JoshC.

From what I've read on TTF, a pink suitcase was left unattended in Towers Street, and hence the area needed to be evacuated in case it was a bomb. According to a couple of members there, the information boards around park had a message reading 'Would the owner of a pink suitcase left at front of house lockers contact security ASAP' (well, along those lines). That seems to be all the information that's arisen. Well done to AT though; from what I've heard the evacuation was dealt with brilliantly, even though it meant people who wanted to buy on-the-day tickets had to wait a bit longer (as people were led to the coach park, and anyone who was able to enter the park had to do so via Mutiny Bay). It goes to show how proactive they are and how well prepared they are for such situations! It all does seem a little bit...strange. How many people take a suitcase into a theme park, and then just leave it by mistake and forget about it?! You would hate to be that person who had to contact security though..

Doubt there's any sort of ID process; think it was said a couple of pages back / some other forum (can't remember) that it seems if you look over 18 / responsible enough, you should be fine. Probably someone who's more 'in the know' / visited more recently knows more about that though

http://www.thorpepar...mba-rapids.aspx The Rumba Rapids section of the site has been updated to say 'Rumba Rapids is available for family groups and adults (aged 18+) only.' Seems as though this temporary solution may last a bit longer now, which is a shame, as I doubt anyone wants this is to the case, etc. Pretty much seems that if it's a group of teenagers under the age of 18, they won't get on..

From TTF member 'LordofDarkness' It's going quickly!

Not going to moan at you for putting Nemesis (and The Swarm...) so low down, but Stealth at number 3!?! Joking of course, everyone's entitled to opinions, etc. etc. First time I've ever seen all of Thorpe's major coaster preferred over Nemesis though. XD

Last year, I heard it's possible for the Hellgate location to be used in the future (once any issues with it had be sorted out), so I guess that's always a possibility. Also depends on if Thorpe install a new attraction, and where they do it. For example, if the larger side of the beach has to make way for new development, Se7en may make way. To be honest, I'd hope either for a completely new attraction (maze or scare zone, being a lover of Dead End) or a replacement of The Curse. However, I fear Se7en, being older and seen as nothing special, may make way one way or another, which would be a shame, as I love Se7en!

I guess it depends on the reason why Saw Alive has experienced the closure. If it's down to lack of popularity, I guess there's a chance of a season-round Swarm maze. However, if it was costs, then, no Swarm maze (of course). A Swarm-themed dark attraction would be my favourite option at this stage.

May as well bring this topic month, since April has birthdays of all the great people ( ). Let's try and put the calendar to good use A happy 16th birthday to Luke_A, and also a happy 28th to AstroDan!

Many thanks for that babe.

6.2g / 6.3g (ish) spike on Nemesis is...interesting. I mean, yeah it's forceful, but wow, THAT forceful? Multiple moments above 5g too.. Just goes to show that Inferno is still forceful; though people may not think it's that forceful because of the moments when it reaches such a high force perhaps not being as noticeable as on other rides(?) (Btw Mark, have you got a link to where on CF that is? )

Banned because every time I see your username, I expect it to read 'Joelgibbon' for sone reason, and thus leaving me confused... :S EDIT: Banned for jumping the queue, and banning the person who they got banned by immeadiately...

Banned for having his username being the name of a ride, and not having said ride as his favourite ride. (And for banning someone for practically the same reason )

