JoshC.

I highly doubt that it is a 'preview event' in honesty; what's the point in having a four day long preview event? The dates are the first four days of season, so it's probably just a 'long opening weekend' with a name that bring in as many people as possible.We're probably looking at actors (and when I say that, I mean 'more actors', as hopefully there'll be one lurking around during weekends or something...) on the island / round the park, and hopefully something else with a bit of 'shazam' if you will. Nice to see Thorpe making an effort with the public opening of the ride, as opposed to 'here's our new coaster, it opens today, have fun' that we've seen with previous coasters.

The Woman in BlackI'd heard about this film last month, and it caught my interest. I knew it was based around a book, which I haven't read (yet), and that was about it. In a sentence, without spoiling it, I'd say the film is alright, but lets it self down at times. As I always do, here's a more 'in depth' review, about actual scenes and stuff, so needless to say, they'll be spoilers! One thing I'll say is that I was surprised it was given a 12A rating - think it more should've been a 15.. 6.5/10

Theming feature B seems a little understated to be honest. They're not exactly the biggest or friendliest of things that you want to pass through on a roller coaster.. :PThe more I look at feature A, the more astounded I get...

I hope I don't need to, but to clarify...In my original point, I was saying that the clearance of mere inches would be for having arms out / for tall people / etc. No matter how deceptive that picture may be, I still think we're looking at the smallest clearance being inches away, not feet..

To be honest, I'm not too fussed on how powerful the trim brake is, just as long as it isn't painfully obvious a la Th13teen. Hopefully, minimal strength won't do that..As for that picture...And there's people saying that the left side will end up being a short straw... Probably looking at a mere couple of inches clearance there surely?! Add in a mist / smoke effect around it, and people are going to be terrified about going through it, let alone putting their arms up...

And there I was thinking that needless Thorpe bashing was dying away...

Agree about the spider-like theming; looks phenomenal and very interesting. Hard to imagine the sheer scale of that thing in a way.. Also be interested about the lighting features and LED screens mentioned, and what will happen with that.Am I being dim, or are there no visuals of theming feature B released? Interested to see what happens there. Edit: Found them, looks great! :PAs for the station, I like it in a way, and dislike it in another. The worn down look seems to go against the 'clean but secret' idea that X-Sector has, though I assume there's a reason behind this. I'm hoping to see some sort of 'government facility gone wrong' theme, but what exactly I do not know.Nonetheless, loving the plans!

Sounds very good!I may pop along; depends on what time I finish college that day..

Well, it's not 'blown up' in the sense of smashed to pieces; just badly singed and ruined-looking. I'm not fussed that much tbh, but just seems a bit odd really - why buy a whole new fire engine when they can reuse one that fits the bill perfectly?

Looking at how 'nice' that fire engine looks makes me wonder why they haven't used the fire engine they blew up over fireworks? The more ruined look seem more suited. Meh, here's probably a reason behind it..Also, that website states a 'flaming fire truck', so it will be interesting to see how that goes down with a water effects adjacent to it...

Did anybody say 'CHEEEESSSSE'?

Most rides are taken apart over closed season; even Rocky Express probably is at some point or another..Agreed with the woodie thing; I thought it was just conveyed rumour, not something that was actually considered!

10th birthday, 11th season, as you said.Interestingly, it is technically Fright Nights 10th birthday this season (and 11th season), but the 10th season of FN was classed as the 10th birthday.

I think you might mean the Thrills Workshop, as in front of the MAD house is the coach park..

This was back in 2009; probably was my first proper snowman...

The current MTDP states there'll be no new infilling up until 2016(?), and I can't imagine much more going on after that. As for the development zone that hj16 was talking about between Vortex and Alive, I can't imagine much infilling going on there (well, new rides at least), because it is quite close to the main road, and I can imagine noise issues cropping up. I'm pretty sure there was some rumour about Saw being the closest Thorpe would go towards that main road because of noise and such, but that could be a load of twaddle really..I think we'll find that infilling will becoming less frequent and more difficult to achieve with Thorpe in the next decade or so. I don't the point of draining the lake (as mentioned above) is a feasible one, and the 'best' method would be to 'lose land' elsewhere (like what has happened with the area once known as Thorpe Farm), but they are surely reaching their limit there.http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2090607_thorpe_park_set_for_new_rollercoasterIgnoring all the directly related Swarm stuff in that article, even councillors are realising that Thorpe are soon going to reach their limit. To be honest, I don't think need much more land than they'll be planning to have once they've installed a 2015 and 2018 coaster (assuming that there'll be ones, and they'll occupy islands A and E, of course); it's just a case of Thorpe using their land efficiently..

