JoshC.

A full review of the mazes will come tomorrow. However, just a quick couple of words - the event was very good; favourite maze was Cabin in the Woods, least favourite would be My Bloody Valentine. Blair Witch Project was disappointing. You're Next characters were fun. I did Face it Alone. I can't - and won't - say anything about the experience itself (so PLEASE don't ask me). I imagine every experience is different anyways. But I would really recommend it to anyone who likes scare attractions - it is very full on. One quick thing - we didn't sign anything, but it was recommending for over 18s. Personally, I think anyone under 18 would struggle with it...

A review of the Blair Witch camping experience is on ScareTOUR: *Potential Spoilers* http://www.scaretouruk.com/review---blair-witch-overnight-experience---thorpe-park.html Disappointing to hear to that it wasn't successful on its first night, but glad to hear it's being improved. I'm never a fan of actors pretending to be guests, as in my experience they've always over-acted things...

If a new coaster is planned for 2015, it's likely we'd see plans on Runnymede Council's website between November and February. However, it is unclear if there even will be a new roller coaster in 2015. I personally doubt there will be!

Got Saw Alive booked for Face it Alone on Friday! Will certainly be interesting... Just so I've got a rough time frame in mind - 2 of us are 'Facing it Alone' in Saw; anyone have an idea when we'll both be finished by? Trying to plan about when I'll be getting home and that.

It's an interesting tactic; it keeps the secrecy over it, making each individual experience better. But, at the same time, many might not be willing to spend £15 after hearing 'Yeah, it's good, but I can't say why'. Then again, FiA is meant for a small market, so it's probably best this way. For example, FiA appeals to me, but I was unsure about doing it, but hearing positive words about it has sold it to me. For others, that won't be enough.

The thing is, the park are covered by their T&Cs, which say all rides are subject to availability. Not saying it's the best thing to do, but the park aren't doing anything technically wrong.

Not really knowing anyone in the target market, and having not watched CBeebies since the channel was founded, I don't quite know what to expect from the area, or what the park should really be aiming for, but it'll be interesting to see how well they pull it off. Hopefully the ever-changing content won't reduce the quality of said content though. Also will be worth keeping an eye out on this link - http://www.altontowers.com/cbeebiesland/

Shouldn't be like this though; if the park is below standard, they themselves should realise this and do something about it. On topic, here's the next journal entry: I've been too lazy to read it yet...

$45 is just under £30 I believe? In terms of games, that's more than reasonable. For a simulator, it's very much high end, but NL2 is a high quality simulator. The price is perfectly justified in my eyes.

No new cred on the cards for me for this year, so my Top 5s: Top 5 Coasters 1) The Swarm (Forwards) - Sheer perfection in my eyes. Absolutely love it, mixes elegance and force into one ride, with near misses which vary from in your face to subtle. I never want to give it a perfect rating, but just can't justify not... 10/10 2) Nemesis - Still sitting strongly at Number 2. Fantastic ride with a unique position. But, unfortunately, I find my ride experience varies, from 'a bit forceless' to 'woah, that was a bit too forceful it was uncomfortable at points'. 9/10 2.5) The Swarm (Backwards) - I'm unsure whether to stick this in my Top 5 or not. It is a different experience and, in my honest view, a really different ride than when you ride it forwards. So, I'll stick it here for comparison purposes, but won't properly treat it in my Top 5. 8.5/10 3) X (TP) - A new addition to my Top 5. My first ride on the new X was disappointing and the ride felt awkward. Since the breaks were removed and a couple of things improved, I've grown to seriously love the ride, and I'm so glad the decision to turn the trains forward was made. I get a feeling that my rating of the ride is higher than it should be because it's a much more 'fun' ride compared to the rest of the park's offerings, and that it will lose it's place sometime in the near future. But for the time being, it's here. 8/10 4) Nemesis Inferno - 10 years old, and Inferno's brought it's game face on. Loving the ride more than ever now. 8/10 5) Th13teen - I didn't get a chance to ride it yesterday as it was closed all day. And I really feel like I need to, as it's one of those rides where I only realise how much I enjoy shortly after I've ridden it. It's certainly in threat of losing it's spot on my Top 5 though... 7.5/10 Honorary Mentions) The Antelope, as ever, gets my Honorary Mention here, for reasons I've explained a few times now. A shout out to Saw as well, which has narrowly lost it's place in my Top 5, despite ranking 3rd towards the end of last year. Ranks 3, 4, 5 and 6 are extremely close, and will no doubt change very regularly. Had I ridden Th13teen yesterday, I'd have been able to give a concrete answer, but alas, I cannot. *Top 5 Non-Coasters to follow*

