quite nice!

http://thorpepark.com/shark-hotel/ 'THORPE PARK Resort Live!' is going to be happening as well...

I think, if you want to award post counts, it should be 100, 250, 500, 1000 and either stop there, or carry on in thousands from that point. I think they're pretty respectable milestones and there's enough 'lower ones' to encourage part-timers to post more regularly, whilst stopping continued spam. I like everything else, all seems pretty fine to me. The only other one I would suggested is an award for having a particularly highly liked post (maybe 5 likes and 10 likes?). It shows you've made a good-quality post that people have enjoyed, so could encourage more good quality posts. Also, it's more of an 'award', something you've achieved, as opposed to an achievement you can kinda 'unlock', if that makes sense? Just an idea.

That stunt show

I like the idea of an Awards Bar, but remain somewhat sceptical about ones relating to user posts, as it could lead to people nonsense-posting 'just to get the award'. Could work either way, as it is nice to show people who are being dedicated to the forum, but at the same time, could go the wrong way.

^I'm sure 25 fanboys on park will increase the busyness of the park dramatically...

Double post alert! Press Release about this all http://thorpepark.com/press/releases/2014/06-03-2014-HHD-THORPE-PARK.doc (Opens as a Word Document) Really trying to push the whole 'Something to do for the under 1.4m too'

I'd much rather a ride where you can vary the ride experience and is just sheer fun than a bog-standard, fairground ride, which offers the same experience every time, and would essentially be a step backwards for the park, considering they got rid of a Twister-like ride 10 years ago. Unlike a dodgems ride, it would be a needless addition. Plus, I doubt there's enough room for a Twister and associated queue line in that space. KEEP THE TEACUPS!!