JoshC.

An advertising banner for Fright Nights was put up this morning outside the park. I'd also assume on-park advertising is going to pick up more now. Is anyone else getting a feeling that the full reveal will come on Friday the 13th? Almost feel like it would be a missed opportunity if they didn't!

WARNING - BADLY EDITED PHOTOS AHEAD Dark Forest needs a complete change. In fact, it needs flipping on its head, so I bring you... LIGHT FIELDS All trees around the area would be cut down and replaced with grass. Grass is good. Oh, and plants. Lots and lots and lots of plants. The slogan of the area would be 'Because you come to a theme park to look at plants'. Th13teen would of course need a retheme. The area will be happy and lucky, so the ride will be renamed Ei8ht, a number which I've read somewhere is lucky. The crypt would be rethemed to a huge solar panel which will generate back-up energy for the park in case of a power cut. The inside section would have loads of bright green lights which blind you, so you can't see the drop coming. The track would be painted a lovely pea green. Ei8ht's station Rita would also be kept. Unfortunately, removing the Dark Forest left an unbreakable curse in that the ride itself can never ever leave. It would be called 'Lucky', and themed around a dog running around a field. Every 5 seconds the ride is in circuit, it triggers an incredibly loud sound of a 6 year old girl screaming 'LUCKYYYY' at the top of her voice. The ride would be pained a nice chocolate brown, and have trains that look like dogs. A possible design for Lucky's trains.

I can't be the only one who finds that a bit ironic, especially considering Amity Cove's theme...

Strange that Tetley is still there. Where they repainted all the cups and the teapot plain white again, I thought we were going to lose it.

The Sanctuary also uses stairs. All well and good suggesting using stairs for a Thorpe maze, but what place is suitable for a maze and could utilise stairs? I can't think of anywhere. For a Cabin in the Woods maze, I wouldn't be surprised if it just focuses on what section of the film -

It's strange. I'd been looking forward to this project loads, from the day the plans surfaced online, to watching construction, and from seeing the eventual opening. Yet, I'm not overly enticed to go ride the thing. I've managed to keep the indoor section a surprise for me still (surprising in itself actually...), so it's not because I know everything about the ride. The reviews I've read of the ride have been largely positive, and as a lover of Saw, I didn't have any real fears about the ride. My marmalisation won't take place until next year it seems. It's a shame really, especially as I love Alton, but if I'd been really enticed to go ride Smiler, then I'd have gone all out to get there. I genuinely don't get why I'm not fussed about riding it, but yeah, I'm just not being drawn out there...

Huh? Been like that since the announcement, and Marc posted it then...

Well, they are slowly cropping up all over the place, so a topic about them seems appropriate. The latest one to open, Hades 360, had an inversion thrown into it when it was refurbrished, replacing an airtime hill. Here's a POV from the lovely TPR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtfZYEnS8dE Looks awful. Otherwise, not much against the inversion actually; though to lose an airtime hill for it is a shame.. Discuss...

The Scarefest section of the site has been updated... http://www.altontowers.com/scarefest/ Have to say, I love the pages about the individual mazes; really nice touch. New this year (I think?) is that you can book tickets for the paid mazes online, and there's also a Freedom Ticket - which allows unlimited access to the mazes for a day - as well as the Freedom Pass. Also, there's 'Extreme Maze Tickets' available for all 3 scare mazes, whereas last year I think they were only available for Sanctuary?

The height barrier comes down to planning constraints with the council. To keep a friendly, balanced relationship between the park and local residents, the 100ft/115ft height barrier is in place. Stealth was an exception due to the colour and lack of supports for the track. Swarm's high points are carefully placed to reduce 'sight pollution' to the surrounding area. The next coaster, according to recent planning documents, could have a maximum height of 164ft. Again, like Swarm, the high points have already been predetermined to reduce any problems with visual pollution. Other rides won't exceed 100ft either, as outlined in the MTDP. As Benin says, height isn't everything. If anything, having a really tall coaster may hamper other rides' appearance, as they could be dwarfed in comparison. Even Stealth wouldn't look as big next to something that's only 40ft smaller than it.

I completely forgot about Storm Surge! Have to say, it's a battle between Surge and Slammer then for worst ride.. Hard one actually, though I guess I have actually found SS fun in the past, so I guess Slammer still just pips it... [/randomwaffling]

Of all the coasters I've been on, none strike me as exceptionally bad really. I can't really think of one coaster which deserves the title of worst coaster really. As for worst ride, I hand that award to Slammer. I'm not a fan of it, and personally think the sooner it's gotten rid of, the better.

Well, Nemesis is at least a 9.5/10, so...

I did. In honesty, I can't remember much of it (I was only 9 or 10 at the time, so naturally spent a lot of the maze with my head buried in the person in front of me's back..) but it was a strange experience. It had a lot of strobes and a focus on weird people who were trapped in the freezer. There was lots of mist to simulate fog and cold and that, and featured the usual chainsaw man at the end. All in all, it was pretty much the same premise as the Asylum. The big difference was it wasn't all just chain link fencing, there were a couple of 'scenes' thrown it too.

I noticed the new paving on my last couples of visits. Personally, I thought it was just over a potential development of the building for future years (maybe bringing back a 4D film next year?), but it would seem early to be doing that admittedly.. It is the perfect place for some sort of attraction though if they can sort the building out. Only time will tell I guess!

Alton had rubbish attendance figures in 2011 (and is away from London), whereas 2011 was Thorpe's best year attendance-wise (and is close to London). Makes sense when you think of it like that. Solely looking at attendance figures is silly. If you were to do that, Storm Surge is the park's best investment ever...

Sounds like a really unfortunate day to go. On my previous Summer Nights, I haven't had to wait more than 5 minutes for ny wristband, and there was only 2 or 3 booths open. As for the way people were queuing, I found that the queues were so minimal it wouldn't really matter if you did go through the gates again, as there was so little queue..

I think there's other factors which can affect grey outs. For example, if you're dehydrated, been riding rides for a long period of time, etc., so it could vary from person to person. I've come close to a grey out on Swarm, but never actually had one. Only Saw and Inferno have given me grey outs - but both times it had happened, I had re-riden them a lot, and it was a hot day.

An interesting picture posted on ScareTour with the caption: "Who is this strange explorer and what does he have to do with Hocus Pocus Hall at Chessington?"

I don't think it's new ride hype, as it's got better and better for me! Could be that because it's a less intense ride, and just meant to be a bit of fun, it offers something completely different from all the other coasters on park, so seems better. I guess time will tell... And nah, it may good, but it ain't THAT good...

So, my original opinion on the new X has changed completely. I seriously love the ride. Yes, okay, it's not exactly the most thrilling coaster, but I find it really good fun. What I think I really like about it, but only realised tonight, is that thanks to the light show, each ride feels slightly different, adding to the re-rideability (12 times this evening!). Also got 2 goes with just the lasers on this evening - really is a great experience. Didn't think I'd say this, but I do no prefer X to NWO and, dare I say, it's my second favourite ride on park right now..! X - 8/10

Where did the park advertise Swarm as intense? Never heard them use that word once. They advertised it as extreme, which is different from intense. Swarm isn't an intense beast like, say, Nemesis. But it has its moments - the helicopter turnaround in particular is not only intense, but sustains that intensity for a period of time, which is a bit unusual. Anyway, next big thing. Am I right in thinking all B&Ms have had 1.4m restrictions? If so, wouldn't want to see the next big thing a B&M; the park needs a major family coaster in my opinion.

Duel. Alton's stupid reversal decisions or Chessington's stupid operations?

According to the park themselves, Swarm was very positively received by those who rode it. The trouble was, not enough people came to ride it. Why that was could be put down to many things, but it certainly isn't down to it being a B&M.