JoshC.

Stop the forum fighting and join the people who "spend their whole lives" looking at cat memes. You're making kittens sad, and soon they'll start dying.

You've made this poor, defenseless little kitten sad now Smidget. Can you just look at that kitten, and tell me there's more to life then cat memes? No, I didn't think so

Fried Chicken Co. is usually a great place to go to, but the Fish and Chips are pretty decent too. Though, as Coaster Jamie says, don't go to Burger Kitchen, no matter what!

Bank holidays are always weird ones. Either everyone goes and it's really busy, or everyone expects it to be a bist because it's a bank holiday and it's really quiet. Can be a bit of pot lucky really, but normally I found the May Day one isn't too bad. I'd say be prepared / expect to queue around 30-45mins for the major coasters. That way, if it's less than that, you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Hope Curse goes, don't like it. Theming-wise it's nice, but that's it (Though, I heard rave reviews about it last season and it was the best of the lot last season..). If it does go and they're keen to get rid of tents, it'll be intersting to see where the new maze would go. I was always under the impression the reason Se7en was moved to the beach in 2011 was because it was impractical / not possible to have shipping containers on the beach (hence why Experiment 10 couldn't go there). There's not a lot of space really, and I think all permanent buildings would be occupied in one way or another. Maybe make use of the CCR route (well, part of it) somehow? Would also like to see Asylum changed sooner or later, it's getting a bit old now. If we get a new maze, I would like to see them stick with the traditional conga line though. Experiment 10 and Passing are good ideas with their twists, but you don't want too many of them. Some mazes just need to be kept to traditional conga line and eat through the queues, something E10 and Passing aren't good with. Would like to see a more spooky theme as opposed to the horror thing with got going - things seemingly moving by themselves, 'ghosts' / 'shadowy figures' in the darkness, those sort of things. Dunno why I'd like to see it, just seems like something different and make a change from your regular maze.

A bit more 'open' than I was expecting (I was more expecting a 4-row Eurofighter car with just a little more space between rows), but I like it. Nice and simple design, but will stand out from a distance - exactly what was needed. Me like.

The awkward moment when I can't count...

The Miles Cedars video has been posted on AT's Youtube account, and linked onto FB and Twitter. The Youtube description: Absolutely brilliantly set up - it should allow for the story to develop and make it seem like the park aren't related to the videos, thus not spoiling the mood the videos are creating and allowing the masses to see it. Love it love it love it.

Well looks like I've been had then... Thanks for finding that

Posted by TST member 'Altitude'. This is a rumoured layout for the B&M wingrider next year. Not the longest or most interesting layout, but it is situated on a hill which could place some restrictions / make it more awkward to design. Note now pretty much after the wingover it's a mirror image of Swarm.. Looks like the theming will make or break this ride, but based on Merlin's recent rides the past few years, I'd say this ride will be a glowing success and look absolutely spectacular.

Maybe wrong was the wrong word to use there, though not really sure what the best word is! I'm more speaking in a general sense though. Like with videos of parts of The Marmaliser testing, saying how it doesn't look good (example - The Tickler not spinning fast enough) when it's only just started testing. A chance needs to be given, as well as time, for such things to develop. But instead, people are quick to be negative, be that through worrying or slating. With the case of the support, it's probably the most worrying thing we've seen so far to date. Worrying in the sense that it will like cause (even more) delay. But no doubt, behind closed doors, things like this have happened before, on other coasters by other manufacturers. But I see some people (not necessarily here, just general across forums and the likes of Facebook), slating the park / Gerstlauer, which just seems...unneccessary. As Benin said, not everything goes perfectly during construction, and when that happens, people seem to be very quick to slate. Just an observation really. But if the original delay hadn't have happened, I bet a lot of the concerns people are having now wouldn't have even crossed people's minds.

I guess one of the many troubles of having the delay with groundworks and site issues is that any problems / testing faults are in plain view of the public and, more critically, the enthusiast community. Imagine if this ride was on schedule. We likely wouldn't have known about the support-which-doesn't-support-yet-support, the one screen of The Marmaliser not working first time, one of The Tickler's brushes not spinning at full speed first time, etc. I'd hate to think what would happen if a car was to stall during one of the first test runs or something like that. Has been interesting, though, seeing a UK project (especially one of such size thematically) be completed, as we normally wouldn't see the final 2-3 months of any project like this. Just a shame that some enthusiasts worry, panic and/or slate every time something goes wrong.

I think the reason why new threads can't be made in the General Thorpe section can't be made is because a couple of years back, it was get clogged up with thread after thread of basically the same thing, because people weren't checking other threads. So, the decision was made that only the Team could create threads (or move threads there) when necessary to make it tidier. However, there were no such problems with any other parts of the forum. You can still post threads in the 'Quick Questions', 'The Past' and 'The Future' parts of the Thorpe Park section, as they weren't getting as clogged up. I'm sure someone on the Team can clarify this fully though.

