JoshC.

Nice find - shame they've got the watermark plastered right in the middle of the screen in some ways. I get the whole trying to keep all the credit (rightly so too) and all that, but could've done it a bit more subtly.

^I believe that's the current stage of the lift hill, and it will be completed tomorrow or in the next couple of days.

You mean this one?

<3Maths jokes; they tend to the first sine of madness.

The 'height limit' only applies to the core area of the park (ie, all of the park that is currently accessible to the public). Stealth was a special exception to the rule with council talks, etc.The new islands are away from the core section of the park and have carefully positioned high points, which cause minimal impact to the skyline around the area, hence meaning they can go above the general height.

I'm in a bit of a science-y mood this evening:

Whilst I can't be 100% sure, it did seem like he was banging as I felt some vibration from the wall. Of course, could've been an actor, but I'd like to think that it was someone actually banging..

Sorry to bring this back, especially with recent minisite developments, but this is beginning to baffle me now..Maybe I'm being completely stupid, but I do not see how this is a trim piece of track?

My full review / thoughts on the maze, after 3 goes (twice on Thursday, once on Saturday):-The H&S talk outside the maze is nicer compared to other ones, simply because it themes it up a little with the word 'scientist'. I'd like it if the same was done for the other mazes, like 'The lost souls will touch you, but do not touch them' would work brilliant for Curse. The debrief works brilliantly work the attraction. I liked the use of the 'broken' security cameras and the general feel of worry it can create; if you're in the frame of mind to play along with the theme of course. The guy I had first time round did brilliant, very eccentric and set the scene beautifully. He added a bit of dark humour to it, but also came across as slightly schizophrenic as well, which was perfect for the role. I was surprised when he counted all 8 of us and said '4 for each side' - from there, I really did not know what to expect.. The second time was VERY short and sweet, whereas the third time brought a different tone for the rest of the maze than the other times. The first two times I felt like I was going to a lab, but should be very careful, whereas the third I felt as if I was going to be experimented on. -First time round, being greeted by a Hazmat suit in the decontamination room and having a member of my group split away from us, I was wondered what we had got ourselves in for.. Whatever it was, it would be above the norm. After a LOT of smoke, we were directed in different ways. After experiencing the smoke effect and lights turn off and on in different ways each time, I think the best way is a lot of, then the lights go off, then as soon as the lights come back on, be whisked away. -Having a Hazmat suit brashly pushes me through an open door, shouting to go in there is by far the best bit of the attraction. It is frantic and works fantastically well to set the tone of what the maze is about. I'll say one thing after my go on Saturday - it works best with just a Hazmat suit actor in there. On Saturday, there was an actor (not a scientist, more a patient) stopping and dispatching people down the corridor, then you find a Hazmat suit pushing people in. It takes away from it really; I think it works better having one actor there as it makes it more frantic, more shocking. Also, on Saturday, when pushing people in, the actor said 'You, in there, and don't come out.' It sounded like helpful advice, not the brash panic it should be. I much more prefer the 'Get in here now!' approach, so it's more obvious that they don't like you. - Of course, when I was alone, I was a little bit shocked to say the least. I really was not expecting it. To realise I was in pitch darkness, alone and locked in a small room took a few seconds, but when it sunk it, it did what it was designed to do - make me think 'What the flip do I do now?!' I felt a handle, tried opening it, and failed.. I think that, despite actors and loud audio creating bangs, the guy in the door next to me was actually banging the walls. Anyway, after a long amount of time, goodness knows how long though, another Hazmat suit actor final opens the door and forcefully guides me away. First time, I came across a tunnel, and almost instinctively, I went in. It didn't take long for me to catch up with the first guy. Again, the tunnel felt very long and never-ended, and after finally getting up, it is a relief. The other two times, I've gone down the corridor route, which I've found disappointing due to the lack of actors really. Only been 1 on each visit. -From here, it's pretty much a standard maze - a bit of the others in some ways - very bright strobes, dark spots, some decent theming, tight areas, etc, except you don't need to be hand-on-shoulders. I like the testing lab scenes, which are full of ambience and a little jump I s'pose. Not that many actors (though a staff member has told me more will come when FN is busy, and I can see where they would be). The end is a monster-ish noise, sounds like a dragon to be honest, and an actor. It's not a scare or a jump even (as the monster noise can be heard from the queue - it's loud), in a way, it tries - and fails - in doing an Asylum ended - but it's more a 'relief' to be outside again. If there's one thing that needs improving, it's the positioning of actors. Bare minimum before the isolation room, and more after, much more. It would make the maze 10/10. *As a side note, I did not get the feel of the Holocaust from the beginning, like others did. Maybe it's the way the actors set it up in the reception scene, but every time it was clear I was being decontaminated before entering a laboratory. The isolation room didn't remind me in any way of the Holocaust either, to any description. Would be interesting to see if they were trying to give a nod to the Holocaust though.

Are you able to post any sort of pictures / reviews of that event? Something I'd love to do, but am unable to attend.

Top quality Thorpe.That is all.

