JoshC.

This was tweeted by CoasterForce earlier. May not be much, but at least there's some form of compensation for Annual Pass holders as well if they still went today (which doesn't always happen!)

http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/9917-next-big-thing-20152016-coaster/page-4#entry147676 That post has everything that I think we 'know' about the next coaster and its opening date. This season has seen a lot of focus on the entertainment side of the park, so I wouldn't be surprised if the next coaster opens in 2016 to focus on the entertainment and accomodation strategy. However, from planning documents, it remains unclear as to when the next coaster is planned for.

According to some members on TST who have phoned up, it has failed a H&S check today... Oops. EDIT: And according to members of TTF who are on park. the H&S checks are to do with fire exits, evacuations from the buildings and such, as opposed to the ride. So, in theory, it could open Friday/Saturday, or at push, tomorrow even.. Make of all that what you will!

I'd be very interested as to the reason for this delay; 'teething problems' is of course very vague. The fact that just yesterday Ben and the other competition winners were told that they'd be able to ride on Thursday before the public after having pushed it back from today is...interesting (I wonder what's happening with that now?!). The park have seemed fairly confident that the ride would open tomorrow, so either this is a last-minute problem, or they've just been too optimistic. Without knowing full details, it's hard to criticise AT here in my honest opinion. If this is something really unexpected that happened today / yesterday evening, then I guess it's just really bad luck. If they've been too optimistic with this date then, well, AT deserve some of the slack that's coming their way really. Also, I think they need to lay of the 'WE HAVE OVER 50 ATTRACTIONS' stuff; the whole point of tomorrow (and probably the next few days) would be Smiler; for enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike. Either way, this is a PR disaster for the park, and one they don't really need...

From Towers Nerd Facebook page: The message on the home page was removed shortly after it was found though. If it doesn't open tomorrow, it will be such a shame; Alton really can't afford for this to be delayed any more.. EDIT: Screenshot of it taken by TTF member Danny, before it was taken down:

Something you have to remember though is when it opened, it was advertised as 'Europe's tallest water ride', so it wouldn't take a lot of effort to just do a simple check. Either way, no harm has been done by it, could be a lot worse I guess.

I thought Marc was being sarcastic about a new band thing Thorpe were doing; 'Please..?' is such a weird name, like Ryan said. But yeah, liking all this extra stuff Thorpe are doing to attract as many people as possible with different tastes, as opposed to focusing on just one specific one (which would have been all to easy to do)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQq4_6ziuTU Advert! Bit of a shame they didn't use the laughing version of ITHOTMK, but ah well. Wonder if they'll do a post-watershed advert as well?

So, last night's episode. Wow. We got questions answered, and we had new ones left behind, yet, for once, the series felt like it had been complete. The Whisper Men were a great idea and I'd love to see more of them. Can't wait for the 50th Anniversary special now!

I remain sceptical as to whether that is official or not. TPC can be a bit hit and miss, especial with their 'exclusive'. Also, the first part of the audio with the guy speaking talking about 'This treatment is not suitable for...', which was in the audio I posted earlier. I read on TST that was for the press night only when people were taken from the party venue over to Smiler, which sounds reasonable. The way it cuts into the laughing version of ITHOTMK is poorly done as well. As for the 'Cut a smile into their face...' bit, I like it, sounds quite sinister and sounds like Dr Kelman. Don't doubt that any of the music they use is official, but that soundtrack itself seems fan-made in my opinion.

I saw your name on the winner's list and thought I recognised it. Congratulations and enjoy! EDIT: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1400118-rob-and-ollie-try-to-ride-the-smiler?utm_campaign=detailpage&utm_content=retweet&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#t=0m14s A short radio clip from someone at the event, it contains a nice little audio clip from what I guess was a pre-show; whether it was one designed for the press or not is unknown. And, not sure if it's just me eyesight, but it looks like the 'Name badge' of the guy he's got a photo with is 'Inoculator'.

More Hades 360, from 'Behind the Thrills' Facebook... Whatever your views on hybrid coasters and inversions, that does look mighty fine.

Wreck-It Ralph Bit late to the party on this one (Student Cinema ftw though), but WOW. Brilliant film, original enough story line, humour for all ages. Just what Disney films are known for, at it's absolute best. If you didn't see it at the cinema, make sure you get the DVD when it comes out. 9/10

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alton-towers-smiler-breaks-down-1895825 Any publicity is good publicity or..?

The more and more I look up Europa Park, read trip reports, etc., the more and more I want to go, and the sooner too. May just have to get saving for a trip next season... Great report as ever Mark - thanks for doing it; really enjoying it and can't wait for the next part!

For people concerned about the music - it may not necessarily be the whole thing even! Remember when they were testing the screens on The Marmaliser at first, and it had a few minute loop? Could be exactly the same here; so that the speakers get tested, sound levels tweaked, stir up more attention, etc. Admittedly I have some reservations about what has been heard so far, but I'll wait till I've actually visited before making any of them vocal. Also, this was tweeted earlier by AT during the press event. It's a photo of a car coming into the station, and you can see staff as well (the uniform looks well suited inside the station). Put in spoilers just in case...

At a guestimate, maximum capacity could be anywhere up to 1400pph. I'd expect more a theoretical capacity in the region of 12-1300pph though, again at a guestimate. If it's got a 6 hour queue capacity, that would mean at least the capability for 7200 people... Unless this thing has a ridiculously long queue which is just unnecessary, I can't see that happening...

It would be interesting if they could somehow 'marmalise' people's faces, but I don't think it would work for on ride photos, mainly because people aren't always going to be looking at the camera / not at the right angle for it to be effective. Would love to be proven wrong though!

Thorpe's probably had about £80 million invested since the turn of the century. It's where the money is spent that would make the difference, not the amount thrown at it.

I believe that's also been sorted now; was just a(nother) little error.

For clue 2, it only let me continue when I entered it as 'Its time 2', as opposed to 'It's time 2' (even though both gave a tick, strangely...). It's been corrected now though, allowing both answers to continue. Woo.

Seems to only stall when the cars are empty? Maybe it's just because, like all coasters, it's designed with the weight of people in my mind to make it round the circuit, and sometimes, without that weight, it just can't make it round due to other reasons?

Nice video, creeped me out a bit as well! Anyone else just getting redirected to the videos page (with their clues deleted) after they put in the clues, which show up to be correct? EDIT: Got it to work; think there's a bit of naughty trickery on Towers' part though about how to enter it...

Ah, didn't think about it being covered in T&Cs, good point.. Personally, I think the theming will return in some shape or another. Maybe I'm just being too optimisitic, but for the most part, there's clearly been effort put in by all the Merlin parks with regards to theming and overall experience (the only exception that springs to mind is Storm Surge). Of course, it hasn't always been successful (as you say), but it's there. So yeah, fingers crossed on that one. But this season in general is not exactly great. The transitional period is just rubbish, and not what guests should be expecting, nor deserve.