JoshC.

It made a return last year, and was as fun (and controversial!) as I remembered it, so why not do it again this year? For those who don't know the rules, they're quite simple:Each Thorpe Park ride starts of with 5 points, and each poster will take a point from one ride and add it to another. When a ride hits 0 points that ride is eliminated and points all get reset to 5 again. The game carries on until one ride is left standing. Only other rule is you must wait 3 turns before you can vote again.I'll start!Canada Creek Railway (5)Chief Ranger's Carousel (5)Colossus (5)Depth Charge (5)Detonator (5)Flying Fish (5)Loggers Leap (5)Mr Monkey's Banana Ride (5)Nemesis Inferno (6)Quantum (5)Rocky Express (5)Rumba Rapids (5)Rush (5)Samurai (5)Saw – The Ride (5)Saw Alive (5)Slammer (4)Stealth (5)Storm in a Teacup (5)Storm Surge (5)Tidal Wave (5)Time Voyagers (5)Vortex (5)X:\ No Way Out (5)Zodiac (5)Nemesis Inferno + Slammer -(Also, mods, is it possible to have this moved to the general section if it's popular enough, so it's easier to get to and that? )

Ropers = automatic 0 I'm afraid. ;)EDIT: Grrr, beaten to it. So for Luke:Some cool looking fairground attraction I guess - 8/10.

At this moment in time, has a reputation of...30!

^Didn't follow the rules of the game...

I thought that one was quite clever actually and a bit tongue-in-cheek too. I think with Swarm, though, they've got real opportunity to have really strong, powerful marketing, perhaps something a bit more 'grown-up', as opposed to some cheap stunts.

As glad as I am they're doing this, it's going to be harder for me to avoid all the work now! :PAs the development has continued, I've more and more realised just how little I want to know about it before opening - keep the suspense, surprise, etc. Then geek out at the construction after riding it - hopefully I can avoid these brilliant looking updates for the next few months...

I love how people are more interested with how GM get some photos than just how close the structure is to the track...

I believe that the plans submitted to the council said that it was just amendments to the previous application, which had already been approved, hence why a lot of the 'old' plans are present.I'd assume that, subject to planning permission, the hotel could open in 2013 (as previously planned?) or 2014.About the above plan, it looks more like an LTDP than a MTDP in honesty, showing the MTDP up to 2010, and then the newer islands which would come afterwards.. :S

Decided to create one of these as well, what with getting a fair few new rides done with my AT visit this year. 1) Nemesis, Alton Towers. Amazing ride, theme, theming, audio and atmosphere. Strong top spot. 2) Nemesis Inferno, Thorpe Park. B&M Inverts seem to be something I like. Great ride experience and audio; hard to beat really. 3) Hex, Alton Towers. A new entry for this year. One of the strangest experiences on a theme park attraction; brilliant atmosphere, story, concept and theming. Mind = blown. 4) Th13teen, Alton Towers. Another new entry this year. Great fun, with a nice ambience created around the area. If it hadn't been for that trim on the first drop, it could have even have made third.. 5) Rush, Thorpe Park. Simple concept, no real theming, yet the ride experience, audio and generally just the ride itself makes it the best flat ride I've been on to date. 6) The Antelope, Gulliver's World Warrington. Getting harder to put rides in positions now. I dunno what it was about this one, but I remember riding it and just absolutely loving it - shame it's the only woodie I've been on! 7) Rattlesnake, Chessington WOA. Love the ride, love the theme, theming and audio and it's just great fun. Should probably be sixth, but I guess the amount of times I've ridden this and Antelope are affecting the decision. 8) Detonator, Thorpe Park. Granted, it's the only drop tower I've been on, but it sets the standard high. Going on what others have said, I imagine that it's hard to beat as far as drop towers go. 9) Loggers Leap, Thorpe Park. Great log flume, can't really be faulted apart from the fact that it's a little bit on the short side. 10) Saw - The Ride, Thorpe Park. Seem to have differing views to most members of this forum, but I just find it 'intense', not 'rough'. Layout is great, theming is okay, audio is the biggest problem I have. I always do one of these as well...*Honorary mention: CCR, Thorpe Park (as always ). Loved the attraction, still gutted to see it go.*

I've heard that during firework events, Thorpe limit the attendance figures to 8k max for H&S reasons. Could be completely false, but it did seem that way this year.Thought I'd just throw that out there..

This. I get the whole idea of it making it sound better, but I don't see why they've felt the need to go down this route. They've got that it's the first winged coaster in the UK, and they've got a great theme and story going so far; no real need for them to chuck on some 'Biggest and fastest' line.As said, I'm not bothered by it really, but just I just found it interesting that they've decided to go down that route considering the options they've got open to them..

By the looks of it, the fire engine blown up was of the same style as the fire engine shown in the plans, and probably of the same size. Also, where it's only been burnt, and not 'blown' up, and the fire engine in the plans is behind a fence, I see no reason why it couldn't be used in honesty, unless there's something about planning which would prevent it.Would make for great continuity too, considering it was blown up to a Swarm audio piece for marketing of the ride. Speculation on my part on the earlier page, but as soon as I heard that they were blowing up a vechile, I did hope it would be related to Swarm's theming.