A couple of photos of me with various actors that were on-park yesterday. Expect a PTR from me in the next day or so, which will go more in depth as to their roles. Experiment 10 researcher 1.Experiment 10 researcher 2.<br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Roaming clown.

Got back from a dead park earlier, with two goes in E10 (what I call it for short).Teaser review, some spoilers: Also loved the general atmosphere. Brilliant Thorpe!

People wonder why I get annoyed when they ask me 'Can you help me with the Maths homework?'Is it any wonder when, the night before it's due, when I'm offline, I get this:

Majorly disappointed by the episode.Poor way to end a mixed series tbh...

I'm confused.. I know what the moan is, I agree it's the not the best planning and I didn't go against that in my post. I just helped clear up the whole issue of whether there was going to be a bridge from SG to Swarm.. So how you've got that I didn't get the moan from my post confuses me.. :S

Well, technically, track has been erected for a while now.. But maintenance track doesn't really count, does it? ;)But that's still good to hear I guess.

A view from what might be a different side of the fence, if you will...I had my 14th visit to Thorpe at the weekend, which lasted a few hours due to me having a cold. What has taken me there 14 times this season you may ask - is it because I love the place, love the atmosphere I create, love the rides? No. Simply put, it's a place for me to go which is a 30 minute (ish) walk from where I live, and it works out as a cheap day out to go with friends, in our particular cases. I'm not saying I don't enjoy visiting, of course I do, otherwise I wouldn't bother going, would I? So, in my 14 visits, I think I can say Thorpe is having one of it's better seasons. Reliability, though not perfect, is generally one the up. Out of those 14 visits, I can remember 2 were more than 1 ride was down all day (one of which was actually Saturday..). Generally, the four major coasters (and every other ride) was up and running at the start of the day too. That has been a consistency throughout the year for me, which I think needs some recognition - especially when compared to previous seasons. I think it's worth pointing out hear that Samurai and Slammer are both currently down due to 'cracks', which perhaps shows that they're not the greatest rides to have at a park where reliability is an issue. Despite this, Slammer has had a very good season this time round. One of my biggest grumbles I've had this year is the music. The chart music has completely dominated the front area of the park, up to FF and even Vortex. Now, whilst I'm not the biggest fan of it in general, I understand the usage in the entrance area and the bridge, but not on rides. And don't get me started on the new CC playlist, which I absolutely HATE. However, I have heard no such grumbles when I've been with 'non-enthusiast' friends; they prefer the new CC playlist (even after liking the old one), and really have no issues with chart music playing on some of the rides even. To be fair, I see their point - how is having a different piece of background music going to affect their day, whether they like it or not. They're not going there to listen to some music, they're going there to enjoy a day out with others, and be at a theme park. As long as some atmosphere is there, it keeps people happy. (Before people stop reading the this post thinking I'm an utter idiot, please do read on, as there is more to come...)When it comes down to the atmosphere the rides create, well, I'd say that the more recent projects (ie, the Merlin ones) seem to be going in that direction. The Saw duo are examples of creating attractions which have theming in conjunction to a ride. Granted, the coaster doesn't work brilliantly with theming during its entire course, but that's the trouble with a fastracked movie-tie-in idea, which at the end of the day, Saw was. Storm Surge looks horrendous, but it shows signs of interactivity with the free water canons; Thorpe are coming up with ways that keep their target market entertained. I've seen people much more interested in the canons than the actual ride; possibly not what they were aiming for, but it shows that Thorpe aren't just thinking of the ride any more. Look at Swarm and it's on-park marketing; the park I'd say is showing signs of improvement in this area. When looking at older rides, I'd say the flats need a complete do-over when it comes to their appearance, and new ones should be thought carefully for their look and audio. I think everyone hopes that some of the older flats will be sorted out in due time.And now, what this whole thing is leading up to... This one sentence. I've heard it used a thousand times, and much like Mark has said, then why have Thorpe bothered in the past? As I've been alluding to this entire post, the park seems to have recently been 'getting away' with things. They have been able to get away with not making older rides look very pleasant, let the park audio slip into a jumble, let rides lack any true experience to them and so forth because it doesn't really affect the average person's day out. People rave about Saw, despite it's lack of theming everywhere. People give the thumbs up to Storm Surge because they are able to enjoy it. I could go on and on and on here. I am in no way saying people at Thorpe don't care about stories, theming, music and everything else, but as long as something is there, they are kept happy. It all boils down to how much Thorpe wants to be the best. If they truly want to be the best, this 'sliding by' will no longer happen, and we will see great rides in the future, that are the full package, and general park improvements occur. If they don't, we can expect more years of what we have now. Personally, I think the next year will shows us just how much they want to be 'Number 1'...

UCAS, and it's blooming complicated forms.

Throwing my view into this...Grey is grey is grey. Grey is a nice colour for the ride, and is at least something different compared to Merlin's 4 previous major coasters. A different shade of grey for the supports is hardly going to make a big difference to the impact and appearance of the ride; grey is grey is grey.

