JoshC.

Am I right in thinking the ride was never actually 'tweaked', but simply they changed how they measured the time? But yeah, would be nice if it was to change.. (As for the staffing thing, just to reiterate my view: IF it's KNOWN that the ride is to be down for a long period of time, I see no point in keeping 5-6 staff there, only bout 2-3. From a guest perspective, it makes more sense, even if it means guests are waiting an extra 5 or so minutes for the ride to open, which surely they wouldn't realise anyway? If, however, it's NOT known how long the ride will be down / that it's going to be down for a short period of time, then yes, having a full staff line up there makes sense..)

I guess you can say there's good and bad things around it. You say it looks better to guests to have staff to hand, but are 5-6 staff members, even for a popular ride like Stealth, necessary? Especially when they're bound to end up grouping together, so they're not just standing around aimlessly waiting to be spoken to. Personally, I just think it's a bit pointless, especially if it's known the ride will be down for a few hours. Whichever way you look at it, however it's handled, there's positives and negatives. For a large and popular ride like Stealth, if it was to have a long period of downtime, I'd think it best to fence the area off and have a couple of staff there to make sure people don't go in / inform guests what's going.

Whilst I understand that, I do agree with c1hirsin. Simply put, if you have 5 or 6 staff members hanging around a closed ride (which may not reopen for many hours), chatting amongst themselves and telling people 'Sorry, it's closed, we don't know how long for', or words to that effect, it doesn't exactly look good. Not having a go here at staff, as it basically is what they have been told to say / do, but in the eyes of a bog standard guest, it just doesn't look good, especially if they feel that other areas of the park are lacking staff / needs attention by staff...

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4472666/Tragedy-as-mum-of-two-dies-following-theme-park-ride.html Not really the sort of media attention Drayton would want... A real shame that this has happened; thoughts to the family.

I agree - very film-trailer like! I do love that advert; would've been great if Thorpe released it online or as part of the on ride DVD (say a pre story before the footage of people onride). Also interesting to see how 'machine-like' The Swarm look in that advert, which is was originally planned. Thanks for sharing Liam!

I don't mind the look of them in the first photo; it seems to just 'work'. However, as the other one shows, a bit more up close, they just look ugly, unnatural and just doesn't 'work'. Really not sure about it; will have to wait till I see them in person till I pass full judgement...

Oh yeah, got 'em whilst they lasted. Pfft, foreign bears, not treading in THAT territory...yet... Isn't Nemesis bear new this year? If so, haven't been to Towers yet this season, so..

Who likes theme park bears? EVERYONE OF COURSE! Excuse the quality, bad lighting and I think I shook the camera...

I hate to be the one who tells you this Sids, but.. To be quite honest, I don't think it matters whether Liam's rant was about members of this forum, another forum or about someone on Facebook. This is a rant thread and it's a place to let of steam, as you rightly say Sids, so if someone has something they need to get off their chest, this is the place for it. Why Liam's commented started to spark a bit of a debate going on I don't know. I (Just to be clear, I completely agree with Liam and Sids here. )

