Mattgwise

I have to agree there too, I have enjoyed myself today but the acting and costumes definitely not as good as previous years. Park music is not great either, I miss the days of every ride having a different track, and them all playing loud. There is little atmosphere with the volume being as low as it is in most of the areas this year. As an example. the whole of the Stealth area for instance has one speaker playing music near the shop, and the platform playing its circus theme fairly quietly I actually really enjoyed Big top, I saw at least 7 actors and got placed into a dead end with just two others in the mirror maze, to then be chased out.

It still hasn't begun testing yet but engineers were still working on it early afternoon today. It doesn't look quite ready for testing yet as there are still some panels missing off of the back of some of the seats and the area the parts were stored, near the exit ramp still looks quite a mess. Hopefully it won't be too long and lets hope they use this week to sort out the final bits and bobs.

Vortex was certainly running well today as mentioned by Dean. Was a nice surprise to see it open. I have to say I didn't feel the cycle was any shorter than when described above.

Most queue times were wrong today, but mostly in favour. Saw at 11:30 said 45 minutes and we walked on, and even allowed to go under the chain back on as it was so quiet. X has remained at 20 - 25 mins almost all day and on all my rides it was 5 minutes. Colossus, stealth and Swarm once advertised as 15 or 10 minutes but again virtually walk on. The only ride we waited a long time for was Nemesis Inferno at 25 minutes, but it didn't dispatch a train for 10 minutes during the wait. My Bloody Valentine was 10 minutes at about 4pm and looked only slightly longer around 7pm. Big top took 20 minutes (see pic of queue below). Cabin was about 20 minutes and Saw seemed much longer so we didn't bother, but heard someone say they waitied just under an hour, so likely that was the longest maze queue. Fast track sales were low too which helped. Also worth noting all rides at full capacity. It was so quiet at times, look at some of the queueline pictures I took...

Well so far I haven't seen a soul queue up at the fast track buildings so fingers crossed not many have been sold.

Well a lot quieter than yesterday. Just been on saw twice without leaving the station area due to the great chap in the bag hold phoning through to get permission for us to get back through the gap. Oddly saw was walk on but advertised as 45 mins. Hopefully the park stays quiet into the evening.

Samurai was only just being put together on Thursday. The post saying "it's back" on the live blog meant its back in the literal sense as it has been in pieces for a long time.

It had maintenance at the end of last season when it gave up before fright nights. It also had maintenence when it was closed several weeks around easter so I wouldn't count on it. But then again it was completely stripped down this time suggesting something major was changed or replaced. Fingers crossed

Good riddance in my opinion, it was the one thing I was dreading about FN. Caused complete bedlam on all visits I made whilst it was being trialled over last 2 years, mind you that was because a lot of the coasters were on one train and having three queues (normal, fastrack and reserve & ride) simply didn't work.

For those thinking it may reopen a note has gone onto the tidal wave page of the official site. "Please note: Tidal Wave will be undergoing essential maintenance for the remainder of the season and will reopen again for the 2016 season." https://www.thorpepark.com/rides/tidal-wave/

Was sitting watching the TV earlier and an ad came on for Madbid.com. I heard the music and thought, damn that sounds familiar and then realised it was parts from Cheif Ranger's Carousel's music. So it may be gone, but we can remember for just a little longer haha. Take a listen.

Definitely a new rule on x. There is now a board warning people outside the ride. Image from Thrill Nation's FB page

Originally it was planned to become an area on Alton Towers before becoming it's own individual place.

Still unbelievable how inconsistent it is. To be on and off in the space of a couple of hours really is odd. Perhaps it operates by timer and actually switches on and off at intervals. Who knows?

What day? If you are talking about yesterday I rode it at 5:40 and it was working.

Today the mist was back in the tunnel and coming from the vent on the stairs. Wasn't on at all during all of my summer holiday visits.

That the guests can miraculously appear in the all pods of the ferris wheel whilst it is loading!

Both sides of the beach were fully open to the public today. The picture on thrill nation was simply staff preparing the area for its daily opening. Work is due to start on the beach extremely soon though.

Well operations are opposite to my last visit. All teams working hard and ride queues short and being dispatched/run quickly. Only Swarm on one train for reasons mentioned above.

But its not even that the park hasn't got high capacity attractions. Both Tomb and Vampire should get through a much higher throughput like they did in the past. Its the way things are run and excessive health and safety protocols that lead to the long waits and prevent them running as they should, eating through the queues much faster

But its not even that the park hasn't got high capacity attractions. Both Tomb and Vampire should get through a much higher throughput like they did in the past. Its the way things are run and excessive health and safety protocols that lead to the long waits.

Chessington Buzz have just posted on their website that planning permission has been submitted to extend the chicken shack and build a grillhouse. http://www.chessingtonbuzz.co.uk/news/restaurant-extension-planning-begins/

Strange because peeking heights is at the top under "advisory" saying it is currently unavailable but the others are under "normal operation" with closed next to the queue time.

Ah ok, I'm sure each year we gain more and more bizarre rules at these parks.

Bubbleworks has ridiculous queues because it is currently operating at reduced capacity only filling every other boat due to low water levels.I queued for 45 mins with my little cousin when it was about a third of the outside queue line area. Fastrack and exit pass queue was massive too which didn't help. Crazy!