So...it had been over a month since my last theme park visit, and with a couple of trips cancelled / postponed with people, it was due time for a little family visit there. After troubles with the buses there, we got there for just before 11 (instead of the 10/half 10 we had originally planned). It was busy when we got there...as expected.But the weather was nice!Though dark clouds were looming in the distance...So, as we got past the turnstiles, the first thing that struck me was Swarm's advertising sign. As some may know, I was slightly sceptical about it's positioning, detracting for the feel the tank created. However, my view has changed - I'm a fan of it; does the job PERFECTLY. The tank, however, needs to have the writing taken off; the sign advertises the slogan beautifully. If they were to take of the writing, I'd say there's enough continuity for it to work with the GP. The sign.The positioning. As said, I'm fine with that now, but feel the writing on the tank isn't needed (now).After a shorter-than-normal ride on Vortex, which left me feeling slightly short-changed, general wandering around took place. I had a sneaky peek in the arena, to see what was going down with the new maze...Absolutely nothing. :PRumba Rapids, a 'favourite' / must do of mine. For the first time this since I think, I actually had to queue. *Shock, horror - queuing at a theme park!*. Meh, I like the music, so I don't mind. Anyway, love the fact that the pre-tunnel waterfall has returned - top notch stuff Thorpe. Standard Stealth photo.We were relatively worked, so we decided to wander round for a bit more, and ended up by Stealth; not for the ride, for The Swarm advertising! XD We saw 'police officers' in the distance, closer to the photo point than Sunken Garden area, so we had a nose around in SG.Sunken Garden greenery.Swarm site looking normally normal.After we emerged from behind the theming, we were greeted with this:An accomplice of Les Coogan!Looking a bit drunk to be honest.I was about to speak to him, then he turned around, and walked away! How very rude of him.. heheI followed him, overhearing him and the female officer 'arguing'. I saw him take a sip from his cup of water (which I assume was meant to be discrete, but ah well), then he turned around and spat it all out.. "What are you doing!?" Screamed the officer. "I just threw up." He replied. After general 'aliens are doing it' comments, I asked for a photo, to 'help spread the truth'. He happily obliged.I can't remember what was written on the paper. 'The cake is a lie'springs to mind; I can make that out too. For all you gamer-savvy people out there, it's a regular theme that comes up in Portal... One thing to note was he wasn't reading from it. He wandered off afterwards shouting 'Put it on the internet!'. One thing I half liked / half disliked was the fact that neither officer interacted with me personally, which seems against what I've seen in videos. I liked that because it seems as if they knew I was a bit more savvy on the concept, so it would be more worth interacted with others who weren't too sure, to make it seem realistic that it was just some lunatic. I disliked because it meant less interaction for me.. Anyway, couple more antics:Officer talking to some people.The guy walking off..Quite possibly the funniest thing I've seen an actor at Thorpe do. He approached a group of 4 cleaner (yes 4! Why they were clumped together like that I will never know..) and poured some water on the ground. He complained that they weren't doing their job, so made them clean it up. Of course, the mark still there, he ranted a little bit more, then went into something about aliens I guess, as I started to wander off.. The discussion was lengthy, and did attract some attention.After a bore spin on SIATC (namely because the cup was too hard to spin), we had lunch at the Mexican Cantina, then it was Canada Creek times. We just missed a CCR train, but I was slightly shocked to find two people were sitting on the grass, just to the left of the track, as if nothing was wrong. The driver stopped and escorted to just outside the barriers. What a pair of idiots.Said grass.Saw from CCR.Loggers Leap followed, with great enjoyment of course. The park was busy, the weather was getting worse, so we decided to call it a day...almost. Flying Fish had to be done of course.A quick peek at Se7en's new location was had first.The operator on Flying Fish was actually amazingly epic today. After our 4 laps, and with not all the rows filled up for the next ride, the op told us to leave our seats..without even locking our bars. He then proceeding to 'have a go at us' for not leaving. He tried bargaining with us, persuading us to leave, pleading with us (saying how we were being selfish for not letting the next people on the ride) then threatened to call security and get us escorted from the park. After someone on the train shouted 'there's not enough security for all 38 of us', he finally decided to unlock the seats. I heard the click, saw a couple fly up, thought I was able to get up, but no...loads of bars were still locked. He then mocked us 'still stuck' people, saying we weren't worthy to leave, and that he could call security now.. Then another click an my bar flies up a bit. I finally stand up; though it's not that easy for me of course! The bar only unlocked a little - so I still couldn't get out! XD After a bit more fooling around, everyone was free. Got to admit, it helped fill the train up and made it epicly fun for us - an applause from he well deservedly got from me. *claps*To round off all of the pictures:Dogs in theme parks? How!?That's that then. Just a nice little trip for just over 3 hours, was something to do really. Best way to describe the day was another day at the office - the usual going ons, along with a few perks. Probably the last trip I'll have before FN now; which I can't wait for now all the more!

Wasn't anything of great interest that I saw today, just the general, not-that-interesting work.

Well, I must say I liked that finale!A bit too open-ended for my liking though, and thought the ending was a bit obvious after what had happened during the episode.. However, ignoring that, it was all good.Impressive series of Torchwood!