JoshC.

Yeah, was said over Facebook or something wasn't it? Certainly suggests Boiler House won't return.. Not to sure on Alton's positioning of mazes, as last season wasn't Carnival of Screams in the BH tent as well? Only time will tell I guess... (Oh, and to make this post vaguely on topic, woo Fright Nights! )

Has anyone got a place on one of the focus groups then? Wish I could've made it, but unfortunately I was busy..

From what I've heard (and seen of the car park), it's been packed. As a large amount of visitors will be on school trips which have been planned for a long time, the weather isn't going to put people off. I'd expect the rest of this week to be heaving. I dunno when schools break up, but presumably it's this week / next week; so there's bound to be a fair few school trips going on into next week. Then, after that, it's summer!!!

Don't see any reason to panic just yet.. A little rumour plus something referring to chainsaws (ie, more than one, unlike Asylum's one) is nothing to worry about. Would be interesting if it did happen, mind, considering it's probably Thorpe's most well known maze. Personally I couldn't see it fitting in at Scarefest - don't know why, really, but I just don't - but then again, never been to Scarefest, so would be hard for me to comment.. XD

Thorpe's target market is teens-young adults, though I think it's specifically 16-30. What with FN being their main event, I'm not surprises they're making a focus group for 18+; they'll want to attract those people more I guess. I too would love to see a Curse replacement. Would love to see Thorpe continue to push the boundaries with the mazes as well; perhaps have a 'recommended for 15+ (or 18+)' so they've got more options open to them. Only time will tell I guess

Can't remember how many times I've said this with regards to Swarm, but I'll say it again... Brilliant. Top notch stuff. That is all.

Arguably, adding anything to the top would make it worse, as it would show how bad the rest of the ride is.. I'd much rather them put more effort into theming Swarm, or any other major ride on park, than this turd which hopefully will leave the park before the decade comes to an end... (Of course, in an ideal world, we'd all want every ride to be themed / look amazing, but treating as a choice under such difficult economic times, I know which option I'd rather have...)

Adz over on TTF posted this, with regards to the holes: He's normally reliable for most Merlin things, so it looks like we are in for additional theming! Whatever it is, a huge kudos to Thorpe/Merlin. It sounds as though they may well be responding to some of criticisms that the area wasn't immersive enough, so have decided to add in more theming as a solution. Can't wait to see this!

Simple question, simple poll - on average, how many of your recommended 5 fruit and vegetables would you say you get a day? For me, I normally eat about 3 or 4 pieces a day, though I've noticed since I've finished college, I'm eating a lot less healthily of late, so about 3 a day is right for me..

Haha, thanks for that Sid The Stealth statues are slightly cheaper actually at £5. Saw and Swarm statues are £7.

This image was posted by 'Rollercoaster5000' over on TTF: A Studios North van has also been spotted on park.. A bit strange really, so just what is it for..?

I thought the electronic, £5 all day lockers were slightly bigger than the pay per use ones?

Technically Liam, Furius Baco is Europe's fastest winged coaster... [/pedantic] Anyways, my rankings: 1) The Swarm. Love everything about the ride and it sits firmly as my favourite ride to date. 2) Nemesis. Brilliant, brilliant ride. The location makes it so unique and it just has this 'feel' to it which makes it special. Only just pipped by Swarm in honesty. 3) Nemesis Inferno. Fantastic ride which flows really well. Great layout all the way through, and has a great mixture of force and elegance. Also love it when the the tunnel is full of mist and has all lights on. 4) Joint Oblivion and Air. Really difficult to separate the two. I do enjoy Oblivion, even if it is a one trick pony. When I first went on it in 2006, I guess you could say I was at the point of being scared - something which I don't think has happened to me on any other coaster since. I love the story and theming, but feel it lets itself down at the end and just needs something a little extra to finish it off. Air, on the other hand, is a good, solid ride. That's it; nothing special. I enjoy it, but it doesn't blow me away. Perhaps worth noting that, with Air and Oblivion, there's nothing wrong with them, as they're ranked highly in my favourite coasters, but they're just not really that close to other three B&Ms in this case...