Don't get me wrong; I'm glad Thorpe did it, and it's something that should be praised; as Mark said, other parks in similar situations would not bother. So a well done to Thorpe of course! :)But when push comes to shove, it should be expected really, which I think is something we'd all agree on.

Cheers for clearing that up.The thing is, from a guest (not a fan) perspective, I really shouldn't care if it's last day of season or anything like that - if a ride is broken, I'd expect the park to do their upmost to fix it for guest's enjoyment. That's what they did on Sunday, and, in my opinion, I can see that as the only option the park should consider; if they want to be the best, guests should be their priority right?

So, if you went to Blow It Up, you probably heard the DJ bigging up The Swarm, saying how it's the tallest and fastest winging coaster in Europe. http://www.thorpepark.com/default.aspxThe main website states it to be the 'tallest, longest and fastest winged roller coaster' in Europe. Interesting how Furius Baco at PortAventura, which is faster and longer, is overlooked and not being classed as a winged coaster. Personally, I'm not really that fussed by it all, but is there any reason for it be marketed in this way?

So, you're opinion here is that Thorpe should have just said 'Oh, it's quiet, it's the last day of the season, let's not bother fixing it!' then? Or have I misinterpreted?

They burnt Jedward on Saturday as well! Probably had to of the effigies made. Also, from what I'm aware, they blew up the same fire engine, but with only one explosion on the Saturday, but three on the Sunday(?)

So, Saturday was the day for me - the last visit to Thorpe for the 2011 season. I must say I was a bit sceptical about the Blow It Up event, unsure as to how the park would cope with visitor numbers, or how what they were planning would work. Well, due to one thing after another happening in the morning, we arrived at 2pm, which reduced time spent focusing on the park to 4 hours (we aimed to get to our positions for the fireworks at 6ish). A crane that greeted us. The whether wasn't particularly sunny or warm either.. Collecting pre-booked tickets. There were 3 windows open, which was to cover everyone - pre-bookers, walk-up tickets, etc. A bit silly in my eyes, and with no music playing as well, it started the day at the park on a low note. Blew it up.Would've liked to have seen them!'Test run' of the fire engine, to be blown up at the end, to sort it's positioning and timing out I guess..Side view.Any point in the Depth Charge ORPs now?After a quick visit to guest service was out of the way, we made our way round to...Flying Fish! This sorta sums up my season to a degree - not fussing with the big rides, and going for something nice and relaxing (and getting views of The Swarm too... ). A general lack of music, atmosphere and staff activity meant it wasn't the greatest. After the Fish, it was evident that there was a serious lack of atmosphere around. Music, even just the chart music, was seemingly sparse, and there was a lack of anything really. I just felt like I was walking down the local high street, except instead of shops, it was rides. Not the greatest feeling to have at a theme park.. Also, Fright Nights theming was still around. Yeah, I'm fine with the mazes still being up, but what's the point in having their signs, info. boards and park-wide theming around when it is not Fright Nights!? It just feels like Thorpe couldn't be bothered. At this stage, it really felt like Thorpe blew this event up...FN theming still around..One positive was how the park didn't really seem that busy, for one reason or another. Maybe people were waiting later to just watch the fireworks? Maybe people were holding off till Sunday? I dunno, but whatever happened, I liked it.. Random point - sign in the Thorpe Megastore. Never noticed it before.. XDAfter some general wandering around, I saw this...Slammer was, yet again, closed. Okay, seriously, this ride is starting the get on my nerves. It's reliability, though improving, is still shockingly bad. I mean come on, doesn't it seem ridiculous to say a ride's reliability is improving, yet is being closed for around a month of a 7 month season, 6 years after it opened!? (Personally, I'd wish Thorpe just shut it down now, and the money they would have spent seemingly always repairing it could go on keeping CCR running instead, but hey ho.. :whist )We made our way over to CCR for the last ever trip around Canada Creek.. To say it was a bit sad would be true. Much like with my previous visit, no photos, as I'm 'saving them' if you will for something a little special...watch this space I guess! One thing I will say though is that, like with some of my other rides on CCR this season, the driver tends to go to fast round the circuit. Okay, I'm fine with going through the barriers quickly, to shorten the time the barriers are down. But after that, it should be a nice, slow, relaxing journey around, not whizzing round like Stealth. A shame really.After CCR was said, done and given its goodbye, more wandering was had. Saw Alive was on the cards after an above average experience over FN, but it has temporarily closed with an alarm going off. A bit of bad luck more than anything I guess.. Photos from the way there:Have some trees been cut down?Fright Night theming by the turn before the inline twists, which was still there...Random Saw photo.Place where fireworks are let off.Though I said it wasn't busy, there was a large queue for Zodiac.. Surprised people are prepared to wait quite a long while for a fairground ride in honesty.Rush had a short queue, with original audio playing (though the end announcement must not have been working, as the op was saying it rather monotonely at the end of each ride...). Rush was as good as ever really; no fault to it.. RushhhAfter some more wandering round and a pop into the nachos place for a quick snack, it was nearly time for the fire performers. Now, in honesty, they weren't the best. It was a bit boring, a bit awkward and the performers seemed a bit lost as to how to cope with the set up. There was no accompanying music which didn't really help, and a lot of the tricks they did are pretty standard - it's never good when you do a performance like this and people start walking away saying they know how it's done. There was one stunt I really liked though - holding some fire on a 'stick' in the mouth - very good! In short, the performers were a nice idea, but didn't really ignite the crowds... I'm on fire! Shame I can't say the performance was flaming good here, it would have been rather punny! (Also, you can play spot the TPM member )Fire twizzling.We popped over for lunch/dinner at the Bar 360 Grill, as we had to go to the bridge for 6 (due to having disabled access within out group). We got there just after 5, and, well, it was a bit of a shambles. Yes, it was busy, but that is no reason to justify messing up on our order and failing to tell us the food would be about 45-1 hour wait (which we only found out about after half an hour). The food wasn't the greatest I've had either from Thorpe in general - they blew it up a bit there...Anyway, we made our way to the bridge afterwards, with hot chocolate in hand and waiting for the burning of the effigy. As soon as the huge model was being brought up, it was evidently Jedward! A bit of a shame being side on for the burning, but the display was good. Also like how they used some of Jedward's song quite well within it. I've got a video, but it's seemingly taking forever to load... A couple of (poor) photos though:On fire!The wait went quickly and the lights across the park dimmed. Excitement overcame me; I could not wait. The performance was outstanding, well coordinated and the song choices worked well. The bring up over the fire truck early on in the performance got loads of people very excited as well - on the video I recorded, all you can hear for about a minute is 'What's that?', 'They're gonna blow up a fire truck!?!?', etc. The only bug bear I had about the performance was how the DJ (who was good, nonetheless - even if he did originally get Swarm's opening date wrong, hehe) had to say 'Hold on guys' between the end of the fireworks and The Swarm audio / explosion. The actual audio and general piece gave me goosebumps, and still does when I watch it over (and when I watched it last night down my street). It is very effective and well created. The explosion was amazing as well - the heat from it was amazing! A photo of the fire engine afterwards; sorry about quality.So, the actual fireworks display was pretty spectacular, and a great way to end the season. Well done Thorpe! :clap Not much else I have to say now. Another little teaser is that in the coming couple of weeks, I'll be doing a 'Review of the Season', which will basically be one great, big, epic PTR for you all the enjoy! Hope you've enjoyed this little TR and thanks for reading!

