JoshC.

All of those dates I'll be at uni unfortunately - so it's a no for me. (Yay for the first of many standard Josh responses to meets )

So I had a 'meeting' with my Personal Tutor at uni today. Basically, I needed to get him to approve my essay title, so that I could write it up over the Christmas break and give my tutor a draft to check over. When I went to his office, he seemed to think that at first that I was in a completely different year group and didn't even realise I was one of his tutees.. When I asked him whether my essay title was okay, he just gave a generic 'That sounds okay' response, with no further help or advice (everyone else I know has had a fair amount of help from their tutor when it comes to finding books or how to write the essay). Then, when I asked how I should hand in my draft, he said 'You don't hand one in' and that the next time I should see him is for the oral presentation at the beginning of March... So, basically, it has no idea who I am, no idea I'm in his tutor group and has no idea how the essay I'm meant to be doing operates. All this from the person who's meant to be my first point of call if something goes wrong, or if I need help in day-to-day uni life. Fantastic. In saying that, I'm going to put a request in change my tutor so I can get someone who's actually vaguely competent in being a tutor.. Fingers crossed...

Somewhat sad that I can immediately tell I won't be able to make 7 of those Meets... Hopefully I can make a few next year. I only made one this year, but really enjoyed and I have no complaints to make about it!

To be fair, it's the only Maths essay I have to write for my degree (the 2500 one is for Philosophy), whereas you probably have a fair few to write every term! I'd much rather do a one-off long essay during my degree than several long-ish ones.

First of all, great entry - really enjoyed reading it! In some ways, I don't like judging scare attractions on just one run through, simply due to the very nature of them. However, in other ways, it makes it a lot better as, after all, the mazes should good quality all the time. So, based on my one experience of all the mazes... Cabin in the Woods was great. The tone it created was great, and I didn't think the lighting was weak at all. Each scene was effectively designed and it all worked very well. The latter parts of the maze were poor due to how the maze operates - everyone has choices in the first half, before being rammed down the second. That was the maze's main fault, along with a lacklustre ending which I cannot remember. As for the other mazes - Saw was lit up very well and effectively. Blair Witch was too dark in some ways, so you couldn't take in some of the theming around. What was worse was the lack of audio - pre-recorded rustling in the bushes, screams and gusts of wind would have been great. This was the one attraction which required atmosphere, and it was ruined by the fact it tried to use the surroundings to create an atmosphere. It was like the park tried cutting a corner and paid the price. Asylum's strobes weren't as annoying as previously, but it is a pretty boring feature after a while. MBV was just rubbish. Did the IPs improve the mazes? Well, Cabin is certainly an improvement on Hellgate and Passing (even though I quite liked Passing). Blair Witch, which has essentially served as a replacement for The Curse is actually alright. Okay, so it wasn't scary and wasted so much potential, but for a 2 star attraction, I think it was actually okay. Still needs work of course. MBV was just poor and NEEDS a rethink. The beginning speech was actually really good - something I really enjoyed - but everything else was distinctly below par. I mean, I had some sort of inflatable bed pushed against me at one point - like, what?! So, the answer is yes and no. I think Thorpe need to experiment a bit more with IPs; work out how best to execute them. One thing which they haven't tried is something which actually utilises a story. At best, we get a quick minute blurb at the beginning of a maze. We need something which actually has a story which is strung across the entire maze; a level of interactivity. Hopefully they will try it again next year. I don't think IPs restrict creativity of designers per se: they can still create whatever they want, they just need to work with a story which isn't their own. Based on the levels of theming we saw (which I thought was quite good), we should see the designers become more creative with stories and how to scare people. I'm going to feel like a bit of a broken record saying this, but I think that Face it Alone shows the Thorpe can create good, effective scares. However, it's a case of they need to strike a balance between doing these scares and getting people through. We saw them try with Passing charging for a maze; unfortunately, the idea and the maze itself were met with mixed responses. We saw them try something wild with Experiment 10 in 2011, but that resulted in horribly long queues. The trouble I'm seeing the park having is that they haven't found the best way to balance scares and 'getting the numbers' - let's see how they deal with that next season. So I do agree with you in some ways, but I think there's a much bigger picture to this all. Thorpe are constantly trying to improve Fright Nights, even if the quality of mazes we get doesn't improve (or gets worse). They are trying new, and sometimes innovative, ideas to them, and experimenting with what works and what doesn't. Whilst it doesn't mean we get the high-class Halloween event now - which is shame - I can see that being the case in a year or two from now...

