JoshC.

Hi! Sorry about the whole random asking if it was you. I saw you in the AP queue and then on Inferno and curiosity got the better of me. I'll eventually put a DP of myself on here. Ah, it was you. Weren't 100% sure, so didn't ask so I didn't make an idiot of myself. :PAnyways, I also went yesterday - obviously. I do have to agree with Marc and Mark here. It was fantastic! I only saw Stealth down in the morning at opening for about 15 minutes, and it was testing during that time. Considering it was a bank holiday, queues were rather good. Longest I saw was about 60-70 minutes for Colossus; I did leave at 2:30 though. Staff were rather energetic and added to the experience of the day, which was great. Little grumbles. Inferno mist effect in the tunnel isn't as full on. Thing is, a couple of seasons ago, I wouldn't have grumbled about the mist - at least it would have been there - so it is only a little grumble at the mo. Rumba Rapid effects. Only one sprinkler on at the finale and that was it. Terrible. You get more wet in Time Voyagers now!Ride Count:Inferno x1Detonator x2Rumba Rapids x2Stealth x1Teacups x1Loggers Leap x1Saw Alive x1Saw - The Ride x1CCR x1Flying Fish x3 circuits (1 ride)Vortex x1Rush x1As said, for a bank holiday, going from 9:30-2:30, that was rather good.One thing though Marc, how'd you know there's new sounds in Alive if your Ride Count says you didn't do it?

Unfortunately, it looks very doubtful I'll be able to go. Small chance, but very unlikely. Sorry guys.

They have not been filming it this season. They filmed it, as Ricky said, last summer - at the end of the day and after the park had closed.Anything you saw would have been promotional material to advertise to show to guests.

I remember seeing the water like that, and it did make me feel sick at times. If the park wanted to make it feel THAT real, they may as well have made the buildings truely unsafe as well.

Can't start a topic about it, so I'll point it out here. Celebs getting cut queues! Very annoying. Was on park today, and Stacey Solomon (X Factor) was able to go through the exits of all the rides like a disabled guest! What's worse, is she had 2 staff with her (1 at some times) as if she was the queen of blooming England! IS there any need for 2 staff to escort round the park. She was on a talent contest, not the queen's flipping daughter!

Well, went to the park today. This whole 'maintenance' thing. It didn't add or improve any effects, however, I was told by a member of staff working on the attraction is was to 'improve guests' experiences'.I must say, the attraction has improved drastically. Here follows a relatively in depth spoiler of what happened.Visit 1 - where I was at the very back. SWAT room had a female, which was a first for me. She's not as impactive as the male I've had in there, but they all seem to have their own flair to it. A nice touch was if you touch a wooden door (fire exits and actors' rooms), you WILL be decapitated. Bathroom. Very active bloke. He was rattling the chains before we were even in there. Once everyone was in, he sprung to life, touching everyone and circling round the group to the other side and jumping into peoples' faces. Very nice. Then, he follows us into the next room! He overtakes me at the back even! I then look at him and he tries to scare me, and when I think he's gone, he's still there grabbing at my trousers. Very good acting. Electric fence. Gawd, the vibrations of the gate are long and noisy. I'd hate to be the actor in there. She hid in the fake route and then just stroked people's face, etc. I get to the flaps, and she just pops up behind me and says 'leave..' Brilliant!Freezer room. 2 pig men, no actor changed up. A bit risky, considering I felt this was the best part of the attraction. However, the pig men were good and really got into peoples' faces and stroked them. Being at the back, they thought it was good to snarl at me and stroke my back. And then still follow me into the next room. Mausoleum Trap. We had caught up with the group in front of us, somehow, and the actor left that group and went straight to ours. She stopped us even to et the spacing even out. She was rattling her chain and doing quite a lot of strange things, staying in character well and not speaking. Just as we were leaving, I looked behind me, and she was still there, and then she started mumbling (not being able to speak, yet still interacting - brilliant!) - sounded like save me or something. Then, she strokes my head, pulls my ear and jabs me in the ribs! Fantastic. Pendulum Trap. Having being so focused on the previous actor, I wasn't surprised to see no actor on the table. I was surprised to see the actor already scaring the group and rattling against the cage. Like the others, she interacted with everyone. She picked on me and then lied back on the table. Carousel Trap. Still a weak ending. The actor was still good though, and chased us out, again leaving me to be picked on. Lovely. On my second visit, I was more or less in the middle. I decided to try out a little idea of mine, and tried acting scared. It worked, with all the actors interacting with me. Probably the highlight was when I was poked by the (same) women in the Mausoleum Trap, which caused my 'hide in fright', which caused my mum - who was behind me - to laugh. The actor then started poking her repeatedly, saying 'You think that's funny? I don't..' And my mum laughed harder, and the actor responded by saying 'I'm poking you and you're still laughing..' And poked her even more. Okay, so she was went out of character. Okay, she didn't scare us. But it added to the enjoyment and worked so well!Overall, the attraction itself appears to have become less passive and the actors are trying to scare you, whilst stilling keeping loosely to the theme of the room. In the end, I think that is the best thing possible. Being involved in a passive experience is no good. Being involved in a partially-passive experience is what this maze has to do. My 2 visits makes me give it a score of 6.5/10 - much better than my previous 3/10 I gave it at first. XDI hope there'll be even more actors in there on Monday!