-Audio is my main bug bear. -Colossus paint job would be nice, especially as it's 10 next year, but I wouldn't be THAT fussed if it wasn't (same in case of Inferno).-Entrance refurb would be nice, but I'd prefer them to not rush that, so if it is worth waiting for, them I'm fine.Not something I'd like them to do over closed season, but still something for next season nonetheless:-Some sort of actors/mascot(s) roaming around the park (heck, even having a Lez Cougan in Swam's area would be great). Little bits of entertainment like that go a long way.

Saw > Stealth. Longevity and theming are the main clinchers. Stealth's audio and lack of killing your neck were positive which make it a hard choice.Saw > Tidal Wave. For the simple fact that it can be ridden all year round. Tidal Wave has better audio, theme and theming, but I just can't ride it unless it is boiling. And even then, I struggle with that amount of water being thrown on me... :SSaw > Colossus. Theming and I enjoy the ride slightly more. Quite close in some ways, especially as Colossus has a more interesting layout, better audio and doesn't try to brake your neck..

Inferno > Saw. Ride experience and audio clinches it.Inferno > Colossus. Ride experience, theme and theming pummels it for me.Inferno > Stealth. Ride experience, longevity, audio and theme are some of many reasons. In other words; Inferno wins.

To add to this conversation...I live over 2 miles away from Thorpe Park. I just stood at the end of my street and saw and heard basically the whole show (including the audio)! The only thing I didn't really see was the actual blowing up of the vehicle, though I saw the fiery flashes and loud bangs of course. :PBeautiful show and an amazing way to end the season - well done Thorpe!

Lookalike a bit of what should have been seen as banter in this topic went a bit far...Despite Inferno being practically my favourite ride on park, I agree with Jack in that it's not that forceful. The vertical loop and one of the turns (honestly cannot remember which one mind) bring force for me. However, that elegance, mixed in with forceful points, is exactly what I love about Inferno. I find Saw much more forceful (well, intense, for a better word) and have greyed out on it once before. I guess people react differently to G-forces on rides.Though, the really funny thing is, Jack moans that Inferno lacks any force, yet has no problem with Air and absense of any force whatsoever... ;)tl;dr: People are different!