JoshC.

An alternative concept. Much prefer the first idea Thorpe!

This seems to have slipped completely off the radar... Posted on Thorpe's FB page (hopefully this link should take you there too... https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=p.10152133644380867&type=1 ) Interesting idea; if pulled off correctly, it would look pretty sweet!

^(I think) He's referring to Teacups and Stealth, which are technically Amity Cove. I'm becoming really confused by people mentioning about having different level of intensities in a family area. Angry Birds Land will be marketed at a family market (regardless of the fact Angry Birds as a game was meant to target a younger audience, it is now a family thing), and families want a range of things. The dodgems and 4D cinema will appeal to all the family, and be suitable for young children, and Detonator will appeal to the older audience (by which I mean anyone above the age of what, 8 or 9?). Isn't that what the perfect family area should do? And considering Thorpe are still aiming for thrills, why shouldn't their family area have a thrill ride? It's sorta funny how people say Chessington need more thrill rides because 'they are a family park', but Thorpe's 'family area' can't have a pre-existing thrill ride incorporated!

Ah, didn't know they did everything! Though, since the end of 2011 (I think Experiment 10 was the first project they did?), there's been an obvious increase the quality of theming (and hey, Krake's theming looks decent too). I personally can't think of any 'stinkers' they've done quality-wise, though of course not seeing all the work in person probably contributes to that. Saying that though, I see no reason to doubt that the theming we get for the area will be of at least a good quality. Hey Sidders; nice to see you! You say I'm being optimistic there, but surely you're being equally (if not, more) pessimistic? Yes, Thorpe's last two big-themed projects had sporadically placed theming, but they were built from the ground up. I think the fact that with Swarm they added in theming elements afterwards, which helped create a bit more of a complete feel, shows that Thorpe took on board the response of the sporadic theming, and tried to rectify that. Of course, with Swarm, it's going to be difficult to get the full complete feel enthusiasts are craving, because it's now too late to go back and add everything missing, to a degree. This is the first major retheme of a ride / area Thorpe have done in a VERY long time. I can think of Ribena Rumba Rapids back in 2002, and that wasn't exactly major, really? For me, I'd find it very hard to justify how people can say 'it will feel the same as before' or 'there won't be much theming' or whatever. This isn't Thorpe building something from the ground up, it's them having the basics sorted, and able to actually construct something which will be thematically interesting, I hope. This is what I'm hopeful for about the area; they have a template, and there's plenty of opportunities to work from that template. Whilst I agree with you about no innovation and lack of space, and no imagination is 50/50 really, but there is certainly the appeal. Saw worked wonders, is one of the best received rides on park (from what I've been told, at least) and is a very big name in the horror franchise the decade (whether people think it's worthy of that is a different matter, but still). Did anyone really think it was going to stop after 7 films? If everyone is honest to themselves, I'd say not. And with the reboot / sequel / whatever, there's still appeal there. I reckon Angry Birds is the same. It's more risky, but I think it could work out well. It's by no means a dead IP, but it is a bit of a limbo-state at the moment. It's no where near big enough in the gaming world to be seen as something special really. Regardless though, there is appeal. Also, whilst previous IP projects probably could have done with more budget, we have no idea what the budget is for this area, so who knows what that will hold? I could well end up thinking the area is rubbish when it opens, and could be eating a lot of my words here. But I remain hopeful that we'll see something decent for this sort of investment, and won't make any concrete judgements until we at least see some plans / concept art / more information.

I'm not that fussed by it. So what, it'll still be called Thorpe Park by basically everybody and it will soon seem natural. We all surely knew it was inevitable anyways? I remember when the original Crash Pad plans came about and I asked Thorpe if they were planning to become TPR for 2013. They said no due to Crash Pad's temporary status. However, due to the Waterfront Hotel's semi-permanent position at the moment, it makes sense for them to fastrack the idea of calling themselves a resort and possibly attracting more people. But, as MattyMoo says, calling yourself a resort doesn't make you a resort. Hopefully Thorpe will continue to improve their out-of-hours activities to give a more justified claim to that name, so this could be a good thing...

The fact that MMM are involved makes me rather excited for the project. From memory, they've been involved with: Experiment 10 Swarm Smiler Flight of the Demons Fright Nights 2013 Sanctuary (I think) Probably more... All of those have great quality theming (the amount is up for debate by some, but meh). I don't see any reason to doubt that this will be of poor quality theming-wise. Dodgems come rather cheap, and a 10 minute 4D film won't be overly expensive to produce. I bet that £3-4 million would be enough to create some good theming, and the budget for this could (and probably will) be higher than that. I think some people are jumping the gun here tbh. At least wait until there's a tad more information.

It's pretty much official now: https://twitter.com/THORPEPARK THORPE PARK Resort. I'm a bit surprised (if that's even the right word) that Resort is not in capitals. Maybe, eventually, we'll see the return of Thorpe Park?

Angry Birds is a universally appealing brand. Angry Birds Land is a family area. Good family areas have a mixture rides and attractions which appeal to everyone in the family. So, we'll have Angry Birds 4D which will no doubt appeal more to the younger market, the dodgems which appeal to all (though will likely be a bit of the tame side for 'hardcore thrill seekers') and Detonator for 'hardcore thrill seekers'. Perfect family land surely? Detonator could now actually fit in with a full area, rather than be out of place with Pirates 4D, or out of place by itself. Granted, it will be shoe-horned a little, but at least effort is there.

