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Posted on Merlin's Facebook a few hours ago.

I have been offered a pair of free tickets to the Friday of Wireless Festival but I am in the process of trying to change them to Saturday so that I can see The Chemical Brothers rather than The Black Eyed Peas

What's the system for renewing earlier than the expiry date? Does one year just get added onto the pass when you buy the renew it or do Merlin overcomplicate it?

Merlin has a monopoly and is using the extra revenue to pay off debts and expand their portfolio. Sucks for the consumer though seeing instalments abroad due to having to keep up with competitive parks.

Yeah that's what I mean. They could just have multiple/more show rooms (like Stich, Star Tours, Tower of Terror Pre-show, etc)

I know that the shop shows are small on purpose to make them feel more intimate but that doesn't mean that there can't be multiple show rooms. Seems a bit silly.

Portal 2 single and coop complete. Fab.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIVe5mAlW1A&feature=relatedWes Palm seems to hang out in the AK gate queue before opening. I can't find any brilliant videos though. He was very good in person.

The stuff of nightmares.

TPR members seem to be, put politely, easily influenced by the Alveys' love for Intamin. Bizarro is a stunning coaster but it is as if Six Flags try their hardest to try and detract from the experience in every single way possible.

Ellie on top?You are all sick minded

Yay for bumping up such an old topic with a valid reason!Last night I saw RSC's production of Macbeth in their renovated theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon. I had heard pretty mixed reviews and this mainly due to the witches. People were always going to get worked up about arguably the most iconic Shakespearian actors being rethought. The witches are cast as children and their 'When shall we three meet again" speech is replaced with them entering from above the stage, at first presumed dead, before screaming and twisting. If you are in the first few rows, the effect is that seem to appear out of nowhere. Also, when Macbeth questions them about his future later into the play, dozens of dolls of hung kings descend from above and witches laugh. This coupled with having only 3 stringed instruments for the entire soundtrack makes the production harrowing.The new theatre design really aids the performance. It means that nearly all the audience is close to an actor at one point and you never know where they will enter from. Without ruining anymore of the experience, it is used to its full potential.The porter really stole the show, flicking between a drunk and happy-go-lucky guy to the devil himself with flashing eyes and fireworks. The only slight negative of this production was Macbeth himself but acting a role that is supposed to be both weak-minded and fierce at different times is going to be hard to get right.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdIMzdm_neM

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cheerleader-must-compensate-school-that-told-her-to-clap-rapist-2278522.htmlCheerleader must compensate school that told her to clap the name of a 'rapist'The cheerleader refused to chant the name of Rakheem Bolton Absolutely disgusting. I can't believe that this is going through if true.

Such a good Nirvana - Lithium cover.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C7WwSpvnVU

I am pre-ordering Brink because playing a gangster on a ruined island shooting the other gangsters sounds perfect after an exam.

I thought I would bring back this thread as I have had some thoughts on the UK theme park industry lately.I think that most, if not all of us on the forum have come to expect Merlin's aggressive PR and what can feel like penny pinching and red tape with the MAP restrictions, price hikes in the parks, VAT exclusion, etc. What currently angers me more is people defending their actions with "Oh the big Orlando parks do it, it's fine!". Fine, Merlin wants to be known as a premium attractions company, that's great. Then, we are subject to things like Fanta being plastered over one of the Tower's most iconic rides, Thorpe running out of food and rides falling into a pretty sorry state. However, any criticism of this seems to result in "Oh, Merlin couldn't possibly measure up to the American parks!" which just contradicts the previous argument. Value for money at the parks at the moment is pretty dire. Even Six Flags bothers to invest in parking structures and security and has much cheaper tickets and annual passes to balance out their parking prices. Also, just because other parks do it, doesn't mean it is the right thing to do. The VAT cut which they want people screaming about, which won't happen, would just mean a quicker rise in prices so the customer would notice no difference in a few years.Of the recent installations to UK Merlin parks, I think only Wild Asia was done properly; it wasn't marketed incorrectly and is just seems like a complete experience. Merlin seem to be content with building very average rides and hyping them up massively. It may work in the short run but a park filled with Thirteen's or Saw's (Storm Surge has been somewhat pardoned for being moved from a defunct park but it really is a mess) really does not seem viable. Saw already developed some pretty terrible jolts last year and nothing was done to address them and we all know how hit and miss Thirteen's reception was. Sure, Nemesis may have cost more to build but in the long it is probably going to be a much larger pull for Alton Towers.This attitude of building half-baked attractions has probably stemmed from the dominance Merlin has in the UK. For family rides at least, this could be on the tipping point with Drayton now having 2 kids TV themed areas and Paultons having an extensive land for one of the most popular kids shows airing at the moment. It's also interesting how Alton failed to acquire the Shrek 4D show and that doesn't even seem to be the strongest candidate now that the franchise is finished.Anyway, to finish off this pretty scattered piece, the current heads of Merlin don't really seem to get that they are selling an experience, which is essentially being tainted by over the top sponsers,etc, etc. It DOES have an impact of their profits as people will be less likely to revisit.

Why? If anything, this going to kick up a big fuss, probably even more so with the Americans going "so proud to be an American!!!!!!"

I am in a soundtrack mood:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ_ge33EtSYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4E566UwU5Q&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHtcliIvnHI

I have never liked Linkin Park. This video sums up my thoughts.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYNRhzX6gw8

I was kind of hoping that picture was just a bad dream.... Then I found it on another forum. Fanta adverts on the TVs would not surprise me.

The thing is that with a forum this size, all the regular poster are instantly recognisable and everyone knows everyone else. This means that if even a small dispute happens, it can get out of hand really quickly.People seem to think they can get away with more stuff on the internet. Members are completely different at meets and are in general much more welcoming. It's quite easy to become dismissive of new members with the amount who tend to just troll or spam, even after warnings and explanations.

Very nice trip report Nicky! I always wondered how TSMM dealt with crowds. Not so well by the sound of things I love how the ToT seatbelts give slightly during the drop. It's good that the exterior is getting some needed TLC as well.

Ian can come on the 26th and meets seem to go a whole lot smoother when he is involved.

There are probably issues with touching if guests haven't been warned before entering the queue. I doubt it would be very effective in broad daylight as well.