Poking one particular person has now become an obsession of mine. Every time I see her or she sees me, we have a poking war and it is actually just extremely funny. It has gotten to the stage where we're chasing each other down the corridor, just to get the last poke, then getting told of by a teacher! And it doesn't appear to be getting old. XD Ah, good times.

Okay, I don't know why Rich was banned (in fact, I only found out yesterday evening that he was), and to be honest, I don't want to. None of my business. The thing is, the team have made a decision, so why can't you respect that? After all, they are the ones running the meet, they are the ones running the forum and the website. Why can't they be allowed to say that a couple of people aren't allowed to go? Surely it is up to them. As for the whole becoming an official link ruining the site. It has brought in many more members, which has made the forum harder to moderate, which does explain why the forum may have gone downhill a bit in posting quality. If I'm honest, I'm not the biggest fan of the official link. I'm being a bit biased here, but it did make it harder for TPG (and other Thorpe sites) to compete. However, that is the whole point of competition I s'pose. I have said in the past that at times it seems the park is behind some of the articles and the site is more of an advert rather than a fan site. However, when bringing these points up, I was told this wasn't the case, and after that, the site felt a bit more fanboy related, rather than another advert. Why that had to be brought up in here is a tad pathetic in my opinion. Anyways, I'm still a maybe for this meet up.EDIT: I agree with Dan.

Wait a minute, since when was Rich a banned member? Says he's a regular member on his profile? :S

Woah, Cameron was quite harsh to Clegg there. As Clegg has stated in his manifesto, they'd only put in a referendum if it was for the best.He really is getting desparate..

He did look like he was about to cry! XDThe thing is James, he's only human! He was angered by what had happened; anyone would be. Considering what had happened, he seemed to keep his cool much more than others would have. At least he didn't call her a bigot to her face..

Okay, considering the last debate is tonight, it is a little late. But ah well. Feel free to discuss debates or anything political here. As much as you want to have a laugh, let's try and keep this serious, so no mick take photos - stick them somewhere else - and no MRLP rules (yes, we know all it is true, but to try and keep it serious...) Well, I'll start off by saying about this whole Brown calling someone a bigot storm. The media, as per usual, are blowing this out of proportion. He was in his personal car and he has a right to an opinion of people. How many people can say they haven't called someone something behind their backs and never intended them to know? I'm pretty sure the other candidates have been in similar situations. Moreover, I'm sick of people criticising Brown. Funnily enough, he's doing a pretty tough job and he is trying his best. Considering the economic situation, he has done relatively well. Okay, he's not some sort of God who has done things perfectly, but cut him some slack..Enjoy.

Anyone interested in going Monday? Yeah, yeah, I know it'll be packed, but ah well. Everyone I've asked can't be bothered due to it being busy, and I don't want to go alone.

I had my French oral today. It went okay, but as I was given the 2 topics I hated the most, it could have gone better. I hope I've got a B, but I can only see a C or a D or the cards...