After what feels like an eternity, I've finally finished all my assignments for this term at uni! My life will definitely feel strange without having to spend 20-40 hours a week doing a ton of Maths questions. And once term finishes on Friday, it will be nice to have time to relax as opposed to spending 60-70 odd hours a week either doing uni work, or travelling to/from uni! Roll on the Christmas holidays (even though I have a 5000 word essay and a 2500 word essay to write, I'm trying to think positive!)

I believe that due to the need to keep the water clean (as so much of it is dumped on you on-ride), Tidal Wave is one of (if not, the) most expensive rides on park to run!

Colossus (5) Depth Charge (4) Detonator (5) Flying Fish (5) Loggers Leap (5) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (3) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW: The Ride (5) Slammer (7) Stealth (5) Storm in a Teacup (4) Swarm (7) Tidal Wave (5) X (5) Swarm + Quantum -

Colossus (5) Depth Charge (4) Detonator (5) Flying Fish (5) Loggers Leap (5) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (3) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (4) SAW: The Ride (5) Slammer (7) Stealth (5) Storm in a Teacup (5) Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) X (6) Storm in a Teacup + Quantum -

Great to see; glad that there's so many of them returning!

Dragon's Fury (5) Vampire (5) Rattlesnake (6) Runaway Train (4) Dragon Falls (5) Bubbleworks (5) Black Buccaneer (5) Kobra (5) Monkey Swinger (5) Peeking Heights (5) Rameses Revenge (6) Tomb Blaster (5) Safari Skyway (5) Seastorm (5) Carousel (5) Flying Jumbos (5) Jungle Bouncers (5) Madagascar Show (5) Jungle Bus (4) Tuk Tuk Turmoil (5) Griffin's Galleon (5) Canopy Capers (5) Toadie's Crazy Cars (5) Hocus Pocus Hall (5) Zufari (5) Rattlesnake + Runaway Train -

Air (5) Battle Galleons (6) Driving School (5) Doodle Doo Derby (4) Duel (5) Enterprise (5) Frog Hopper (5) Galloper's Carousel (5) Heave Ho! (5) Hex (5) Ice Age 4D (4) Marauders Mayhem (5) Nemesis (5) Nemesis Sub Terra (6) Oblivion (6) Ripsaw (5) Rita (4) Riverbank Eye Spy (5) Runaway Mine Train (5) Twirling Toadstool (5) Blade (5) The Flume (5) The Smiler (5) Th13teen (5) Sonic Spinball (5) Skyride (5) Squirrell Nutty Ride (5) Submission (5) Submission + DDD -

Colossus (5) Depth Charge (3) Detonator (5) Flying Fish (5) Loggers Leap (5) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (4) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW: The Ride (5) Slammer (7) Stealth (5) Storm in a Teacup (5) Swarm (5) Tidal Wave (5) X (6) Depth Charge + Quantum -

I've been thinking, I can't think of any ride that currently frighten me. I used to get a bit of a 'feeling' at the top if Detonator, and it's only recently (past season or two) that I've been able to go on it without having to hold on. Apart from on my first go, it's never actually scared me though. The only other ride I can think of that's actually scared me is Oblivion; even then, that was more the build up due to the excellent queue line videos. So yeah, there's no rides which scare me actually. I guess that's a product of not having done many rides though...

Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator (5) Flying Fish (2) Loggers Leap (5) Banana Ride (1) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (6) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW: The Ride (5) Slammer (8) Stealth (6) Storm in a Teacup (5) Swarm (7) Tidal Wave (5) X (6) Swarm + Monkey's -

Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator (5) Flying Fish (5) Loggers Leap (5) Mr Monkeys Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW: The Ride (5) Slammer (4) Stealth (6) Storm in a teacup (5) Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) X (5) Swarm + Slammer -

I really like a lot of those ideas Alex, but I'm not sure about the VIP one. Have an option for people to contribute to the finance-side site by all means, but I'd fear you could risk creating a tiered system when some members feels less important than others and alienate them a bit. I know it's probably only a small risk, but it's still something I'd be dubious over. Of course, up to the Team to decide that one.. One thing I've noticed is there's less 'regular' members signing; those who sign up, and stick around for a long time. I've no idea why this is, but it would be great to see the community grow all the more with more regular members so discussion can expand not only with more Thorpe stuff, but also more non-Thorpe stuff. The 'VIP' idea, in theory, could discourage people from signing up as it may come across that there's a form of hierarchy to the place (even if there's not, it could still look like that)! All the other ideas seem to be ones which would encourage new members to join up and stick around, and make the place more of a community.

Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator (5) Flying Fish (5) Loggers Leap (5) Mr Monkeys Banana Ride (2) Nemesis Inferno (7) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (3) Rush (6) Samurai (5) SAW: The Ride (5) Slammer (10) Stealth (6) Storm in a teacup (3) Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) Vortex (2) X (6) Rumba Rapids + Mr Monkey's Banana Ride -

Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator (5) Flying Fish (5) Loggers Leap (5) Mr Monkeys Banana Ride (2) Nemesis Inferno (7) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (2) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW: The Ride (5) Slammer (10) Stealth (5) Storm in a teacup (4) Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) Vortex (4) X (6) Rumba Rapids + Mr Monkey's Banana Ride - X + 6

I'm not entirely sure. You'd probably be buying a 'voucher' which you exchange for an AP. The voucher would have an expiry date probably around the end of March, but I'm not entirely sure on that. Wait and see what the offer ends up being is the best answer to that!

Hey there! Judging by what you are looking at doing, I'd say get a Standard Merlin Annual Pass. If you buy online, it will cost £143 each. When you consider that entry to the parks is going to be £25-£30 each without an AP if you try and take advantage of all the offers the parks do, plus the likes of the London Attractions, it could easily tot up to over £150 just buying the entry tickets. Plus, with an AP, you get the perks like 20% off shopping and eating, which could come in handy with the trips you have planned, and gets you discounts to Thorpe's Summer Nights if they run that again. It makes it a lot easier as well, as there's less faffing about with tickets and stuff. Also, with an AP, you have the added benefit of if you want to visit a park again, at a different time of you, you can do so without having to worry about entry - you get the extra freedom. So personally, I think you should try get an AP. Also, if you have the funds available, keep an eye out over the end of December / January time like Ryan says, they usually do offers where you can get reduced APs - last year, you could get one for £99 for example.

I live in hope that an alien / alien race decide to cast themselves upon Chessington sometime soon. If nothing else, aliens have really aided Thorpe and Alton...

So, we have some pictures of the competition winners: Saucey - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151784925521629.1073741840.120907856628&type=1

Dragon's Fury (6) Vampire (6) Rattlesnake (8) Runaway Train (2) Dragon Falls (5) Bubbleworks (5) Black Buccaneer (5) Kobra (5) Monkey Swinger (5) Peeking Heights (4) Rameses Revenge (6) Tomb Blaster (5) Safari Skyway (5) Seastorm (5) Carousel (5) Flying Jumbos (5) Jungle Bouncers (5) Madagascar Show (5) Jungle Bus (5) Tuk Tuk Turmoil (5) Griffin's Galleon (6) Canopy Capers (5) Toadie's Crazy Cars (4) Hocus Pocus Hall (5) Tiny Truckers (2) Zufari (5) Tiny Truckers + Runaway Train -

Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator (5) Flying Fish (5) Loggers Leap (5) Mr Monkeys Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (6) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) Saw: The Ride (5) Slammer (6) Stealth (5) Storm in a teacup (5) Swarm (5) Tidal Wave (5) Vortex (2) X (6) Vortex + Slammer -