JoshC.

I agree with waiting before passing off full judgement, but I think you're wrong there. I don't think anyone on here wants Chessie to fail; as pluk said, the reason people criticise the park is because they care and want what's best for it!

What can they do with Market Square though, for example? There's not exactly ample space to do anything special, is there? The most I expect them to be able to do is make the area look fresh. Change the look of things, make it feel different and new. But I genuinely cannot see a lot that they can do other than just make it a new version of what it was or making it more open. Would love to be pleasantly surprised though. As for other things - well, Scorpion Express (from what we've heard) isn't going to have the return of major rockwork, a major part of the Runaway Train. I don't blame anyone for being upset / annoyed at the park / Merlin for it. The blooming thing should have been looked after, then it wouldn't have needed this whole spruce up business. I don't care if Chessie didn't promise the return of the rocks or whatever; simply put, they shouldn't have needed to get rid of them. Unless they replaced the rockwork or pull something really special out the bag, I can guarantee the ride will be received with a disappointing reaction from many-a-enthusiast. Of course, we'll have to wait and see.

Pretty certain Premium passholders have to pay as well; I could be mistaken though! The price structure for Summer Nights seems a bit confused I must say. Maybe there's some extra things (maybe a performance in the arena?) or something similar whereby they're adding on an extra price? Could easily be a mistake though...

It'll most likely be replaced by trees, planters and hook-a-guest's-wallet-to-give-to-Merlin.

Doesn't Banshee look nice in the snow? *Image from Kings Island's Twitter*

Maybe the Mystery Member will be THORPE PARK?

It's kinda funny, when Saw opened, people praised the fact that it actually did look like an abandoned warehouse. 5 years on, and it's a struggle to see a couple of people like the idea at all...

*Inserts Mark's joke about last season's joke about potential flooding at Thorpe* http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/9916-thorpe-flooding Though considering it was one of Chertsey's worst floods since the 1950s (so much so that Chertsey bridge was closed for a while, for example), I too wouldn't be surprised if there was a bit of flooding around the park...

And if you want any more confirmation, Drayton just posted this: Lines up perfectly with what EC posted earlier. Hopefully this'll be open for my visit this summer!

The thing is, if the park were to retheme Asylum, they could essentially keep it exactly the same (route, colours, etc.), but just add in different scenes and change the name. It's not a lot required at all if they want to keep it simple. The amount of work done to it would suggest to me that they were planning on changing it, but the IP fell through at the last minute. What we've got to remember is that in 2012 Thorpe introduced The Passing, which was a 'new' maze (okay, new-ish, considering it was essentially Hellgate backwards, but you know what I mean) and did some changes to Experiment 10. Of course, neither of those mazes returned for 2013, so just because they did a lot of work Asylum for one year, doesn't mean they wouldn't be prepared to completely change it for the next year!

Regardless of the date chosen, I WILL be there!

Along with most of my love for the park as well...

Yay, this is all sorted now! Going to be doing a project in the area of Maths I find the most interesting and even if I'm unsuccessful with the application for the bursary, the Maths Department at uni will fund it for me! Win-win! (Only downside is I'll be spending 6-8 weeks of the Summer Holidays at uni, which means it's another 6-8 weeks I'm away from Thorpe. [/FanboyProblems] )

http://airgates.co.uk/2014/01/15/how-was-the-smilers-iconic-ride-music-created/ An interesting article where a couple of the people from IMAScore were interviewed about Smiler's music.

It's always been referred to as the P4D building since the film left. Just like X is still going to be called No Way Out.