Review The Smiler So, I finally did Smiler today. Did it twice in fact; both times with about an hour queue. And, well, the best way I can describe my views are that it is just a 'slightly above average ride'. First off, the look of the ride. The ride looks phenomenal. It manages to draw your attention without hogging the limelight, which I think people feared with regards to Oblivion. As you enter X-Sector, there's always something different to look at, and always something going on. It's just an amazing feast for your eyes. The queue itself is a strange one. In one sense, it's actually quite disorientating to be in, and it looks a lot less than it is. But, at the same time, it feels very mundane, and I was a bit disappointed that after a while, you feel like you've seen all there is to see. It gets boring almost, which isn't good. There's only so many times you can look at 2 cars going round part of the track, and the videos you see are both great to watch, yet don't keep your attention long enough. The 'Smile. Always' and 'Join Us' map things are quite interesting to look at, but it's a shame you can't really see them perfectly, especially the latter. Who is this Al and why should he smile? Oooooooh. This was the best shot I could get of 'Join Us'. Not great. There has been rain today, making the queue a wanna-be Storm Surge... The indoor queue is actually quite fun and interesting actually. The second go, one of the projectors had blue-screened, which isn't great. However, when it works, it's great. The station area, though minimalist, works in my opinion. It's simple and yet has a harsh clinical feel to it, exactly what you want from this attraction I think. Now then, ride experience. I had back row on both my goes, for reference... The dispatch is great, though I'm really not a fan of the voice that says 'It's time to get corrected' and 'Join us' and all that. It doesn't really fit in with the station's ambience in my opinion. The indoor drop is fun, and was surprisingly quick. However, it was very obvious it was going to happen from watching trains leave the station. A small niggle I know, but I just can't help but feel if it had been concealed or was designed slightly differently, it would have been better and more surprising. The first inversion is fun in itself, but a flashing light does not make it any better. A huge wasted opportunity there. The brakes before the lift with the loud, evil laughing is great; seriously loved that bit. And then it's up we go. And then down. Through inversion, after inversion, after inversion. I wasn't particularly worried about the ride being mostly inversions, as you can still create something that flows (something which, I think, Colossus does well. One of the few positives I'll say about it). However, to me, Smiler felt like inversion stuck onto inversion. It felt all very forced and uninteresting. The first airtime hill is great because it very briefly breaks up the monotony of the inversions. Yet, after that, it is just like 'how many inversions can be bolted together'. Admittedly, I was disorientated, and the half way point is a good thing (another fear I had about the ride feeling like two rides bolted together - this was not the case). The TVs before the vertical lift were nice. I don't quite know what I expected from them, but I felt like more could have been done with them? Instead, they were just sorta there; felt like I was seeing nothing new really. And then we go up again. And then down again. Through inversion, after inversion, after inversion again. The second half feels like it was meant to follow the first half, but yet again, it just feels like you're being forced through inversion after inversion, with an airtime hill (again, very fun) chucked in because they couldn't put an inversion there. I dunno, but it just feels a bit monotonous to me. The cobra roll has a nasty jolt and is the only rough part of the ride. On a brighter note, the final two inversions are strangely enjoyable; possibly because they're so different to most of the other inversions? The blurred 'You belong to The Smiler' as you exit is actually really clever, and the exit corridor is a brilliant touch. But I can't help but feel they could have done more. Just imagine is parts of the corridor were like the indoor queue line of Duel, where you feel on a slant, lose your balance and become disorientated? Would've been awesome. Another thing I can't help but be disappointed in is that there's no real story here. We're being corrected, to make us smile, but why? Is this from an evil organisation who want us to conform to something? Is this from a nice friendly bunch of people who are a bit creepy? Just what? Is this meant to mess with our minds, or improve them? Everything just feels so fuzzy, and I think it would have been really simply to add a bit of a story at least, with no harm done. It's a shame, as you can tell a lot of effort went into the videos they've created. Couple more things - the Marmaliser is great to look at, but you only really notice it on ride once; first airtime hill (does make a great headchopper though!). I was sorta expecting that, but doesn't mean I'm not disappointed that I was correct there. Marmaliser effects were hit and miss - first time, the Tickler and Hypnotiser weren't working, second time they were. The Inoculator (is that even turned on these days) didn't work at all. On a more positive note though, the music is simply amazing. Also, some top quality merchandise is the amazing shop (seemed to grab a bargain of getting the Smiler paperweight for £14.40, with AP discount, when it's RRP is £40!). Whilst this is quite a negative review, and I'm not Smiler's biggest fans, I do however think it is just what the park needed. It's a fast, furious coaster targeted for the teens and young adults. It's filled a space that the park's line up was missing. No doubt the public are still lapping it up. But personally, I just don't rate it all that highly. And so... My pre-correctional face. My post-'correctional' face. On a scale of 'very grim' to 'massive grin', The Smiler gets a 'content smile' from me, which is an unfortunate 6/10.

