JoshC.

I noticed the vehicle had 'news' written on it, which is seemingly in line with the plans for the ORP shop; could be that?

I'm just happy it isn't another Saw-esque random sounds and radios approach to a queue theme.

Christ, talk about an overreaction. Guess I should remember tongue-in-cheek comments aren't welcome here. Especially when according to Ricky here, none of us apparently know what we're talking about. In that case there might as well be no point in conversation here at all. Because we don't know what we're talking about... OH WELL.What I meant to do was just voice concern over how it might affect the atmosphere the ride is trying to portray. In my imagination it doesn't seem like the two would mix that well and the whole 'Swarm' experience might not be as wholesome and absorbing as it could be. But hey that's just my view and they may well end up proving me wrong, because I don't work for Merlin and I'm just a mere peasant. Better?Disclaimer: I fully appreciate my first comment probably wasn't necessary and could have been phrased better, but the elitist attitude of some people is somewhat irritating. I'm not sure what I can and can't say anymore before I get a hostile correction from someone apparently more 'in the know'. Remember we're only here because we care...

Evidently people know more about this than they're explicitly saying... Sometimes I wish people would either keep schtum and let others have their views, cynical or not, or tell us. If people can't tell us, then as said, keep schtum...Anyways, rant aside, nice to see Thorpe doing stuff for the opening of Swarm. I jusr hope it isn't *just* a band singing a song, which would be a bit naff in honesty. Though, as said, it's something.

Evidently people know more about this than they're explicitly saying... Sometimes I wish people would either keep schtum and let others have their views, cynical or not, or tell us. If people can't tell us, then as said, keep schtum...Anyways, rant aside, nice to see Thorpe doing stuff for the opening of Swarm. I jusr hope it isn't *just* a band singing a song, which would be a bit naff in honesty. Though, as said, it's something.

I want Lez Cougan back on the scene! Would be great he crops up in the TV ad / online virals; could certainly add a little extra than just showing the ride..

Just casually listening to some Rumba music. Open day in t-Minus 16 days. :D

Simply put, you won't be able to touch the wheels or the track.

My birthday is April 20th which is shared with Adolf Hitler.

Should be fixed

I was there on Sunday on a TTF Mini Meet - I really enjoyed the day compared to the weekend before when the park had to chuck grit everywhere. The gardens and ruins were open also, which just added to the offering.I was impressed that Nemesis ran 2 trains all day in spite having no queue whatsoever. Typical AT!Roll on 24th March now, with Sub-Terra and Ice Age 4D!

To just make a point:
a. ...Which is never used, and if you actually read the initial post, the point that was being got at, was that it could be put to better use.b. As already mentioned, this starts, and ends at Vortex. Once again, if you read the initial post, you'll find the point that was being made, was that in the queue at the entrance, there is little more than the view of a shabby wooden-clad entrance.c. Thanks for stating the obvious, now stop being needlessly rude and read the initial post, and comment constructively.d. What, and you know about marketing? Aside from anything else, I think you'll find music at the park is not marketing; it's guest experience.e. Seen as everything posted was factually correct, I have no idea what you are on about.Don't apologize, you were needlessly ripped for doing nothing wrong, and rightfully should be offended.Tpkabz, I really couldn't care less about forum etiquette, I'm going to be in your face. You are repetitively rude and offensive to people, and this is essentially bullying. Why don't you take your head out of your a**e and actually give someone else's opinion and comments the same amount of time and respect you deserve people to give your belittling replies.

Just rant to say thank you to Thorpe for organising this. Great to see them looking after enthusiasts and taking steps in the right direction

Not going on this ride now in-case I lose my hands, it's a shame I was looking forward to it. Oh well, X::///// and STORM SURGE will just have to do :DBut seriously, this ride is perfectly safe, everything has been designed for your comfort and enjoyment

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

I believe it is to clean the track over too.SWARM flame effects were testing today. It's bloody amazing.Rush is also now nearly fully back together.

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..

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 have recently left the park however worked there for three years consecutively, along with winter Engineering work. Read this is you want a fair and unbiased view of it. If you want a good start within the company, then any RTP is a good place to start. I bang on about this but if you want to go far and you have that business acumen to want to succeed - then you will.The company has some fantastic courses and training schemes that get you either as a manager, supervisor, senior leader, attraction manager to get the most out of your job. However, you need to start at the bottom if you have no experience - but it's so worth it. I enjoyed my time at Chessington however with how far I had gone, it was time to pack up and move about.For those of you that know me, are aware I've recently moved to another theme park in the group in a role I am absolutely loving. The people are fantastic, and the company is putting a lot of effort into it's staff, as they know that is where performance of the park grows, and will all in all help us to succeed. Yes, it's a minimum wage job at the bottom, but if you want to step up that is what you need to take.However. Find me a job that pays more than £6.50 for the same duties as a Ride Operator in a family theme park. But the money is not what I do it for. The people you do meet and will work with if you are successful in this company will create the best friends and coworkers you'll ever meet. Yes - it's hard to say you enjoy your job when you're dealing with 30 angry guests but there is a lot of pride in knowing that in your regular duties that you stand and talk to people at the top of a 125ft rollercoaster, that you work in such a unique environment where everyone is encouraged to have fun.The views in this thread are skewed, along with the TP Jobs thread. If you want to do it, have a passion; then do not get put off by those around you moaning and say it's 'not a real job' or 'not worth the money'. I've never seen the attraction in working for a supermarket, or in a shop. How boring is that? Just a few thoughts.Joey - you were there for a month. If that. I am unsure how you can tell others how you 'just love interacting' and spout about a minimum wage job.Benin - you didn't get invited back and you are desperately sour about two girls (whom I do know very well and were the best people in my team for interaction, operation and motivation). Be very careful about what you write here.Mark and Peter are clearly the only ones here with any decent experience in the role. The moral of this is that yes it sounds brilliant on paper but if you don't want to do it, or deem it as boring, then don't. But if you have a passion for being successful, for working in a unique environment, then do this

