MikeyT

I must admit, I'm not crazy for the fairs either, though I will definately be there for the social aspect! Plus the Wurst Koch madness at Winter Wonderland. ;)Michaela, I totally don't blame you for wanting a vegging out day! :PAlso Spirit of London= pure Tussauds awesomeness.

First post has been updated with more information about the Saturday's activities. Feel free to come along to as much or as little of the event as you would like to. Also let us know where you'd like to eat on the Sunday. See you there!

Guys, yeah sorry this is my fault. There's been a little misunderstanding in communication on my part. After double checking, it seems that the Merlin stuff is happening on the Sunday 5th December, not the Saturday. So my mistake! Bear with me and I'll confirm details again as soon as I've checked with Aero.

So, using my imagination, I'm not going to think about what I think will happen or whatever, just what I'd like to see happen at some point in the future...Make the Monorail stations a little more special. You're going to Alton Towers, it should feel like a big event. I'd keep the resort theme that currently plays but just add a few other tracks to it (obviously In The Hall....) so you've got a good loop going on, plus I'd update the footage that they show along with the TVs.The Queue for the Monorail to the Car Parks... I'd love for the whole queue and station to feel like a big celebration. I'd update the TV's again and have the stock footage playing, but also showing the Hotels and other resort offerings in more detail. A medley of park music, I think would be awesome along with some other tracks... including a very dramatic version of In The Hall... Get some basic lighting in there with some gels inIf money wasn't an option I'd have the walls covered in displays with information about the attractions; almost like a timeline of the park that can be added to and changed around as the park progress.If I'm being honest, I think Alton's entrance plaza is near perfect in terms of layout. The only things I'd change would be subtle cosmetic changes along with bulking out some of the facilities available to guests, such as guest services and the toilet facilities.Toilet facilities, I'd like to see brought into the 21st Century, parkwide. They don't have to be amazingly themed, but subtle decorations, music and a smart appearance would be fantastic.Attractions- wise, well, I agree the park need to increase their offerings on indoor attractions if they wish to open in the colder, winter months; a 4D cinema is a pretty good choice, I think. Though I'm still unsure on the use of an IP, hopefully next year I'll be pleasantly surprised. The park do lack a good selection of flat rides. However, what I wouldn't do is add a ton of them like Thorpe has done. I would think carefully about these additions as they play an important role in theme parks to support the more headline attractions. Unfortunately, at the moment the flat rides are so sub-standard in either their presentation or experience, they're not particularly supporting any of the bigger rides.I'd continue to re-furb existing areas. I don't think I'd consider changing any of the current themes, I'd just re-enforce them and bring them up to standards. I'd love to get rid of Rita sometime in the future; The Dark Forest won't feel right until Thirteen takes centre stage as its signature attraction- in terms of layout. I would definately add a flat ride to this area, add a feature to the area itself and also find some way to link everything together in a more obvious way, story wise. The area has such great potential. At the very least I'd re-direct some of Rita's queue.Black Hole Tent and X Sector re-generation. For me, a rollercoaster has to go into the tent. A solid family attraction that has more of a dark ride feel to it with rollercoaster elements. X Sector has always represented sinister human experiments with a hint of 1984, to me, I'd love to see this concept explode to make it more prominent throughout the area.I could go on, but I fear I will never stop!

London Winter Meet.Saturday 4th December and Sunday 5th December 2010.Saturday 4th December12pm London Waterloo Rail StationO2 fair and Winter Wonderland.Sunday 5th December10am London Waterloo Rail StationLondon Merlin Attractions & evening meal.Hey guys!Some of you will remember the awesome London meet-up we held last year, which was extremely successful and a fantastic day out for everyone. We're planning on doing exactly the same this year, abusing our Annual Passes around the London Merlin Attractions and visiting the London fairs during a two- day Annual Pass Bash! The plan is to meet at London Waterloo Station, underneath the big clock in the centre of the station; near the escalators to Waterloo East, at 12pm on Saturday 4th December and 10am on Sunday 5th December. On the Saturday we'll be visiting the O2 Fair and Winter Wonderland. On the Sunday we'll be having a Merlin Marathon! I've recommended that we meet at Waterloo as it's relativly central for everyone to get to; that way, we can all meet, catch up and then travel as a group.. For both days. I'd recommend buying a Travelcard as there will be some travel involved, although if you have a Pay As You Go Oyster, you can also use these. Offpeak Travelcards are £7.50 for Adults over 16, £2.50 for anyone under 16. If you have a Young Persons's Railcard, the price of a Travelcard drops to £5. If you're travelling from outside of zone 6 then Travelcard prices may be more. I'd suggest taking a quick look on National Rail to get an idea of how much a ticket is.What made the trip such a success last time was the laid back atmosphere and itinerary of the day. I would suggest we meet at around 12 on the Saturday and have a laid back approach to the two fairs. As more people can attend the Sunday, we've decided to do the majority of the activities then. On the Sunday a suggestion for the day would be to do the Dungeons and Sea Life first, before breaking for lunch. There are various food places around the Waterloo area, though bear in mind that it will most probably be somewhere like McDonalds or similar.Then we have the Eye and Madame Tussauds to do.Please don't feel as though you have to attend all of the attractions, people are welcome to join the meet at any time of the day at any of the attractions. I will provide contact details for people that wish to join later in the day. Likewise, if people don't wish to attend Winter Wonderland then we'll make sure you get home safely. ;)There is a possibility of a meal in the evening for anyone who is interested, though this is still in discussion- if you have any suggestions then please feel free to put them forward. Also if people wish to join us for the meal and haven't been able to attend any of the attractions then feel free to pop along. Keep an eye out here for any further information.For anyone that hasn't attended a meet before, this is a good one to come to as you'll get to know the members very well whilst enjoying the attractions. Last year there was a fantastic atmosphere. Every effort will be made to make all new members feel welcomed and we encourage meet- up virgins to come and join in the fun (wow how cheesy does this sound?).Feel free to discuss here. Let us know if you're attending/ not attending so we have a brief idea. Also why not add yourself to the attending list on the Facebook Event Page. We look forward to seeing you there in just 2 weeks time!