Ah, right past my college. Didn't bother going to see the relay as I don't really get the point of it tbh, but ah well. Seems the majority of people involved with it / who watch it enjoy themselves, which is only a good thing!

Gotta be Inferno. I love Inferno's layout, theme, audio - the full out experience. Though not the best example of a B&M invert, I enjoy it each time and is one ride I always love to go on. Colossus has a great layout and audio. However, it's ageing badly and isn't that comfortable. There's just something that doesn't draw me to it; I like it - don't get me wrong - but I just don't feel the need to go on it when I'm on park. I guess you could say that, unfortunately, it's the bad experiences you remember the most, and Colossus has a few bad experiences with its roughness. To be honest, Colossus doesn't even rank in my top 3 coasters at Thorpe... Inferno quite easily for me.

Is pretty good with Photoshop! (Well, I presume THAT Storm Surge picture was made with Photoshop...)

Has reached 200 rep points, and is probably rather happy at that!

Pretty much the only thing I'd think we can safely know about SW7 is that it's a Gerstauler (always get a sense of satisifaction spelling that correcting first time! ) and it's some version of a Eurofighter (could be, say, a Eurofighter V2.0 for example). Oh, and where it is and it'll be a world first, if you wish to be pedantic... Personally, I don't think a vertical launch will occur. Looking at how the car goes over the vertical 'bit', I'd hate to imagine how that would feel at any quick pace. So, for sheer comfort reasons, I'd expect it to go over that bit quite slowly, which would mean either a slow launch, or a launch which means it goes over the crest slowly (both of which are pretty pointless in my eyes) or a standard vertical lift hill. If I'm honest, I'd be disappointed if there was any launch at all on this - it seems like an unneccessary extra which will add little to the ride, bar an increase in reliability issues and perhaps discomfort... I'd say the world first will either be something to do with how cars, though no idea what, or a 'Th13teen trick', where something happens inside. Rumours have been going around about 'inverting track', where the track itself moves in a circle to invert the train. Again, something which I think is unlikely, but just something which is reguarly thrown out there.. If this ride is half as good as it looks, I'll be more than happy. Even happier if it has lapbars.

Regarding ride planning applications.. Storm Surge and other flat rides came out around the summer time (July-August) I believe. Saw Alive came to light during October/November time, however. Depends on what - if anything - Thorpe will do next season. Look at Sub-Terra, that application was sent in Autumn time I believe. Thorpe said in the Questions to TP section that they've got more time to decide what they'll invest in as it's a small investment year, so there's still plenty of time for planning applications.

If Thorpe ever got a woodie, I can see them exploring putting this sort of element in (if it works on this coaster). Marketing could do wonders with it, as the public would lap it up. Can't wait to see videos of trains going through that!

Oops, turns out Pterodactyl opened to the public yesterday... Thank you, brilliant FL marketing team, for bringing this to the public's attention...

Pterodactyl opening this summer; obvious dinosaur theme. New coaster rumoured for 2014, but that's about all that's known at this stage as far as I know.

Personally, I thought a winged coaster was enough of a selling point for Swarm. If Inferno's 'gimmick' is having the track above you and your legs dangle, then having nothing below OR above you should be enough of a gimmick to sell. Then there's the whole inverted drop thing which - though maybe not as marketable - could still be shown to be pretty special. Perhaps the public aren't too dazzled by this though? Maybe all they want is the world's first or world's only ride; after all, Colossus and Saw both had 'world's first' attached to them, Stealth can sell itself with it's height and speed, though was a European record at the time as well, and Inferno had the typical 'World's greatest' tagline shoved on (I think). Swarm was a UK first and Europe's tallest - and that's all they've really done. They've used the word 'unique' for the drop, but nothing about how it was a world first drop or anything. Maybe the public really are quite narrow-minded (or perhaps tainted by marketing in general) and believe that if something isn't a world first / record breaker, then it's unlikely to be any good... Let's just hope that isn't the case though, ey?

Ah right, was unaware of that. Completely understand it's hard to predict things like that and other things like taking of a train and such have to occur - but yeah, just a suggestion.