electricBlll

Lookin' cool.

Two years ago very similar things were happening with the build up of Thirteen at Alton Towers. All of them turned out to be hoaxes. Pointing that out just in case!Of course the on-park and LC12.net advertising is legit, so that is what I am going to keep watch on. I am unsure about the rest.

B... But what about the prolonged sneezing track and choir of Bubbleworkers? Oh well, the Halloween Hocus Pocus track is almost just as awesome.

Although not completely on topic, I would like to praise the department for the Sunken Garden.It looks great currently, and there were actually people in it this time! It is great to have somewhere quiet and empty to relax, especially when the rest of the park is so busy. A shame there is rarely any time to actually go in it, and it is in such a weird location. Nevertheless, well done for not letting it rot.

By the way, whatever happened to the exposed old station poster? I completely missed it on my recent visit. The new one must have been glued back over otherwise I surely would have noticed it...Edit--I just checked a recent video and it seems that the 2006 "Energizer" poster has been restored back on top of it. I am surprised I didn't notice that when I visited a week ago.Further edit--Yes, witty indeed.

OH MA GAWD It's going to be X:\ No Way Out Inferno.

I will go as far to say it will be the best rollercoaster at Thorpe Park. It is a new fangled B&M, and is sure to be better than Nemesis Inferno, which puts it in a different league straight away.Since it will be the second of its kind in the world, Thorpe Park is going to be getting lots of international attention next year. So, whilst it will become a much-needed expansion for the park and may perhaps relieve the queues of other rides, Thorpe Park is likely to be getting even busier next year. For this reason mainly I wish they could have designed a more interesting queueline layout... Other than that everything looks very promising so far. The sandwich board actor was quite funny when I caught sight of him, a good marketing move.

Oh dear...Apart from that, Bubbleworks was pretty good last week. Some good improvements have been made, and I did not see any recently broken effects this year. Not all the effects have been fixed though, the flickering dials on the machinery in the former juicing room are not restored, for example, and the hanging Bubbleworkers in the gas room used to swing (I think the original swing mechanism was ditched in the retheme and now the props are just tied on). There must be loads of old props that have been sitting there for years and nobody would ever knew they used to move!The best part was the station and finale music being returned. That was great. Not full volume (there is always something!) but it was still fantastic to hear. I was not expecting the finale music either, so it was a nice surprise. I am glad that they have returned the lift music to its former place as well (really, the extraordinarily OTT pressure room music? the lift is not that scary!?). The finale lighting is much better now as well, although nothing can replace the magical blackout and strobe sequence.

To be fair on them, there have been many improvements and fixes done to most old Merlin UK rides recently, including Tidal Wave. Well done to those who have taken the effort to re-programme and replace parts for broken effects.In my opinion, it is the general laziness that was around a few years ago, which lead to most old effects being abandoned in the first place, that is the biggest shame. It is quite a big task to go around fixing them all, but it should be expected to be honest.

Have a guess!I wondered whether the toilet used to do anything in particular, it looked as if it could. The shower in the broken bathroom also probably 'leaked' or something at one point, I think I remember seeing a drain on the floor as well. Is there a reason as to why these enhancements are always left to rot?

zomg REALLYYes, yes, yes, improvements! I can't wait to visit this amazing place on Thursday, even minor changes like these get me excited. Ah, I love it.

Yeah, well, that Lord of the Darkness image is actually from me, not Towers Times, I just happened to post it there... But whatevaaaaaHmm, this just gets worse and worse. I thought vomiting over rides with ads was a thing of the past. The question is... why Oblivion? What has it done wrong?I really hope the the whole area is sorted out next year in time for the supposed Black Hole replacement. This sponsorship really has put the last nail in the coffin for X Sector. I hope the contract is not on for long because I think it is time for a full area refurbishment very soon. Not a retheme, a refurbishment. Something to bring the old spark back to life! No more shabbiness, dodgy flat rides or faded track.

That is not theming (thank goodness! It is very fake). That is a pay-to-play game that has been installed, named "Shark Bait". It is basically a bucking bull, except with a shark.

These days they would have used that for the real advert, what with the new brand image and everything...