From what I remwmber, the train is on the MCBR before the other one starts the lift hill.

So basically all publicity is good publicity? Shoot, didn't think of that..

It got into the papers and it advertised FN. There it succeeded. I'm not questioning that. But it failed because it was ridiculous! Friends at school who had heard about it said how it was silly and obviously untrue. People in the queue line over FN were questioning how it was haunted. It didn't add to the event of FN in any way and was just a way of getting it in the papers - like the other campaigns mentioned. I'm saying it failed at making a back story - not at advertising. I would disagree that fanboys and the GP have that different of an opinion. Yes, we see things differently and fanboys do tend to nit pick at times. However, from my experiences with the GP, they tend to be able to see some of the marketing as a bunch of rubbish. I don't disagree that they stunts do their job, but I just think they could go about it in a slightly less ridiculous way.

As promised, here's my say.Firstly, marketing campaigns. All of those (bar the Priest blessing Stealth) were so ridiculous and stupid it was unbelievable! I know the park needs to get themselves noticed, but surely they could be creative enough to do something slightly cleverer. Okay, the ouiji board was slightly better, as it was an attempt to make a back story for FN, but it failed miserably. Even if they ignored the ouiji board and said that they think Saw - The Ride is haunted and the ghostly occurrences are spreading, I'd have been happy. Their idea was good, but the execution was poor. The Priest one was clever - they did it after worries of a Slammer repeat. And, just to be fair, recently, AT have done the same, banning speedos anyone? However, their promotional art, posters, etc. are amazing! They are always well thought out and really good. At times, they've let themselves down with the adverts, but ah well. However, the promo art and posters are extraordinary and always make me think Wow. Just a shame the rides don't always live up to amazing standard of the poster.

icon was used to show how it was a joke. Any members who've been here a while or who were on SP would understand this.

Thanks for that guys. As I said, it is very frustrating and the last thing I need is the teacher having a go at me in the subject I'm worst at.. Will take your advice, and go off to bed soon... *Looks at bed with tons of revision spewed over it and wants to scream*

Tis a bit of a random place to ask, but ah well.Treasure Island was an attraction back in the 80s. If you ever remember going to Thorpe Farm by CCR, you would have seen a platform about half way. You would get off there. The ride was a train ride going through the island, and actors dressed as pirates would be there to entertain you and throw sweets about. It was a fun ride for everyone. Someone who actually went on it should be able to give more information.If you are wondering, it closed because cannabis was being grown there and the actors were getting high from it.

I can't disagree with you in any way. There is nothing wrong with Tidal Wave. However, when it comes to some things (I saw a keyring with the park logo, 4 major coaster logos and Tidal Wave's logo on it), it confuses me a bit. They have all these other rides that are much popular all season round and they go for something like Tidal Wave. Though, as you say, it is very interesting and memorable visually, so that is probably the reason as to why..

