JoshC.

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.

I like SRQ, IF it is run properly and designed to have them. For example, the majority at Alton's seem to work fine from what I've seen, and it's because the queue line and loading procedures were in mind with the design of it. If the staff are being reasonably quick and performing well, there's nothing wrong with it. However, with a lot of Thorpe's old ones (Inferno and Colossus spring to mind), SRQs weren't designed to be in mind. Even the Stealth one was poorly thought out. It made it much harder and slowed down everything. Personally, I thought the one that was on Saw in 2009 worked well. Okay, it was designed into the queue line, but the it worked it made use of the queue lines well. It worked because the batching was clear and simple, and the batcher could tell if there was a spare seat avaliable long before people were boarding the cars. The batcher being so close to the SRQ meant it was easy just to direct the odd one guest to the appropriate row. With Smiler have 4 rows per car, which is basically the same as Saw which dispatches 4 rows at once, if the merge point is logically thought out and the batching system works in a similar vein to Saw's, I see no reason why SRQ would be a bad thing for Smiler and won't interfere with throughputs or anything like that.

And now for me Alton Towers has dropped from a 'Probably' to a 'Probably Not' and Drayton Manor has risen from a 'Maybe' to a 'Probably'. Well, at least I'm breaking free from The Merlin Machine...

http://www.chessingtonbuzz.co.uk/interviews/nick-varney-2013/ Chessington Buzz have been fortunate enough to interview Nick Varney, CEO of Merlin, with regards to Chessington in general. It's quite an interesting read really. One thing which stood out to me the most: So, Zufari's investment was over £6million (quite a long way off the rumoured £10-12mill I heard!), and this is a significant high year for Chessie. Now, maybe it's just me, but when we consider Thorpe and AT's 'significant high year' investments are in the region of £18-20million, and the last medium investment year for AT (2012) was £6million, it shows that the amount being invested in Cheesie is still much less than the other Merlin. The first question also says £12million was invested since Sealife was installed, in 2008. As much as I don't like comparing, that is still A LOT less compared to Thorpe, AT and Lego...

http://www.the-smiler.com/merchandise/ Merchandise page has been added to the minisite. That cushion! <3 Those prices! </3

I reckon it's just an opticial illusion inside the station building. We could see a spinning tunnel or, given the amount of time supposedly there is inside the station building (at least 45secs I think I read), maybe something like a Vekoma Madhouse where the 'room' around you spins, and effects occuring to the train make it feel like you're spinning too (I'm sure I read someone on here suggest that, and worded it a lot better than what I've done). I don't think it'll be a 'washing machine' element. We have a coaster with 14 track inversions as it is, why put in more in a technologically difficult way, which is unnecessary? I can see why people may think it hints to a wachine machine, but I doubt AT would bother with it. The whole idea of the washing machine came up because people were expecting trick track after Th13teen, and TT seemed to have a reliable sauce which was in fact sour. If it had never been mentioned then, I think people would be seeing 'The Disoreintator' as a barrel roll or a spinning room. On the actual note of the screens, they look great. As for the fact on isn't working, OH NO!! The first time the screens are turned on, it isn't perfect. Maybe a wire wasn't connected properly / fully? There is no reason to panic about it yet.

What was it about certain rides that made me not go on them? Was the height of them? The speed of them? Just the fact they 'looked scary'? If it's about the height, I'd say get try and get them on something like Loggers Leap or Storm Surge, both of which are quite high really. If they're able to do those sorts of rides, then you can say they'll be fine on anything else because it won't feel any higher really, and they'll be up there for less time; make them think after they've been on Loggers/SS that that's the worst it could get. It will have varying success, but the approach worked a few years ago for me with someone who was scared of heights. If it's the speed (or height, and you want a different approach to my previous idea), then I think pluk's advice about Stealth is a brilliant one. It is over in a few seconds, and after that, the park doesn't have anything faster or higher, so in that sense everything else is a step down and won't feel so bad. If it's because some rides 'look scary', then it will be slightly trickier I think. Just try explaining, calmly and in a non-pressurising way, what the ride is like, try comparing it other rides they've been on, and that it'll probably be no where near as scary as he thinks it is. Try laying down a 'challenge' at the last minute for a certain ride, and see if they accept it. But at the end of the day, it will be up to them from there whether they're feeling brave enough.

The only time when I think they really needed the ridiculously high fences was for the entrance and exit walkways to the area, as you have to cross the service road, and that would have been even less of a build up to the area. Even then, they could have done it better - only have high fences near the service road, and have the other fences gradually getting smaller as you get further away from the road. Even if the thought process behind the high fences elsewhere was because of the Tomb Blaster fall, it's still pretty silly tbh and could have been better.