One thing which absolutely disgusts me is how people think it's 'okay' to leave dead animals lying in the street, not tell anyone and not do anything about it. A black bag had been dumped outside our fence (presumably last night) and after checking it out, we've realised it's a dead fox. How it died we have not checked (there's copious flies and a rotten smell surrounding the bag; not really going to give it a post mortem, are we?), but it is dead and literally just been dumped in a bag. Now, this isn't the first time dead animals have been ever so kindly left outside our house; a couple of years back, a black bag with a few dead rabbits was left outside our home (for the record, we have a letter box outside our house, and that seems to make people think they have the right to dump rubbish, park / pull over and god knows what else outside our house...). Anyways, we phone the RSPCA, believing that they could help dispose of the poor thing humanely, but they said they can't (or won't?) do anything unless there's evidence of animal cruelty. Maybe it's unreasonable / skewered thinking of me, but surely they can help prevent it from being disposed of 'cruelly', regardless of whether its death was because of cruelty or not? After getting of the phone to them, we phoned the local council (on advice of the RSPCA) who said that they don't deal with that thing, and we were told to phone Highway Maintenance(!?) who are the ones to take it away. After not being able to get through to them, we have had to leave an answer phone message, and goodness knows when that'll be picked up, and in the mean time, we just simply have to wait and see. It's a disgusting thing to do, and perhaps just as disgusting that it's difficult to find someone who is able to help dispose of the animal as humanely as possible. It isn't pleasant to see, and I can imagine that if you children saw it, they would be horrified (as would most people in general, I imagine). Also, another rant about family. Not the family in my actual house, as they're amazing, but I mean beyond that. I live with my mum and my nan. Now, my nan has five children, and yet it seems to be a struggle for them to even pick up the phone every so often to just speak to her to ask how she is. Almost relates to what Mer said about "The fact that we have so many ways of communicating thanks to technology that phone calls are like some alien concept that is impossible to initiate" - how hard is it to pick up a phone and spend a few minutes talking to your own mother? Anyways, a couple of weeks back, my mum and I had to make our way to the hospital, but it wasn't the local one in Chertsey, it was the one in Ashford, following advice from NHS Direct (useless service in my opinion, but I digress..). As neither of us drive and we had to get to Ashford Walk-in Centre ASAP, we got a taxi there, at a cost of £20. After no help there, we were advised to make our way back home and await to be phone by a doctor. My mum decided to phone her sister (who also lives in Chertsey) and ask if it was possible for her to pick us up (at this time, it was about 8PM and public transport in the area is a nuisance and another taxi was out of the question). She says yes quite happily and seemingly no issues, yet when she arrives to pick us up, has a rant at us as to how we only phone her when we want something and that's it. She also says that now my cousins are 'stranded' at the cinema because 'she dropped everything' to come pick us up; we only asked if she COULD pick us up, not told her too (and, also, my cousins weren't stranded at the cinema, as the film they were watching didn't even finish for another half hour...). We get about a third of the way back when we get a phone call from the hospital, and told that we now have an appointment at Ashford (big grr here, but again, that's to do with the NHS and that's a complete different rant), to which my aunt moans again at us telling us it was a wasted journey for her and that it's our fault. We didn't know that would happen, and at the time, there wasn't many other ways we could get home. Perhaps I'm a bit old fashioned in my way of thinking here, but aren't family there to be relied upon; if you need help, you can rely on your family to try and help you out? Granted, for my aunt, it was a wasted trip, and it was appreciated that she came out, but is there a need to moan and rant at us when it's not really our fault? Also, as I said, she lives in Chertsey, yet we hardly EVER see her. To be honest, I'm not overly fussed how often I see my aunt, it's more the fact that my nan hardly ever sees her daughter and struggles to get out the house that much. My aunt is a part-time teacher, which does me that during term time she's busy, but again, does that warrant that on a Sunday afternoon not being able to phone her mum, or even take the 20ish minute walk over? And now, of course, it's the summer holidays and she's not working at the moment, yet she still doesn't bother to see my nan. This past week she went on holiday to Spain; my nan knew she was going on holiday, but she didn't know when. The only reason she is because my mum was my cousin who didn't go and was told about it.. I mean, perhaps it's from a distorted viewpoint, but in her position, I'd at least just say I was going for that specific week - what if there'd been an emergency regarding my nan or we were in need of help from her? We wouldn't have known she'd be away.. Again, more seeing this from my nan's point of view more than anything. It just feels as though my aunt makes no effort to see her mum or get her involved in anything for no reason whatsoever. My aunt graduated from university this year, and my nan wasn't even told about it until after it happened. It was something my nan did really want to go to, as my aunt was the first in our family to graduate from university, but of course, it didn't happen. My aunt's reason - you had to buy a ticket.. I'm sorry, but WHAT? I didn't tell you about when my graduation was because you had to buy a ticket? Sense, it makes none. It was also my cousin's (this particular aunt's daughter) graduation this year as well, and my nan wasn't invited to that either. When my nan mentioned this to my aunt when seeing her in passing, by chance, in Tesco, and said how it seems none of the family get involved my aunt and cousins, my aunt responded about how her mum-in-law was invited to the graduation - yet my nan wasn't even told about it.. And it just feels like my aunt seems to disregard my nan; she doesn't even invite her round to her house for a cup of tea or something, yet the other side of the family get invited round loads / taken out for dinner / etc, It just seems like my aunt doesn't want anything to do with my nan, or myself or my mum, for no reason whatsoever... Just ARGH. *and breath*

I wonder if this was the original plan, but they realised it was just too hard to achieve safely / H&S denied it? Would explain the long delay in having it become operational and the H&S troubles they had..