And for those who may be thinking that that's some random image Ricky's made, we have this... So, we have a guy called Miles Cedars (which so happens to be an anagram of 'Smile Scared') who likes to make people smile, who has been interviewed by a couple of university students; here are their Twitter pages: https://twitter.com/Danny_Holden90 https://twitter.com/Trisha__White The book referenced in the video was apparently avaliable off Amazon, but was taken of by the 26th April. A screenshot from Trisha's Twitter. Trisha also set an alarm for '5:14am', which seems to hint back to the 'Camera 5/14 active' thing sent in the marketing email in December. The Twitter accounts are fairly recent, but have only just started posted things which could directly relate to Smiler. The past few days they've been posting things relating to smiling and stuff, and following a select few people. And, who remembers the leaked potential video a couple of months back, which I believe was a proposal idea from one of the potential companies that could produce the videos for Smiler? Comparison picture made by TST member 'Cheese'. Don't these two look rather similar (if you ignore the stark contrast in facial expressions)? So, the big question of everyone's lips - real or fake? Personally, I think this is real. It's elaborately thought out (as a whole, with the Twitter tweets and hints they make their), the video seems quite well made and seems to have had too much effort put in for a fan-made video. And, a point which I read on TST which was really good, it isn't trying to convince you it's related to Smiler. There's no links to Dr Kelman, The Ministry of Joy, marmalisation, etc. Surely if an enthusiast wanted to make fake marketing videos, they'd want to try and make it scream 'REAL' to other enthusiasts by adding in such hints? YAY, speculation!

Your wish is my command pluk! Unfortunately it's all down to Facebook and their silly mucking around with links, but I've updated them with the new links (so hopefully they'll last a while...). My apologises about the quality of photos (all are on my old camera, and I'm not the greatest photographer) and despite what the time stamps say, all these photos were taken during the 2011 season. Hope you enjoy reminiscing over them! (Oh, and Fred, it was a surprisingly tight squeeze in there - sorry about taking so long to respond, I only just got myself free! )

WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR THIS EMPIRE GAME?! I'M SO CONFUSE! Other than that, loving the TR so far, and can't wait to see how the adventure ends.

POV of Iron Rattler anyone? https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUIxiXRZqUv9zYVM80cz6ZnA&feature=player_embedded&v=0kixf9Lwsqk Looks okay, but that zero-g roll...ooft

Credit to TPG. Some theming work has been going on at the base of the vertical lift; looks good. I'm also surprised at the seemingly high accuracy of the game thus far!

Louder audio and more stuff inside the cave is a step in the right direction. Hopefully the park can continue to tweak it and see what works and what doesn't so it progresses further through the coming months and years.. The pre show isn't great, and is clearly aimed to please the young kids and nothing else, which is a shame for a family attraction. It's not even like there's much humour for the adults to enjoy, and if you're not with any young children, it is just a cringe through and through. I do fear that even for kids it could become stale if they go on it a couple of times (and no doubt this is something that many will want to reride due to the nature of the ride)..

Seems pretty good. Also looks like it's during the weekend as Half Term starts? Definitely has a wide scope of appeal and seems like the sort of thing the park should be doing to attract as many people as possible and make money for them. Shame I'm at uni during those dates; would really like the try it out! Just out of curosity, does anyone know if these events (and other evening events in the Dome) are included if you stay in The Crash Pad during those nights? Would be a bit awakward really if it wasn't...

It is Thorpe's policy to only have one helper. However, if you'd need two helpers to get off rides in case of evacuation, and you have that explained in (preferably) a doctor's note, they will allow two.

All part of the plan that Merlin cooked up at the last minute when they realised that they needed to get rid of the theming. I really wish Chessington wasn't one of those places I loved going regardless of the state of the park. Because then it would be easy for me to have not visited this year and wait till they sorted themselves out for next year...

Here's mine, just a general one for life, not to be finished by any particular age, and in no particular order. Ones in red are ones I've done which were in my bucket list... 1) Get married. 2) Have kids (traditional values much?!). 3) Pass my degree (with a first hopefully) and possibly get a PhD (in Maths). 4) Sky dive. 5) Bungee jump. 6) European tour of theme parks. 7) Visit a few theme parks in Asia and America. 8) Ride at least 200 coasters ('cause I'm a credit-seeking enthusiast deep down ) 9) Give blood (despite the fact I'm PETRIFIED of needles and hate blood tests...) 10) Run (in the loosest sense of the word) the London Marathon. 11) Be able to swim (don't worry Smidget, you ain't the only one! ) 12) Be mentioned in a National Newspaper. 13) Appear on TV (even if I have to be one of those annoying people in waves in the background when news reporters are reporting stuffs). 14) Publish a book (probably a novella or a Popular Science book akin to Ian Stewart's Mathsy ones). That seems to be a rather exhaustive list of what I want to do. May not seem a lot compared to others in length, but I guess some of them will be lengthy time-wise, and in saving up the money to do so! Like others, I may add more if I think of them..

Listening to the couple opposite me at uni halls arguing is like my very own Soap Opera. I hate Soap Operas.