The one they blew up at 'Blow it Up' is still sitting exactly where it was left at the end if the season; in the car park. Yep, interestingly, they've got a completely new fire engine for Swarm! I think this may be why they've decided to not put the fire truck in the pond front-first; though it won't look as natural, the interaction with onlookers will be better, especially if they're having it with fire effects!

That's the thing, I don't understand what is happening!From what I can gather, they've got this plan to have a safari experience, but if that doesn't get the green light, they have an alternative plan to move the rest of the zoo there? In turn, that would mean they have more land which can be used for rides and the 'theme park', as opposed to the zoo. The way I see that alternative plan is, if they can't expand the zoo even further, by adding this safari experience, Chessie are almost going to give up with the hard work they've put into integrating the zoo and the theme park, bung the zoo onto the land which would've been taken up by the safari, and then be able to work on the theme park.Of course, I'd love to see the best of both worlds, with balanced investment in the zoo and theme park, but I don't think that resorting to moving large parts of the zoo to elsewhere on their land to be able to invest in the theme park (which, as said, is more or less what I gather from this alternative plan) would be the wrong way to go about it.But, hopefully, we won't see this alternative plan come to light as the safari experience will get the green light from the council and all will be good..!

I'm confused by the alternative plan; to me it says 'Oh, if we can't expand the zoo even further, we'll give up with our efforts on improving the zoo, bung it all in one place, and focus on our theme park'...Let's just hope the safari experience actually gets the green light, and then gets followed up as planned.

Gotta love the that the one of the final things you see before you twist will be the terrifying, thrill seeking, FLYING FISH!!!

http://go-merlin.co.uk/files/2012/02/preshow-e1328207352329-630x153.pngAlso found on RGG.People can say what they want about Chessington, but this investment looks brilliant. Looking at those plans, I'm not too fussed about the lack of theme park investment - this sort of experience adds a new dimension to the zoo and what Chessington can offer. I'd say it can be said that when it comes to the zoo attractions, Chessington are making them more 'interactive', rather than just walking past a few animals in a cage / behind a fence / whatever, which is only a good thing in my eyes.Now the downside of this. I said that this investment 'looks' brilliant. If Chessie pull this off as planned, I think it will be brilliant. However, people will - fairly - look back at Monkey Kingdom and how that looked brilliant. I just hope that Chessie follow through with this and it looks and as they've planned it. Annnd, also, that they soon begin to realise that they need to bring back a balance in theme park investments, and zoo investments.

Not to start over-speculating in the construction thread (), but I think it could work being all nice and new depending on what sort of story they're going for.If the story is exploring devastation immediately after an attack, then of course there needs to be extra work done to 'theme' the bricks and such. However, if they're going for a more 'there was an alien attack here, but we've now secured the area to be explored by the public..then, OH NO, the aliens were hiding in church' sort of story, then new fences and bricks would work..Of course, I'd prefer the former of those two scenarios, especially as that makes more sense, and a little bit of theming (like damaged fences and burn marks on the ground, for example) actually goes a longg way.

Anyone else getting the feeling that that satellite dish could be part of the theming to do with the ORP kiosk?Pretty sure the plans show it being themed to a reporter van; a bit like ones seen in films that have the rotating satellite dish?As a side note, the more and more I think about this, the more and more it seems like Thorpe are trying to create something you could see 'in a film'. The theming is of an extremely high and detailed scale, and a lot of the features could well have what one could relate to 'a typical film scene'; people were saying about the blades on the helicopter spinning, even if they were broken, a bit like you see in films. If that makes sense to anyone...

Double post - OMG ANARCHY!!!As promised in the PTR, my first video! It's not the greatest, I know, but hey, it's a start. As said, there will be more to come at some point or another.

YAY - another university rant!I've got an invitation to a two day course at Warwick Uni, my top choice, for extra help with the additional exams I have to sit. It's basically about tips and tricks, and other things too. The thing is, they aren't on consecutive days (one's next month, one's in April) and it's quite difficult to get up there. For me to get there on time, I'll have to leave my house at about six, pay about £40 quid for each of the days to travel up there. It's one of those tough choices where it's something I really want to do, but it's going to be hard to find the money to warrant doing it... Just argh :@