Interesting link about this all: http://www.4-traders.com/MERLIN-ENTERTAINMENTS-PLC-14851590/news/Merlin-Entertainments-PLC--MERLIN-ENTERTAINMENTS-AND-ROVIO-ANNOUNCE-WORLD-PREMIERE-OF-ANGRY-BIRDS-4-17764454/ (This was retweeted by Jason Wills). So, Merlin Magic Making will be strongly involved with the project, which should be good news for all - all projects they've been involved with have had good to high quality theming. Also, an Angry Birds film is coming in 2016. Maybe at the moment we're in a quiet period for the Angry Birds franchise, so perhaps we'll see it become a big surge in popularity again sometime soon? The thing is, this is the perfect theme for the park. The park has been crying out to have a fun area for ages, and now it's finally getting one. Hopefully this will see the slow reintroduction of themed areas again too. As for Detonator, I expect a very small retheme, perhaps with a slight change in audio. It could easily be that there's a bunch of pigs at the top of the ride, and an angry bird crashes into it, causing a similar 'bang' / 'explosion' noise to cue the drop. Simples. One bug bear of mine though - who cares if it's the WORLD'S FIRST 4D ANGRY BIRDS EXPERIENCE? I don't think people will care if it's a world's first film, surely?

Angry Birds is a good theme. I was wondering why there wasn't a family friendly area at a theme park yet (as any Angry Birds IPs have been very child-orientated). I'm a bit unsure on the longevity of it all (which pluk literally just said) as I fear it has peaked already, but other than that, I have no concerns. I would say a concern is that Amity Cove has now been cut up into two, but hopefully that can be rectified soon. Looks like it will almost definitely go where the Games Zone lies currently (which was marked as a spot for a flat ride in the MTDP I believe?). Should be a nice little area, and at least Detonator will finally have a chance to fit in a bit more. I wonder if once the Tetley sponsorship goes if the Teacups will get an Angry Bird styling too? Really and truly, this isn't anything ground breaking, but it should be a good investment for the park, and one I look forward to see the final result.

Let's face it, half of the adults are going to be scared witless by In The Night Garden due to Iggle Piggle's (the blue guy) eyes... Terrible choice for a ride... But meh, not knowing anyone who's of CBeebies target audience, I have no idea about any of these IPs thus far, bar INTG. Shame like pluk says that the IPs seem to mostly have human characters at the moment, as there's less potential for interaction with live actors 'from the show'.

To be honest, my post was made in jest. It is a bit silly that a ride which was closed for 2/3 of the season is the best ride of the season though imo. Not as silly as Saw coming 23rd or whatever in the 2012 game though... But it's a silly game, so that's that.

Congratulations trolls, a ride which was closed 2/3 of the season was the best ride of the season... Maybe Thorpe should just build rubbish rides with rubbish reliabilities and keep all the rides closed and the park would be perfect...

Shh, I'm hoping no one else will notice...

Detonator (5) Nemesis Inferno (4) Rush (3) Slammer (6) Stealth (6) Swarm Backwards (6) X (5) Swarm Backwards + Slammer -

Full on maintenance is pretty substantial though, wouldn't you say? Sure, most rides will have, but it doesn't happen every single year for every single ride.

From what I could tell when I've passed the park recently, Vortex has been fully dismantled. I don't recall any other closed season where it's been fully dismantled (though someone feel free to correct me there if I'm wrong ), so it could mean there's some substantial work going on off-site on it.

Slammer doesn't have a particularly high throughput remember. Sure, it can take 48 people per ride, but it's theoretical throughput is 500pph. Essentially, that means the ride goes from being loaded to being unloaded just under every 6 minutes. I'd bet it usually takes longer than that, and probably that the ride barely musters 400pph. Yet, a ride with such a low throughput has so little queue when it's open (I've never seen the queue above an hour, even on ridiculously busy days). I just don't see why the park should keep a ride which has terrible reliability, poor throughput and seems to not even be popular with guests...

The better question is 'How on earth did Swarm get eliminated when there are still other rides left?'

I think my one was better: Just sayin'

If you requite on ride videos for a specific reason (eg, some sorta school project or something), if you contact the PR department, they might be able to give you stock footage. If it's just for personal use, I doubt they'd allow you to film regardless of who you asked.

£50 is a ridiculous amount to pay, if we're all being honest. But, that's pretty much the point. Give guests what they think is 'better value', even though the park probably expects people to pay the online rates. It then helps the park with expected park numbers, so it makes sense for them to encourage people to book online.

But Dean didn't win!? What's all this 'controversy' about when Dean didn't even win?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6902797.stm Found an article about

Thought this was an interesting topic last year, so may as well do another one this year! So, what are your theme-park related plans for 2014? For me, there's chances of hitting up a couple of new UK parks. After not managing to fit a trip to Drayton Manor last year due to breaking my ankle, I'm very hopeful of getting my first trip in this year around summer-time. I'm hoping to make it to TPM's Oakwood trip this year as well, depending on dates and what exactly I'm up to during summer work-wise. There's also a slight possibility that I'll be making it to Adventure Island as well, though no idea with that one. Then, of course, a fair few visits to Thorpe, a couple to Alton, once or twice to Chessie and maybe once to Legoland. 2015 or 2016 is the aim for me to hit up a few of the big-name European parks. Realistically, I'll probably visit Germany and one other country, but those decisions will come nearer the time...