I would disagree with pretty much all of this. To say Thorpe have no idea about scare mazes is just silly. Granted, Alive isn't there best piece of work, but this is the same park that has the likes of Asylum and Experiment 10 at Fright Nights - both of which have been highly popular and well known. Whilst with the mazes at FN they tend to keep them the same, in the sense of same theme, roughly same layout, etc., they do improve upon them. Also, with the addition of E10 last season, they went for something completely different, and focused on separating people and creating a maze which was about being by yourself - if that the same as the other mazes (or other scare mazes in the country, for that matter)? Se7en, and I even heard of the occasional case in Alive too, were also improved upon over FN where actors were allowed to 'keep behind' one member of a group every so often, and 'torture' them until the next group came along. Again, it shows that with the mazes, though they stick to a roughly similar formula each year, they do make improvements (which work). Then of course they tried a scare zone after so many people asked for one, granted it may not have been a hit, but it shows they are willing to experiment, no? In terms of other special events, they are trying new things and pushing the boat out where possible. Swarm's Premier Screaming, for example, was something different, and it's nice to see that the park got plenty of actors and some bands to make a ride opening a bit more special. The Mash Up event of Easter was something new compared to past few years, and though it was a mixture of things they've tried before (stunts, singing, etc.), it worked a treat and it shows that you don't have to have something completely new for something to be popular. Blow it Up last season was also very good, and had plenty of twists to your ordinary fireworks shows.. They don't repeat everything, just tweak things to improve upon them, if you will. The Reload and Ministry of Sound nights are also something different and shows that the park aren't just thinking 'We're an amusement park / theme park, so everything has to be about rides!'. I have heard that the Entertainments Department have had to 'put more effort' (bluntly rephrased) into events other than Fright Nights, as though FN is usually seen as a great event, some others during the season aren't so well received. I'd say that, if this is true, the department has certainly listened. Dragging this post on topic.. Alive just hasn't hit it off this season. It's a shame it's gone down, but I guess this is slowly putting the nail in the coffin for it being a permanent addition. The attraction was met quite positively by many fans and members of the GP when it opened but, as can even be seen on these forums, such people have begun to lost interest in it. A fair few people, including myself, always thought this was always going to happening, it was just a matter of when. On a lighter note, maybe we'll see some new marketing: 'The world's most extreme year round horror maze...open during Halloween!'

If it is down to poor sales, then I think it shows they were a bit ambitious with the dates to be honest. Last season, they had two Reload nights, whereas this year, they have become monthly, which is a big jump, and probably too big of one for now. They probably should have left it to be bi-monthly for a while, let it further grow in popularity, improve it, etc. etc. before making it monthly. So harm in being ambitious though..

Did think that was a bit of a silly point to raise; understand what you mean now though. Really have no clue what I'd prefer them to have done in this situation in honesty, just hope that the issue is resolved soon...

*Dusts off topic* http://old.towerstimes.co.uk/news/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1334345973&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1,9& Surprised this hasn't been brought up actually...Saw this article on TT, saying that The Flume has had some modified boats installed to allow for children above 1.0m on the ride. Of course, last season, all Mack flumes increased from a 0.9m restriction (1.1m to be unaccompanied by an adult) to 1.2m (1.3m unaccompanied). I guess it's a good thing, and maybe a sign of things to come at other Merlin parks?

I guess it's one of those things where we're just not going to agree. The way I see T&Cs, they have no justification / right to refuse people based on age, and what they are doing is a form of discrimination. Fungle and Carousel are different kettles of fish in my mind, simply because they are aimed at young audiences (you didn't see young adults complaining they couldn't ride OG rides for example, nor that they can get into Temple of Mayhem - or whatever it's called now - when at Chessie). However, your point about being in park's property so they're in charge is a silly one really; just because they own the area, doesn't mean they're above the law and can be discriminatory with no right. One final point from me - just because they are being discriminative, it doesn't mean that this is necessarily the worst decision they could have made. As has been said countless times, this is a lose/lose situation for the park because people have been idiots. The park have hopefully made the best temporary decision they could, and this comes across in what people who are more 'in the know' have been saying...

Seems a bit...strange at the moment to be honest. No announcement, just changing the days on the site so it's only open during FN. Makes it a waste having it advertised at all. As Dodge said above, something serious must've gone down for this to happen (or, they're just changing days around or something and it's just not all updated?)

The fire effects have already been tested I think? They're just waiting for the 'final seal of approval' as it were from H&S. Unless they have to make changes, then they won't need any further testing. And as Benin said, any testing of fire effects would be done during closed hours.

Na, it didn't come across that way at all; sorry if it seemed as though I was slightly abrupt or anything though! Interesting that you've brought the T&Cs into this. I just had a quick browse through them, and I can't find anything which really 'covers' themselves; there's nothing I can find which allows them to refuse the right to ride a ride to a particular age group. The closest I can find in the T&Cs (found: http://www.thorpepar...conditions.aspx) is this: The way I read this, it says absolutely nothing about how they have a right to stop people from going on a ride because of their age. You could argue that the changing of the programme of a ride could come under this, however, the age of somebody does not come into this. On a serious note, could anyone point out a ride which has an age restriction? (Saw would not count, as it is only a recommendation, not a restriction). I'm willing to bet there isn't one, because the programme of rides will not affect how old someone must be before they can physically ride a ride. Therefore, as far as I can tell, Thorpe have not covered this in their T&Cs and are hence being discriminative. They have no right, in the eyes of their T&Cs (and the law, some may say, but I'm not going into that...) to refuse someone of a particular age the option to go on Rumba Rapids, even if it is for the health and safety of all. As I've said before, Thorpe are in a winless situation at the moment, and whatever they would have done for now would not have been 'right'. What they are doing is, in principle, discrimination, and I think that is something which cannot be disagreed with. Whether being discriminatory is the best thing to do, even for a temporary thing, is somethign we'll probably never know.

I was going to post that gif Benin, but I think I've used that a couple too many times this season with regards to Merlin merch.. Merchandise has definitely improved the past few seasons and this highlights that!

Personally, I'd feel more shocked that someone died on a ride than being turned away from a ride, but I guess for the public, it would all depend on how the press deal with it. As you said at the end though, it is lose/lose, which is the bad thing about this situation. As for better ways of dealing with this, I guess without knowing all the details and that, we will never know whether this was the best way of handling this..

Just to clarify, all I'm saying is it may be a contributing factor. The media and a 'traumatised' guest(s) can spin things to make it seem as though Thorpe are in some sort of wrong, whether they are or not. If, for example, some twit was to muck around on Rumba, fall out and get themselves killed / seriously injured, and it was reported nationally, it would not look good to the majority if you saw 'Teenager dies on rapids ride' or something as a headline. Of course, with all the information, many will understand it was 'some twit who mucked around' and wasn't the park's fault, but there will also be many who think 'well that's unsafe, not going there' and so forth. All depends how it is reported, of course. I remember a few years ago reading an article in a local paper about how an 8ish year old girl 'fell out' of Billy's Wizzer at Chessie, because the seats didn't lower fully, and the op asked everyone to stay in their seats, but she didn't (well, along those lines). From what I remember, she wasn't seriously hurt, but of course, family bring it up with the press, saying it's unsafe / irresponsible of the park, yadda yadda yadda. Had say this girl died / seriously injured, and the story went nation wide, despite Chessie being at no fault, it would look bad on the park in many people's eyes, just for the simple fact there was a death. tl;dr - Someone dies or gets seriously injured + Media Spin = Bad Publicity.

The way I see it is that Thorpe are in a winless situation. If they've pinpointed that accidents / bad situations arise from just young adults, then the way they see it, if they stop them from riding, such problems will go away. Now, as has been seen, this causes a backlash - rightly so, in my opinion - by teenagers, as it is discriminating against them for problems caused by the small minority of people in the age group; which is nothing new of course in current society. So, what if they decide to just let everyone go on in, except the few that look 'suspicious' (or tell them to behave before riding) some may ask. This leads to a problem that is just as, if not, slightly more, discriminatory, as people will feel segregated, and quite possibly wrongly in many cases, all because of a couple of incidents. The thing is, if Thorpe just do nothing and carry on as normal, they're going to see it as an increase in the risk of incidents occurring. All it takes is one of these incidents to go public, and whether it is the fault of the park or the guests, it will reflect badly on the park with the way today's media can be. If they just decide to close it off to everyone, then it's a ride down - which is able to be enjoyed by everyone in the terms of the given height restriction - which isn't good, especially as it's a water ride during the Easter break, and when supposedly the weather is becoming more suited to water rides. So, whatever they do, Thorpe are in the position which will upset guests to some degree or another. I dislike this restriction, and agree that how it currently is, it is discriminatory. However, if this is a temporary situation and, at the moment, the 'lesser evil', then it's a case of having to lump it for the time being. The only people at fault, really, are the guests that have made Thorpe do this, and this is a disappointment. A bit similar to last season, where three rides had to have their restrictions changed (though, in those cases, permanently), it is a case where Thorpe are losing out through no fault of their own...