A new year, but my same old PTRs! :PNow, this was my first Zoo Day at Chessington ever, as far as I remember at least. The whole reason for it was to take advantage of the half price MAP deal, and it was felt it would turn out as a better family day out than a trip to London. It also made for a better chance to take videos with my new pocket camcorder, which hopefully will lead to some videos in the next week or so (when I have more time to sort them out; as mentioned later on, there's one currently on Facebook..)After arriving just before 10, all three of us were sorted out be about 10 past which, considering there was a bit of a queue, isn't bad at all. One thing I noted was how one group tried to get half price MAPs, but didn't know that it had ended early, and they weren't impressed as you can imagine.. For the most part, however, anyone who tried to purchase a MAP either had an email to warrant it or were prepared to pay full price, perhaps oblivious to the fact they could've got it half price with a bit of pro-activity!My new AP! I'm not blue, unlike last season, but I have a nice white line through my head...The weather for the day. It was a bit chilly, but there was no rain at least!Our day started off by trying to watch the otters being feed, as the show was just starting. However, with a crowd of people round, we opted against it and made our way to the Trail of the Kings instead...With the gorillas seemingly asleep, we moved straight to the lion and tiger enclosures. They weren't too active either, really, but were in plain sight, which was nice!Lion.Sleepy tiger.The lioness was quite active.I can't remember the last time I saw the leopard at Chessington, but today I saw it! It was quite active, perhaps waiting for a feed or something, but I genuinely was glad to have finally seen it. XD I took a video, but no photos. So, like with many things throughout this PTR, it will be a case of 'watch this space' I'm afraid!We made our way to Sealion Bay, and a show was due in 10ish minutes, so we decided to wait around. I got some epic video footage, but for now you'll have to deal with a few poor-ish photos...Swimming..More swimming.*More photos of sealions coming soon*After a quick hot chocolate break, we decided to go to Bubbleworks, see how opening it over Zoo Days was doing. I must confess myself impressed at the fact that most of the scenes were actually working well, but not perfectly, and that it felt just like it was the middle of open season when it should be at it's best.Whilst we're in Transylvania, may as well chuck in a couple of Vampire-related pictures...Never noticed this fake tree thing, so decided to take a photo of it all special like...A quick stop in the Chessington Shop, and...Chessington will have more than 1 new thing in 2012 - they've got new TOYS!!!!Seagull Skyway anyone?So, after a bit more wandering round, we decided on lunch. The Chicken Shack was open, despite it not being advertised to on the website / map, which I guess is a good thing, and that is where we decided on. After just sneaking in a table, it was obvious that it was a busy; every table was full. The staff were, however, working fast, which I guess is a good thing. However, I feel that the speed of service compromised the quality. The food we ordered was not good; the beef burger was greasy to death, and the chicken was very dry. The chips much to rave about either. We complained, about were given one of the meals refunded. As glad as we were that we were given some compensation, service should never come to this point, and this was certainly the sour note of the day.After an uneventful walk through the Monkey Bird and Garden for the first time in a good couple of years (probably since 2008), we made our way to Wanyama Village and Reserve, for my second visit since it had opened. I liked the place when I first visited, shortly after it had opened, but it was always something which was put lower down on the list of 'things to do', when taking into consideration the theme park as well. This is indeed a shame, as my visit today realised just how much I like the atmosphere and the general area. Will definitely try to fit it in on future visits!The central water piece.Ostriches. I took a photo of one of these shy little things, but the picture didn't come out well. Ah well, here's the factfile..Meerkat adoptions! My name is here! (Also, you can play spot the other TPM member..)I love the meerkat enclosure at Chessington; so many photo opportunities.From the tunnel.All standing up straight.The king of the mountain?This is where Wanyama stuff ends. As a side note, anyone who has me on Facebook, there is a short video at the 'peak' of Wanyama uploaded if you want to have a look. I hope to upload to Youtube or something too.I don't care how old I am, I have always wanted to have an arm-span as long as a vulture's Condor's wingspan.. ;)There was also a visit to the good ol' Sealife centre, but unfortunately most pictures didn't turn out alright. There will most definitely be more pictures and videos to come from my trip, but there'll be uploaded later during the week (I still have one more exam, you see...), so as said, it's a case of watch this space!I'll leave you with some photos of the AP / ticket queue as we left at about half 2 (with a 3pm close..) :oFor now, that's all..

Dunno why, but in a Harry Potter mood this evening...

Me, the last few months when I see The Swarm advertising: