JoshC.

Just as a thought, do any other Gerstlauers other than Saw have offload platforms (having only ridden Saw, I genuinely have no idea). I remember hearing that Saw was, in a way, a prototype due to the dual loading/offloading, but due to all the troubles Saw had, they probably wouldn't do it again. Not sure if that included the offload station though? Might be the reason why they didn't include an offload platform though. Smiler being a prototype in itself, they might have though it best to not go back to territory they found troublesome in the past?

I didn't think either of them were prototypes. I remember the advertising for Slammer featured a white Sky Swat with American flags, which I always presumed was the prototype. Unless it used a slightly different system or something? I think Rush was the first Screamin' Swing to have 32 seats, but there was no new technology with it? As for what I think of Slammer... Well, to be honest, I hope it reopens quickly and stays open for the rest of the season. Then I just hope they get rid of it and get something better. A picnic area would be nice. (Yep, I really hate Slammer that much...)

Really want to take advantage of this! £16 is the high end of what I'd want to pay for it, but I can see why they're charging that amount, and would more than likely go.

http://www.thorpepark.com/press/releases/2013/10-07-2013-THORPE-PARK-ice-scream-weekend.doc Ice cream snow storm anyone? Looks like I know where I'll be on the 26th...

Now I see why a friend who goes to Imperial was dead-set from living at home! At Warwick, Halls ranged from £76-£150 pw. For me, I paid £89pw, got a large bedroom and, in general, the Halls themselves and surrounding area were beautiful. Granted, I shared a kitchen with 17 other people and it was 1 shower between 6, but I had no problem with it at all. Come September, my house has rent of £90pw, including all bills and utilities (plus TV license). It's a 24 person house, so it's a bit like living in a smaller set of Halls really, but it's one bathroom between 3. We also get a huge kitchen (at least twice the size of the one I had this year), Games room (with Snooker and football tables), plus a TV all included. It's seriously an amazing place! Price-wise, glad I didn't go to a London uni!

Not sure what happened there; might've just been the site updating or something. I've updated the links, so hopefully they'll stay working. Very true. However, this isn't all the of the big picture, at least how I see it. Whilst they won't stop developing, it is fair to say the past few non-coaster year development have been somewhat...poor. In the past 10 years, there's been 7 which have been non-coaster development years, and I'd say 2 of them were actually substantial / of any good (2005 and 2013). The rest have seen very cheap attractions which have either been poor or have not lasted (and Flying Fish, I guess, which isn't exactly a large or special development to any degree really). If the next major coaster isn't going to come until 2017, at the earliest, what will we see in the way of park developments now? Will we see year after year of cheapo attractions which add next to nothing to the current line up, or are gone in a couple of years time? Okay, we may see the park's presentation and overall standard improved, but will that bring in the customers? Though, in saying that, 2011 was the park's busiest year (in terms of number of visitors, I think?), so maybe it's not all bad? Whilst I'm probably thinking of the worst case scenario here, I find it hard not to take into account the park have struggled to have successful developments aside from their coasters recently. I don't quite know how budgeting for rides works, but I doubt it will simply be the case that because they're delaying the next coaster, they can invest more into other rides and such. So, it will be interesting to see how the next couple of years go for the park.

The thing is, they've only been doing well the past couple of months (from what I hear). The first couple of months this season weren't great, and last year wasn't great visitor-wise. So they are still having problems. And a couple of good months isn't going to stop them being out of a bad situation (if they are in one). And, to be honest, if they're wanting a coaster to open with a hotel, that's, frankly, a ridiculous idea, for which Thorpe should deserve to suffer. Sorry to sound harsh, but it's just going to harm the park in the short term, and potentially the long term.

Seems worthy of it's own topic... Thorpe Park have submitted plans for an extension of the Crash Pad units...until 2024, as read here: Source - http://planning.runnymede.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=183854&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 A quick look at the plans, submitted this time last week, states the reason for this is: A few more bits of info which may be of interest: -Funding for the permanent hotel may not be available before 2020. -The entire scheme of Crash Pad requires a total investment of £9 million. -There will be a maximum of 184 rooms in the new-look Crash Pad, including smaller rooms for couples. -The current Thrill Workshop (next to the Crash Pad) will house all the electrical equipment and other similar things. -The park only has 1 row of the current Crash Pad shipping containers set up, with a second to be installed "shortly". -Crash Pad v2.0 will open in time for next season and will occupy a slightly larger space than the current Crash Pad. All of this information comes from the third link of the plans (which can be seen here - http://planning.runnymede.gov.uk/RBCNGE/ngeResultsForm.aspx?intref=RU.13/0719). I'll be trawling through the plans a bit more as time goes (this information all comes from the first 4 plans, so some may be a bit skewed / misinterpreted). Here's a quick look at how this visually changes the look of the Crash Pads: Now: The second row (the bottom one) has yet to be added yet, but should be added soon. Crash Pad v2: We see a new, smaller, row is added, and can see the smaller rooms (with the smaller rooms, there' 4 rooms per container, as opposed to 3). However, the biggest point that stands out to me here is this (again, from the third plan, page 8): Yep, it is likely we will not see a new roller coaster until 2017 (at the earliest...) Surely a sign of just how badly Thorpe are currently doing?

I could only do the first weekend, as the other weekend I'm helping out at uni with Freshers arriving. However, I'm not going to vote, as the only way I could make it is if my resit exam is on Friday 6th (makes travel easier and cheaper for me, as I'll be a lot closer). I won't find out till the beginning of August the date of the exam, so a case of wait and see for me!

100% agree with this. I don't know how I'd have made any real friends if I wasn't in halls in this past year. Even if you end up not liking the people you live with, it's an experience and a good learning curve of life, etc. Also, got an email back about this. Thankfully, it's nothing to worry about - it's just because where I've technically failed an exam (as it stands), I cannot officially go to next year. As soon as I take the exam (which I'm confident I'll pass easily), then I can officially be 'allowed' into second year. So yeah, turns out I was over-worrying. Phew

I've been thinking about it, and the way it works sounds similar to Séance: The Curse of Mary Black; the main scare maze at Warwick Castle's Halloween event, in that there'd only be 1, maybe 2, groups in the maze at any one time. I really liked the way Séance was set up, but the execution was a bit weak. So, a style of maze like that at Thorpe (which should inevitably be more scary) would work wonders. I think there's two troubles with the suggestion made here: -The setting up of buildings along the route. If the rumours of reopening CCR hold true, it would have to close again in September. It could also cause damage to the track itself, which would be quite costly. -Health and Safety. They're going to be really strict about it, aren't they? It's probably doable, but doable to a degree that makes it effective enough? Not too sure. I remember reading on some site somewhere a while back (though I can't find it for the life of me!) that the CCR did hold a scare attraction one year when Fright Nights first started (I think the 02 season). However, due to surrounding noises and poor marketing of the attraction, it didn't last more than the 1 year. Anyone know any more on that, or did I imagine it? I do think it's something that could be pulled of though, and it wouldn't be hard to execute it correctly. However, I would happily take something similar, focusing around silence, second-guessing yourself, 'seeing things', etc. and relying on your senses. I just can't help but continually think to myself that what I'd imagine from a Slender maze is what I wanted from The Passing though!

Just a quick update on this for anyone interested... I've been playing about with Gimp (thanks Tommy and Cornflakes for the suggestion/recommendation!) so will hopefully get the board sorted out in the next few days, so that it's less 'rough round the edges'. I've decided to put the Free Parking space as 'Passholder Perks' with a picture of a Premium MAP (thanks to Alex for the inspiration). Can't think of anything for Chance or Community Chest, so will probably just keep them named like that. I've also made a few Chance cards: They're a bit bare and basic and rough round the edges at the mo; couldn't really think of what else to do with them. Any ideas? As I said, I've got a fair bit of free time on my hands, so hoping to get everything 'done' (a nice-looking board, complete set of cards, etc.) in the next month or so, so watch this space!

Came across this randomly... http://themeparkdesigns.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/slender-thorpe-park-fright-nights-2013/ Fan made, I know, but I would still LOVE to see something like this. Thorpe's mazes all make use of the same tactic of 'shock scares', and there's no real ambient build up. Something like this would be a fantastic addition. Whilst that actual maze probably could never happen (Health and Safety, the possible return of CCR, etc.), the same concept could be applied elsewhere. I think maybe The Passing could (and should have) employed this idea. Maybe a slight story change to show how you're being tormented by one or two characters in the afterlife, and these keep reappearing and disappearing throughout the maze. With the use of the bags on your head, it would create a tense atmosphere, and could build up nicely, whilst still keeping the scares. It could work well with an Asylum retheme as well. Isn't the maze basically just set in one big room? If so, then the positioning of the speakers could allow things to sound in the distance at one point of the maze, then be really close as you advance through. Coupled in with the feeling of being chased / trapped by someone / something, it's another way the idea could work well.

I'm in. And that time suits me greatly!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/5001104/Alton-Towers-Air-ride-breaks-down-people-stuck.html Biggest over-exaggeration and non-story of the year?

I think it was mentioned in the MTDP that only a certain number of supports (6 or 9? Some number under 10 at least), would be in the water for the 2012 and 2015/6 coaster combined. I guess that's for a variety of reasons, such as cost, logistics and environmental. As no supports are in the water for Swarm (pretty sure at least), I guess it's possible an element of the next coaster could be over water? As pluk said, all the infilling the park currently have planned is complete (unless there's a bit more to be done on the island next to Swarm), and unless the more are mentioned in the next MTDP (in 2016), we probably won't see any more. To be honest, I think Thorpe are reaching their limit on infilling land, especially as they are edging closer to Thorpe town, and 'noise pollution' could become a problem. I remember reading an article in a local paper around the time of Swarm's application being accepted as well that some councillors are feeling that the park are reaching their limit, and that a balance between them and the local community has to be taken into account.

I guess a topic like this never really came about as not many people here were at / have been to uni - only 6 or 7 that I can think of? Anyways, seems like a good time for it to come about with more people choosing to go. I didn't think UCAS was too bad actually. A bit confusing at first, but once I got on with it, all plain sailing really. I hated them on Results Day though, as they said 'Don't check Track and slow the website down, you'll get an email when it has been updated'. I was stubborn though and kept refreshing Track - which was updated a good 8-10 hours before I got my email through. Good thing I checked, otherwise I would have gone mad with the waiting! Student Finance is horrid to sort out. So many forms, going back and forth. There's so many little things to work out and it can be very frustrating, especially as you do it in the months preceding to the main exams (if you apply in Year 13). The good thing is, once it's sorted, it's really easy to update, and the annual 'renewal' is straightforward and simply to do (as long as you keep hold of important details and emails; like you should anyway). So, after all that effort, it's fine. As for university itself, I got a rather worrying email which said I might be kicked off my course today! :S To explain - I missed an exam due to breaking my ankle. I get to sit at the beginning of September, taking the resit exam, but it's classed as a first attempt today. However, when I was emailed today about it, I was told: What I *think* it is, is because without that exam (which counts as a whole module), I wouldn't have done enough credits for my first year, and so technically haven't done enough to move on. So, when I sit the exam in September, I'll have enough credits, and can proceed fine and dandy. However, my results included the missed module (scored as 0%), and as I passed, even taking that into account, it shouldn't be an issue. And, as it's not a core or important module, it doesn't matter what I score. So yeah, quite confused, and a bit worried. I've emailed for clarification; I do think it's just a case of I need to do the exam in September and the email was just badly worded / I'm over-worrying. But if it does end up that I get kicked off my course (for no good reason), I genuinely have no clue what I would end up doing... :/

Whilst that may be the case, do you still enjoy / like it? Of course everyone has different opinions, but Nemesis seems to be one of the few rides where everyone agrees about it's greatness, or at the very least, still enjoy it. Don't think I've ever heard of someone who dislikes / doesn't enjoy Nemesis actually! In fact, Smiler seems to be one of those rides everyone seems to agree on as well - it's blooming good, but a bit rough round the edges, and so not perfect (based on reviews I've read, as I've not ridden it yet).

Both would fill a gap in the park's current line up, and personally I think either would fit in with the park beautifully. At the same time, though, both have their downsides which the park would have to work around, so would be interesting to see what the park comes up with.

James, I genuinely don't know who is who in that picture! Think you two might have been separated at birth...

This seems like the best place to put this... Finally got around to taking some photos of some of my old merchandise to do with the Thorpe Rangers: Chief Ranger 'piggy bank'. Baby Ranger piggy bank. Mr Elephant and Mr Rabbit piggy bank. Mr Monkey's Banana Ride bookends. A collection of little...things? Don't really know how better to describe them to be honest! They're in a box with things like this though: Which are little Tetley Tea 'things'. They're made of the same material and similar size. Anyone know any more about them?

Top 6 coasters? Looks like X is included there then, though I can't imagine that being immensely popular. Still good to see mind! Would happily do this for a small charge - I'd expect costs in the region of £15-£20, and 1000-2000 as a limit to people. For, say, evening openings of 8pm-11pm, that would be more than reasonable and something I'd quite happily take advantage of!

I heard £1 million, which probably includes infilling costs. Seems strange to think of it as infilled land these days actually!

First off, I understand that the Blogs feature was introduced with the intention of Trip Reports going here, but I'm still going to continue these sorts of blog entries here and in my other blog from time-to-time (if that's okay of course!) Anyways, as most will know - or have worked out - I'm a university student, and I've just finished my first year (woo!). I decided just to do a quick entry just going through what it's been like, the ups and the downs and such, and just give a small insight into 'uni life'. Hopefully it'll be interesting to some, and may even help people who are thinking about going to uni / going to uni this year in some way. Either way, hope you enjoy! So yeah, despite missing my offer effectively by two whole grades, I got accepted by my first choice - the University of Warwick, to do Maths. It's regularly ranked in the Top 10 universities in the country, and the Maths Department was this year ranked 23rd in the world. Personally, I don't like the idea of university rankings, as there's no fair way, in my eyes, to rank universities, as many surveys will focus on student satisfaction (and so students could just rate highly to improve post-university prospects), research successes (which has little to do with degrees) or results (and due to the wide range of courses and their difficulties at all the universities, that just seems silly). Nevertheless, it's nice to see 'my uni' ranking well.. The Maths department is also home to one of the country's more famous mathematicians - Ian Stewart. Not only has he had many successes with his research, he's also a popular science author, with a ridiculous number of books to his name (80 something I think), and has also worked with Terry Prachett on the 'Science of Discworld' books. Whilst he's now retired, he still hangs around the department a lot and gives the occasional talk, and he's always happy to have a little chat with people and sign a couple of his books (which I've taken advantage of). I guess you could say he's one of the 'John Wardleys' of popular Maths. I also found out my Personal Tutor before arriving at Warwick, and after a minute of research, I found his Wikipedia page(!) and it turned out he has had a few prizes for his research - found that a bit daunting to be honest! Now, before arriving to uni, I didn't know what exactly to expect. I was moving 100 miles way from home, and whilst I knew 1 person on my course, I didn't really like them, so wanted to try my best to avoid them. So, I was in the usual uni position - moving a long way away from home, knowing no one, not really knowing how to cook, afraid of budgeting properly, as well as being not so confident and having a difficult course looming! I do think some people, especially in the media, forget just how much students have to deal with when moving to uni, and make it seem much simpler than it really is. But, strangely, when I had moved in and everything, it all just seemed to work. Everyone was nervous, in the exact same position, and even if they were a confident person, being plunged into that sorta situation brings most people to jelly. One thing which scared me was the fact that I didn't drink, and feared that would hinder my chance to make friends with people / I'd be forced into drinking. That did not happen. A fair few people were similar to me, so it really was no biggie. So, seriously, anyone who's thinking about uni and doesn't fit the 'media-portrayed student' of loving to go out get smashed every night - don't worry, uni is not really like and that, and if you're not that sorta person, you will be fine! Now, unlike most unis, Warwick doesn't have a traditional 'Fresher's Week' (ie the first week of first term has no lectures, and you can party and get to know people and stuff). Instead, we have lectures from the start, but have a 'Fresher's Fortnight', where there's loads of special events to help people adjust to uni life, but still have lectures and classes and whatever else. Seems nasty, but that's university! So, for my first two terms, I had in the region of 20-24 hours of contact time a week (may not seem a lot to those outside of university, but trust me, it is a lot for university. For example, History students and Warwick have 8-10 hours!). I had 2-4 assignments due a week, which for the most part was just a series of questions. Usually, an assignment would take me 3-6 hours, depending on difficulty and length, and that's whilst working with others. Each assignment counted to each individual module, and each module counts to my overall grade for first year, which was 10% of my overall degree (despite first year for most degrees not counting). So, needless to say, it was essential to do them well! I'd also spend a few hours a week going over notes, writing them in neat, etc. So, some weeks, I could be working up to 55-60 hours a week; even then, I always felt like I 'could be doing more'. I'd like to point out that's probably not the norm for your average student (in case anyone is