No I think Dan meant that the music itself could have been longer considering it's on a loop constantly. Same 5 minutes, over and over. Going to get annoying after a while, no matter how good it is.

Cheers Outfit, good work!

Whoa a ghost! Happy Birthday Alex.

From what I remember, the coil did work briefly at the start of season before it went offline for a while, in which time they made some modifications to it. Can't remember exactly what happened unfortunately... wasn't it something along the lines of it being too high a voltage?

Phwaorr Dan that's an incredibly sexy desktop you have there!

I actually quite like the London Eye one, much better and to me, has a much more emotional effect on the audience than that pants Marvel one at Tussauds.Shrek 4-D though, I'm still in two minds, I'm all for a 4D cinema as they're good people eaters and add something different to the line up of attractions at Alton Towers. I'm still not totally for the use of IPs, though I'd much rather guarantee a decent show than to have a rubbish one.

Oh my goodness that looks insane! That design will no doubt be one of the most intense fliers out there. I thought the pretzel loop was intense, just look at those curves. Where is this out of interest, Mark?

I'm interested in what aspect of the queue you think adds to the ride experience. Though I agree it wouldn't be the same without Wild Asia- it's a fantastic area .

I personally think we haven't even scratched the surface to dreams. They are really complicated and not a lot is really known about them. I can usually remember my dreams really well and they can be extremely vivid, sometimes even affecting some of the other senses such as smell, taste and touch.I've got my dream interpretation book here Steve, I'll try and interpret your dream for you.

I had a pretty horrific nightmare the other day actually. I can remember a baby being in some car seat thing. Eyes all blackened, blood coming out of its dark mouth, crusty around the edges.I remember two others being in the dream, I don't know who they were meant to be but I seemed to know them in the dream. They were screaming that it was possessed and had to be killed. Then we were all strapping this baby to a giant firework, as somebody was about to light the fuse, the baby's face went really cute and its bottom lip began to tremble.I screamed at them to stop, but it was too late and I watched this baby shoot up into the sky and explode, with bits of body falling down shortly after.Perhaps I should see some kind of psychologist? Lol!

Hey Lilly! Welcome to the forums. Glad to hear you had a good birthday. Hope you have fun on the forums!And yes, Blink was pretty darn scary. Most of The Moff's episodes freak me out tbh! Then again Waters of Mars, Midnight and Turn Left also scared me. Ha! Anyway, yes, welcome!

Oh my goodness! Parc Asterix trip is on the cards within the next few years I reckon. Blimey!

Yeah, I suppose that's true. I was mainly thinking about Wanyama, I guess. You're right Forbidden does have a completely different feel, I would argue that it's the best themed area of the park.Yeah I'd love to see something dramatic happen to Tomb, the theme is fine, keep the tone of the ride, there just needs to be more happening, to not make it so, as you put it, passive. It can feel like a passive experience at times. I feel the first half of the ride is great up to the point of Axe Alley where the light from that fire exit shows all the workings of the ride. The rest feels anti-climatic with black areas, sitting in front of a snake trying to hiss from side to side for a minute.

As much as this topic implies that you post your ideas about "your Chessington," I am going to remain realistic. This is what I'd like to happen (and I think will) during this closed season. Beginnings of South Car park re-design; Retheme of Toytown; Bubbleworks de-brand; Subtle hints to support the integration of Mystic East with Wild Asia; Possible Runaway re-furb; Beginnings of toilets re-furb. What I find interesting is Forbidden Kingdom's future. If the park go for continental themed areas, then they will have Africa with the Zoo (could be passed off as South Africa I suppose) and then they will have Africa again with Forbidden Kingdom (Egypt is part of Africa). Perhaps I'm being a bit of a continuity freak, but unless they're planning on having guests go from Africa, to America (suggested Mexicana re-theme) and then Africa again, then I predict some changes to Forbidden in the future.

Nothing major will happen to Bubbleworks for a good few seasons, I don't think. I can see some very minimal changes until they decide that it's time for something different. It's depressing that the ride still seems to do well in guest feedback surveys. Unfortunately, success doesn't always mean quality.

Welcome Ben! Another Brighton member (not that I'm one)... Gotta love Brighton