Plans are online - http://planning.runnymede.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=186762&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 (Fingers crossed the link works, otherwise just go to http://planning.runnymede.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/GeneralSearch.aspx and type in 'Thorpe Park' as the address, it's the 6th one down). So, the dodgems replace the games area, with a new set of Loony Ladders and Battle Beam being placed in the area. The area has three entrances: one just past Tidal Wave's entrance, one just past Stealth's diner, and the other by the toilets near Inferno. The exit of the cinema will have some foilage planted I think, meaning that you don't exit the cinema and go back into Amity Cove, but go back to Angry Birds Land. Other things I've noticed: -Total value of project: £2.3 million. See here - http://62.254.5.209/AnitePublicDocs/00141837.pdf -The entrances to the areas will be about 7.5m tall. -In the application, Thorpe say that the "brand will not be released before launch". I wonder why the park changed their minds? -The dodgems will have a themed structure, with what looks to be the expected blocks and such, and will be a maximum of 5m tall. -There will be a queue line for the film, which will involve a modification of the old batching area. All looks pretty standard. For an area of that size, £2.3 million is a reasonable amount I guess. Will be interesting to see the quality of the theming and other things. Also, as there seems to be very little in the way of construction outside the on the route between Detonator and Inferno, I wonder if that route will be kept open, and closed closer to the time to add on final touches? After looking at the plans, and seeing exactly the area we're seeing spruced up, I think it's going to be a good investment. That whole area had very little life to it, so it's nice to see it getting attention. And, if people hate the idea, it's only really added attractions, so it's not going to affect the park in other way (you could pretty much spend an entire day at the park and only really walk down a path of the area and ignore all the Angry Birds stuff if you so wished). So I remain interested and hopeful! Also, on the first plan, there's a couple of other areas that are marked in red, mainly around Tidal Wave and Flying Fish. Usually areas marked in red are to be developed, so I wonder if there'll be other a couple of touch ups over there? Also, find it weird that - despite Swarm is shown on the plan - Storm Surge is not, and Saw Alive is on the car park side of the lake! EDIT: From this document here: http://62.254.5.209/AnitePublicDocs/00141833.pdf , it looks like Detonator will be kept with the same name, and the dodgems will be called 'Piggy Egg Dash'.

It's just water from the lake, isn't it? The exact same with Loggers Leap and Tidal Wave too. I assume it's filtered to some degree of course (and Tidal Wave's water is chlorinated too...)

Would just like to say thanks to TPM and AI for getting this organised. It's great to see things like this and I'm sure it'll be a great day. Unfortunately, I can't makd it due to the usual uni reason. Shame, as it would be a great offer for a first-timer, and lovely to meet up with people somewhere other than Thorpe. Till March it is...

No idea where to post this, but it's probably handy for some to know: http://www.thorpepark.com/prices/modal/annual-pass-opening-hours.aspx If people have ordered / going to order an AP online and are planning to collect it from Thorpe, the AP office is open again during certain times over the closed season, so you can collect it then if you wish.

I'm pretty sure the MTDP is only used as a guide to show the council where rides will be. They agree maximum heights, lengths of coasters, etc and I guess the plan is that only the possible locations are used. I think it works differently to Alton's GDO whereby they can build anything that fits within what they outline (which is why Smiler's plans only really needed the Marmaliser, buildings and high points of the ride to be shown I believe). The wording of the submitted document SCB posted in the other topic is a bit confusing though, as it says an application to waive certain conditions has been submitted and the "approach has been approved by Councillors". So who knows if we'll actually see an actual document for this? I expect we will, but it's all so hard to understand... Pretty certain the theatre could seat up to like 500 people at a time(?), and had shows every half hour back in its hey day. Queues would normally start about 10 minutes before the show started. I guess they could create a short queue inside the fenced area outside the entrance, but it may not be necessary I guess. Will be interesting to see how frequent the shows are..

http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/Capabilities/Economics/_documents/2012%20Theme%20Index%20Combined_1-1_online.pdf 2012's (and 2011's) attendance figures can be found on page 51 of the booklet. 1.8 million isn't exactly bad, but considering 2011's 2 million figure, it was quite a large drop. At a guess, I'd say we're looking at 1.8 to 1.9 million for 2013. The family marketing stuff didn't really become apparent until summer time, and the beginning of season was hit with the terrible weather.

It's strange for me; the photos aren't coming up on my timeline either, nor can I find them on Thorpe's timeline. I only seem to find them when a friend, somehow, finds it and it appears on my Timeline that they've liked it! :S I'd normally agree with you here, but I think the shark is rather quirky and, to a degree, funny. It looks clever and pleasing to the eye, and I think it's something a lot of people would remember. That's my main trouble with the board walk idea. As nice as it looks, I don't think it's got that special edge which would make people remember it. It is very much the typical board walk though (when I saw it, it felt very classic), so maybe that feel will work well. Hard to tell from concept art of course. I still think it's a great idea though. From the 3 that have been shown, I think that if we could have the shark or ship lead to this tranquil board walk (as a lost, peaceful area or something), it would be amazing. Would be happy to see any of it though!

Slap my wrist I'm double posting! Very nice!

April could mean 30th April though. If these plans have been in place for a while, they may just go with the most popular one and submit plans quite soon. The actual ideas themselves don't look particularly difficult to construct, so a three month period to do so seems almost realistical.

I like it, but it makes me think Brighton Pier, not Thorpe Park. The first one felt a lot quirkier, and could still create a relaxing atmosphere afterwards, just with a bit f humour thrown in. Could still work rather well though!