Indeed it is. Sorry to go away from Alice's rant, but I have yet another one of my own..And, unsurprisingly, it is about my French teacher... again!!So, on Friday our class had a mock exam for a Module 4 speaking - the real exam is this Thursday. As I said to a couple of people from here over MSN, I completely stuffed it up. I was to be asked 32 questions and perform a role play. After about 4 questions and stringing together a couple of words, I completely blanked out. I said I couldn't do and just went out. After getting back into the class, I just broke down. If I couldn't do it now, how could I do it in 6 days time? Right, things start to get confusing now. There were two teachers who were with the class on Friday. One is our usual teacher (for the sake of all of this, I'm just going to call her teacher A), who was doing the mock exam with us individually. The other is another French teacher who helped us with any questions we had and made sure we were revising (She'll be teacher B for this), etc. She sometimes helps our class out when she doesn't have marking to do. So, when I got back from the mock, this over teacher was trying to calm me down - I was crying and shaking. After a couple of minutes, Teacher A comes in. She has a go at everyone who has done the mock, saying it is obvious no one has prepared. I had, but that obviously makes no difference to her - it must be so much easier for her to generalise. Anyway, she takes Teacher B out for a word. Afterwards, it is obvious they talked about me. I was told to take my things and go to the plaza to get a drink. I wasn't told to return or anything like that. I then go but don't take my blazer or bag or anything and my teacher then tells to take my things and go. So, I do that and - feeling like I was sent away - I didn't return to the lesson. Nether of the teachers came to check on me any point through the day if I was okay. Afterwards, even though I wasn't in the mood to speak or see anyone, I found out from friends that the 2 teachers had gone outside, into an IT class (that was full of Yr11s). They had this argument - and my friend said it went like: Teacher B: "He needs to see a doctor about his nerves!" Teacher A: "No, he just needs the loo." And this repeated for a bit. Then, after I've gone and all of that, one of my friends asked Teacher B: "Why was there a need to segregate Josh?" To which the reply was "I don't know - it is really stupid.." My mum tried phoning up the school to talk to Teacher A, but she'd already left 20 minutes after school had finished, which led to today...Well, apparently, there was a French revision session today. Well, Teacher A classed it as a revision session - but everyone in my class felt it was just for people who hadn't done the mock (the class had ran out of time last time). I only had found out about this today. And because it was only for people who hadn't done their mock, I decided not to go and work on an IT project after school.Now, my mum phones the school and asks to speak to Teacher A. Bit of a random point, but my mum works nights, so she got up 3 hours early to speak to her. My mum phones, and is put on hold. When Teacher A is told she has a phone call form my mum, she goes looking for me.. French and IT are right next to each other, so she finds me near enough straight away. She asks what my mum wants to speak about. I say it is just stuff in general - such as the upcoming exam on Thursday and the other exams in June. When she asks why I was not at the revision session, I replied 'I only found out about it today and was told it was only for people who hadn't done the Mock.' She replied hastily: 'Why did you only find out about it today?' I stated how I was 'Taken out of the lesson'. As you can tell from above, she clearly told me to leave the lesson and said nothing of returning, as opposed to the 'I told you to calm down and come back' she said. I'm not being biased or anything here, but this is how events turned out. After much debating of this 'misunderstanding' (though I don't see it as that - I see it as having a miscommunication with me, but I will be as nice as I can), she asked if that was what my mum wanted to ask her. When I said no - as she wanted to ask about the exams and revision stuff - she exploded before I say any more and said 'OH, THERE'S MORE!?!' and then said I should just make a meeting with the headteacher about it. She then rants on a bit more and storms off. I haven't had a chance to tell her what my mum was going to say. And she flips out over a misunderstanding due to her miscommunicating with me. Ironically, she has told our class not to go over head when it comes to issues like this (we had done in the past to get things done quicker) and she is now telling me to go over her head. All of this was in front of my IT teacher and about 3 other students as well!She acted extremely unprofessional - why should she rant at me for her mistakes!? She never sees herself in the wrong and she acts extremely childish at times. I'm a polite, kind person - but this is the first time I have ever had to bite my tongue to not say something rude to someone. She annoyed me so much. After she stormed off, I just sat there, shaking, then just walked off. I didn't know what to flipping well do. I rung my mum and told her of the situation - after which she got in contact with the Deputy Head. I then had a talk with another teacher - probably the best darn teacher there ever is if I'm honest - as she had been told by the IT teacher what had gone on. She agrees with me that she is very childish and at times pathetic. The thing is, there seems to be nothing that can be done as she is (somehow) getting good grades for lower years. I have honestly lost all respect for this teacher now. I don't know what else to say really. This teacher is just unbelievably unprofessional and is just extremely rude. I am sick to death with her - especially after other incidents that I've mentioned. Join this along with the stresses of the French exam on Thursday and other GCSEs coming up, along with my nan (who I'm quite close to) being unwell, it is just too much! Well done if you read that rant. I will apologise now to anyone who I may be rude to in the next few days - I sometimes take my anger out at the wrong time in the wrong place.

What amazes the the most is the 'Top 5' rides are the 4 major coasters and Tidal Wave. It's like on PR and merchandise.. Anyway, I'll post my views later. Though, as is probably rather obvious, I tend to be against this silly marketing they tend to do.