JoshC.

I was more referring to the numbers - 8 non-main queue vs 20 main queue is a good split. There's benefits to both systems, and looking at how Thorpe have designed queues in recent years, they prefer letting Fastrack join just before the ride. Colossus (and Inferno) are unfortunately stuck in the past a little as a result. But I agree they should stick to the systems they've got in the place, or redesign queues, rather then retrospectively trying to put a system in which the side isn't designed for.

4 rows closed for Fastrack and disabled guests is actually a very fair split to be fair. Even 4 rows for Fastrack plus an extra for disabled is decent.

eNOji.

Looks very nice - I really like the look of the station at the moment too! Once it beds in, this will really fly through. The twist and dive element looks mental already though.. September needs to hurry up a bit...

Though that's true, Samurai was running with 2 rows unavailable on Saturday. Potentially still true for today. If so, not hard to see why someone would exaggerate that to 20 (or alternatively a typo).

According to Towers Times, Merlin have filed a trademark for the name 'The Alton Towers Dungeons'. Taking it very much at face value, that suggests Alton Towers are certainly planning on getting a Dungeons-style attraction. If true, it wouldn't be the first attraction to get a Dungeons within it - Warwick Castle does have the Castle Dungeons, which is a 45 minute ish experience. I'm... intrigued by the idea. There's enough real history, and scope to embellish the truth (see Hex), to create a fun and unique Dungeons style attraction. But would it really work in a theme park environment, especially at a park where it's a stretch to do everything of note at the moment anyways due to the short opening hours? Also, would prefer to see the park get more rides. It'd be particularly good if it is something that can open after park hours too, and is an option to non-theme park guests, but I imagine that being logistically difficult. All depends on where they end up putting it too I s'pose. So what are your thoughts? Where could it go? Is this the right thing for the place? Is it the right time?

The Berlin gateway is receiving some work, and it appears it will display a new poster with more details...

IT LIVES https://www.facebook.com/BiuroPodrozyAlicja/videos/2776515639031593/

Sexy trains Queue line coming along Source - https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1557590&page=714

The last picture shows just how crammed the area will be! It's absolutely mental what they're doing with this, and I really can't wait to see it develop.

I've deleted the link to the video. For those who haven't gathered, the video showed someone sneaking into Legoland during the night and doing stuff, some of which was dangerous. Linking the video and giving it views ultimately encourages this type of behaviour further. We obviously discourage this massively and absolutely do not want to support this in any way. This is similar to when videos were posted of people sneaking into Thorpe Park and climbing Stealth. I'm sure there's enough detail here for people to be able to find the video if they wish to watch it, but we just don't want to actively link it here. If anyone has any problems, drop me a PM.

Though not related directly to The Walking Dead, Zombie Hunt forms part of The Year of The Walking Dead activities. Th experience runs July 21st - September 3rd. Details are still vague at the moment, but with Thorpe releasing a new map, and them starting marketing, we are getting a bit more detail to piece together. The vague idea seems to be an outdoor laser quest type thing, where you get to shoot zombies. It'll be based somewhere around Platform 15, and be suitable for families. It appears in particular there will be 'characters' within the experience as well, which could make it a lot more exciting and interesting: I'm really looking forward to this - there's certainly a lot of potential for this to be a proper little gem of an experience!

I believe that that message does indeed just apply for Standard MAP and Thorpe AP people.

The entrance plaza for Port Laguna is nearing completion and it looks GORGEOUS: https://twitter.com/teamlooopings/status/1009079715683094529?s=19

^The issue is that, for whatever reason, the UK audience doesn't just stay for late night openings unless there's a reason too. It's been tried in the past, and if you keep a park open till late for no reason, people will leave early. They only stay late if there's a reason to (fireworks, scary things at Halloween, etc). I guess that's why they've got Love Island involved. Get an IP involved, create a special event to entice people to stay and maybe it'll work. It's still a risk though, what with it being such a polarising IP. The one major positive to draw from this is that the IP is current. It's always been a joke that Thorpe grab IPs when they have passed their peak, but in the case of Love Island, it's just reaching its peak. Of course, there's the argument about whether it'll work at all and if that sort of IP should even be considered for Thorpe, but there's at least one thing done right there...

Small Rookburgh update; pictures from PhantaFriends: Huge towers that'll be for theming.

Having not ridden it, or seen the restrictions, I can't be sure exactly, but I'll throw this out there... What ride restrictions do you mean exactly? 'Hold on tight and brace yourself', 'Sit back', 'Put your head in this position'? Or were there very specific rules? If it's a simple instruction like hold on tight, how can a park truly enforce then, when most people will put their hands up, etc? If it's a very weirdly specific rule, then that says to me something isn't right!

If a ride is in a position where there's a high risk that guests can injure themselves through their own actions, then that's an issue with the ride itself which needs addressing. For a (slightly OTT) analogy - if a car exploded every time it went above 80mph, you wouldn't say "well it's the driver's fault because the national speed limit is 70, so they should never hit 80". You'd get the issue resolved, or if it can't be resolved, stop people using the car.

Phwoar

Vortex did indeed open in 2001. There's been no news either way about Vortex. It's currently just listed as unavailable / closed, but there's no indication that it's leaving either. Usually in these situations (where a ride is closed for a long period of time with no obvious work happening to it), the park are waiting on behind the scenes stuff (like a new part, for example) to come in. I'd be very surprised if it doesn't return at some point.

Maybe, just maybe, Project Zer0 is an independent scare attraction, which will be based in Tolworth? A clever person would certainly piggyback marketing themselves off of a huge event like Fright Nights. There's also the fact that ScareTOUR, who are incredibly in the know about all things scary, are suggesting that an old maze will be returning for Fright Nights this year as the 'new thing'.

Clearance testing has begun: Man sunbathing on lift hill: All photos posted by PabloA on Coasterforce.

Aaaaaaaand in the interest of fairness, I had a decent ride on Wicker Man this week. I didn't love it as much as everyone else seemingly does, but it had some good laterals and was well paced. So I can now see people's perspective more on why they rate it so highly. If that experience is an indication of how the ride will run usually, then good. It's not something I rate highly, and I'm still not sold on the pre show for a family ride, but it seems to be doing the trick for Towers. Speaking of the pre show, the curtain wasn't rising during my visit. Apparently if people pull on it, it causes it to break, and being so low hanging, people do tug on it. Thanks to having two projectors for the second half of the pre show, when the curtain breaks, it does look quite dodgy.