Do you want map with yellow?

That's just the chassis of the train - all wingriders' chassis's are black I believe!

Here's a picture of the Hellgate layout: Source - http://www.s104638357.websitehome.co.uk/html/magazine_23a_01.htm Of course, no idea about CITW's layout; still managed to avoid spoilers for it (surprisingly!)

Yeah, I guess it is. It's just that pretty much I've been waiting to go on Smiler for about a year now, but the past couple of months, I've lost interest in riding it. When it comes to riding a new coaster, I tend to really look forward to it, but that excitement for Smiler really has dwindled away, though I don't quite know why. Despite the new mazes, FN is still something I've done for several years, and is much more 'of the norm' to me, if you will, so not something I'd normally get excited over as much as doing a new major coaster. So for me, it does feel quite strange at the moment. As I say though, I don't quite know why I've lost that buzz over Smiler...

You can tell the ride is heavily inspired by Saw from that video. It really does look like the same ride with a few elements tweaked / moved to accommodate the space they had. Looks like a good coaster, like Saw, and hopefully due to the standard 97 degree drop it has, the infamous jolt so many complain about on Saw won't happen. Must admit, that airtime hill looks like it'll be the highlight of the ride!

We all knew this day would come sooner or later - though I must admit I was expecting later (2015/2016). Wouldn't be surprised if it's so high to encourage people to book in advance and such though. £40 for a child ticket as well is shockingly high too...

I can see a lot of people being disappointed next year if they end up expecting loads of work to Smiler. At best, the reliability should improve and the apparent drainage issues may be sorted, but not much else. In other news, I finally get to try this thing out on Sunday (if it's open...). Oddly enough, I'm more looking forward to my Fright Nights trip than going on Smiler...

A new journal piece has been uncovered... For those who have trouble reading it: "An incredible discovery has been made today. Hundreds of years of speculation and debate are at an end. I have found Atlantis. It is a beautiful city, sunk into the depths of the Ocean. Filled with countless examples of art and culture, this is a remarkable find! I was able to recover the prize I sought... It is a golden trident thought to have belonged to Posiden - the god of the sea! I am certain that such a beautiful treasure was not meant to stay at the bottom of the ocean! Some of the men are beginning to get a little superstitious. They are speaking of strange noises and happenings onboard our ship. I am sure this is nonsense. We are now heading to our next destination. It is vital these men don't get distracted by their silly 'ghost stories'. I am getting too close to my ultimate prize. Nothing is going to get in my way..." All sounds promising. Hopefully they can execute a decent story line in the attraction itself...

Unfortunately I'm no longer going to pop up at this meet now. I'll instead be going the day before, in the hope that it's quieter, allowing me more chance to get all the mazes done (as I can only get 1 FN visit a year now). It also means that I have the chance to do 'Face it Alone', if I think it's worthwhile. Sorry guys - but hopefully I'll see you at the Crimbo meet!

I remember reading somewhere (I think TST?) that HPH is getting refurbed, and they're just getting it out there now.

The thing is, though, that they're live action mazes, and you can only get a proper experience of a maze (or a ride) by actually experiencing. The fact that is it's against park rules for various reasons. So, it's good to see that there's no POVs up their as people aren't breaking rules. Also, I don't think there's been many proper, full out POVs (other than the little clips the park themselves released) of Thorpe's maze anyways, which is nice to see.

Well as cameras aren't allowed in the other attractions, I'm quite glad there's no POVs about.

Thanks for this stretchy; really looks like an amazing experience and that you had a great time!

Are the colour changing lights like the ones they had in 2005? Had so much love for that!