getting a bit scared or put off!). Maths at university is EXTREMELY different to at GCSE and A-Level, and so at any uni requires a lot of contact time to explain and teach everything, and a lot of time outside of lectures to actually understand what you need to. Other subjects tend to have less contact hours (except science subjects, which have lab sessions, which can last several hours at once!), but a lot more reading material to be read in your own time (so whilst people doing History have 8 hours of lectures a week, they could spend 5-10 hours reading and making their own notes, for example). Then they'll have essays and such as well, so probably a rough estimate would be about 40 hours a week working, in theory. The third and final term of the year at any uni is defined by one thing - exams. It's a shame that exams are the easiest way to grade somebody (which, after all, is one of the key points of uni - to get a graded degree), as it doesn't always reflect somebody's true potential; whatever level. At least at university, the lecturer will write the exam, rather than a group of old farts in some office, and so reflects what you have been taught directly, but still. So, I had a whole one hour contact time a week with my supervisor, where with 4 other people, we could ask questions on stuff we were stuck on. It wasn't particularly helpful, as there's so much stuff and so little time, and everyone struggles with different things. So, basically, I'd spend all day revising, and about 2-3 evenings a week, I'd relax and watch a film or something. When I wasn't working, I'd normally just be relaxing with my flat mates. Normally we'd watch a film or a few episodes from a TV series a couple of nights of a week, play board games, etc., some people would go out a couple of times a week to the Students' Union (personally, I went out about two or three times in the first two terms, and not once in the last term), or pop down to the pub every now and then. It may not sound like much, but you can spend so many hours just doing stuff like this, before realising it's 2am and you probably should get some sleep 'cause of a dreaded 9am lecture! When it came to things like shopping and cooking, I was fine with that. I was able to get my weekly shopping bill to about £20-£25, sometimes cheaper, but was still able to have a variety of food, which was healthy as well. More importantly, I pretty much stayed away from all ready meals, apart from an Iceland pizza once every couple weeks (which I'd highly recommend btw - only £1 and absolutely brill!). I was able to find time to cook decent, healthy meals every day, and quickly found myself to really enjoy cooking, and to be pretty decent at it. I did briefly turn into one of those people that takes photos of their food and shares it all over Facebook; I am no longer one of those people thankfully! I guess one of the last things to talk about should be results. For those a bit unsure, the classification of results goes: -First (at least 70%) -2.I: two-one (60-69%) -2.ii: two-two (50-59%) -Third (40-49%) -Fail (less than 40%). I was disappointed to find out I'd gotten 56% for my first year, which after all the work I had put in, I felt wasn't a true reflection of my ability. However, I did find that this did include an exam I missed due to breaking my ankle, which for the time being has been scored a 0%. So, when I sit the exam in September, as long as I pass the exam, I'll just sneak in a 2.I (with my grade probably bumping up to 61-62%). Whilst I would have wanted higher, I was hoping for 68%+ honestly, it is something I will take. It was first year of uni, and some modules didn't play to my strengths, and so dragged me down quite a bit. Other years are worth more overall, and I have more choice in modules, so I can focus of my strengths - focus on the positives I guess. Well, that ended up being a lot longer than I anticipated - sorry for the rambling, and congrats if you read that all! But yeah, hopefully that has given a bit of insight into the world of being a student. Just a couple of final points - what you tend to hear about university is it's the best time of your life, you'll look back fondly of it, etc., and the media focuses a lot of the partying side of it. However, what tends to be mentioned very little is how hard it can be away from the academic side. University is emotionally draining - you're away from home, and so much is piled on you so quickly at times. If you go to university, whatever you do, wherever you go, it's difficult to cope, and mild depression is more common than you may think. I hate to practically finish on such a down note, but I do remember Benin (I think) saying something similar when the topic of uni was being discussed on the forums before Sidders, Smidget and I started, and I admittedly thought it was an over-exaggeration. However, it's true - university is extremely tough in a personal sense, as well as an academic sense, and there's no way you can prepare for that in my eyes. It's something that's sometimes forgotten in the stress of it all, but I think it's safe to say that, at some point during a student's life at university, there'll be tough moments where you feel you can't deal with uni, for whatever reason, and you need to try and work your way up from what can feel like rock bottom. Though, I guess university is meant to help prepare you for life. And, well, that's life. (Again, sorry about the length of this. Really did not expect to ramble on this long! :S )