Oh my goodness - IT'S HERE! Can't wait to check that out next week.

Don't get me wrong, I sorta enjoy the franchise, but the third one totally ruined it in my eyes. It was unnecessary, created plot holes and lacked any real scares. I'm just glad they've decided to bring it back more or less to present day, that way they can pick up where the second film left off and sort everything out; bring closure to the main story, and leave it with some dignity and substance, before it does turn into Saw (even though I quite enjoyed VI and VII.. )

Let's hope they put this franchise to rest after this one...

All about opinions, ain't it? Depends on what you want from a coaster too. If you want a smooth, free flowing coaster, then Inferno is perfect for you. If you want an intense coaster which comes in two parts, Saw is for you. Also, if you're not too keen on your head being smashed in, Saw may not be your favourite...

Oooh, loving the look of that! If this works out, I wondr if it will spark a new generation of woodies?

Love the name actually; simple and to the point but also quirky. They really seem to put a lot of emphasis on THAT cave as well, hope that all goes to plan. Nonetheless should be a brilliant attract for the resort. On a separate note, the Africa theme is spreading - could that mean that Forbidden Kingdom is going to join in properly with Africa as well? Would create a great, large African area if rethemed to fit in properly..

This offer is returning and the first tokens can be collected from next Saturday; it was advertised in the paper today.

Really? Always thought it was one of those things that was popular in just Britain and kinda known in the US.. Shows how much I know about Britain's international status really...

I watched the Opening Ceremony as well. Admittedly, I was not planning on doing so, but I sorta got suckered into the hype of it and decided to watch it. I really did enjoy it, actually. It was a brilliant story piece full of British humour, which is exactly what a country's Opening Ceremony should be. People were complaining that it was 'too British' - I'm sorry, what would you want instead? To be fair, there'll be some things people won't get (Rowan Atkinson / Mr Bean playing the piano was CLASSIC, though maybe an example of things that won't be fully 'got'), but when showing off Britain, there'll be many things other countries will not get. The inflatable children character villains, five rings going up in the air and the lighting of the cauldron were pretty spectacular as well (though I almost feel as though the introduction of the young athletes lighting to pieces wasn't as good / clear as it should have been). Couple of negative points from me as well. Dizzie Rascal performing, though I understand why to a degree, I personally just feel that he isn't 'good enough' to do something this big, but heyho, it happened, and I guess he did alright. The James Bond / Queen thing was good, but the jumping out of the helicopter bit was a bit...anti-climatic and it felt a bit like 'Oh, why?'. Also, Paul McCarthy?! Just why in my opinion, so many more choices which would have been better in my opinion... So yeah, really enjoyed it and a huge well done to everyone involved it! The one other thing to gather from it would be this - if anyone asks what 'Britishness' is, or what it means to be British, I would tell them to watch this Opening Ceremony and that would explain it to me perfectly.

Haha, I had that happen to me on my latest visit. I genuinely thought I was hearing things when I heard my name in that snake-like voice...

I prefer back right the most for the water effects, though either side back row (usually on the outside) are my favourites! Front row comes rather close though!

It certainly is strange, I agree. Enthusiasts certainly do seem to 'put it down' if you will, whereas the public absolutely love it. Perhaps it's down to the fact that flying coasters have developed for the good and later version have been much better, and enthusiasts 'appreciate' that much more. Isn't Air the only flying coaster in Europe as well? It might well be that it's quite unique to guests, and hence enjoy it much more? The gimmick of it as well is one guests still lap up today. Also, when you look at Oblivion for example, that;s still regarded as one of - if not, the - best dive machines there is. Had that ride type been bettered so much more, I believe that Oblivion would be in the same situation as Air is now. I don't think Air consistently ranking as the least favourite B&M in the country is a testament to the ride and the enthusiasts' views on it. Though those comments see it as boring, it does what it's meant to do, and it does it well. It's just that what it's meant to do isn't that much...

Apparently Rita has reopened today..