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...

I looked yesterday, and the green light on the traffic light has been unhinged slightly. You could see the whole where the bulb used to be.

It was rather interesting yesterday to see LC12 ads suddenly starting kicking around. The man in the cardboard apron was doing a good job, too, quite amusing actually. It got people's attention, too.However, everywhere you looked you could see at least one sign. They are everywhere! Most of them are peeling off as well. It was crazy. Stuck on to game stalls, hiding right down in the queueline extensions, covering up signs... Crazy. But well done to Thorpe Park for going to the effort.So, things get exciting from here onwards!

And also, were there any other effects that have now disappeared, or was it just the water tower and gas tank? I heard there used to be some other things as well, but I can't be sure.

So many reasons why this sponsorship is wrong, but in my opinion it isn't actually all that terrible. I mean, the ride is hardly suffering from a few orange repaints in places and some new ad signage. Personally, I find the whole Fanta brand extremely irritating, but it is bearable. Oblivion is still a fantastic ride, and it has always had a rather in-your-face sponsorship before (that massive Coca-Cola logo on the roof of the Rehydrator anybody?). A shame that they have not removed all the old Coca-Cola logos, as now it seems Oblivion has two sponsors.What I don't like though is the same-old same-old "bring it on, going on this ride makes me A TOUGH GUY"-type attitude. No, Oblivon is not a random something for your to "bring on", it should be something sinister and exhilarating. I mean, just look at it... It could be worse, but it should be better.Let's be thankful that it is only a few walls and pipes that have been ruined.

Dispatch audio...? I MUST VISIT

I would agree if it wasn't so awesome.

Oh wow, look at all that. It looks so much more rounded and complete than the Vampire that we have now. Even if it is mostly just more painted cardboard on the walls. It has been a while since I saw that video as well, thanks for reposting.

At some point in the late 90s I think lots of rides at Chessington changed their name/brand for no reason at all. For example, Smuggler's Galleon became Black Buccaneer, Dragon River became Dragon Falls and Terror Tomb became Forbidden Tomb. The rides themselves stayed the same, although they probably had a few minor changes made.___________________Pretty much everything in Tomb Blaster now is from Terror Tomb. Here are all the changes:I think the queueline was pretty much the same, except the dimly lit room next to the queueline when it goes indoors used to be Abdab's office, I think. Abdab would be seen sleeping on a chair or something. Can anybody correct me on this? I can't remember myself.On to the ride itself. Firstly, all the animatronics of Abdab (the central character from Terror Tomb) have been removed, leaving a few random gaps in some of the scenes. Also, previously riders would go inside the tomb to search for an ancient green jewel, meeting with Abdab along the way who wanted it to himself. The jewel can still be seen in a few places around the ride, if you look closely.In the opening scene, there is a little ledge next to the track before the train goes up the ramp. Abdab used to be positioned here, holding a lamp, shouting at riders to get out of the tomb because "the jewel IS MINE".That ledge is still there today.Snake scene. Again, there is a gap where Abdab used to be positioned, under a little arch to the left of the scene. He used to be pulling on a rope, lifting the hatch to let the snakes in. Today, the hatch is still there, but now moves by itself without any rope pulling. Magic, I guess?In the spike scene, originally, Abdab would be on the rotating platform holding a metal ring, shouting "Now you're gonna get spiked!" One of the spikes on the floor would move at that point, I think. When he pulled the ring, the platform would suddenly rotate, taking him by surprise and sealing him behind the wall. So it was in reverse to what happens now, if you like. Then the coffin would light up behind the scrim (again in reverse, so it would start in the open position instead of already shut as it is today). You would hear Abdab shout "I think I've found it!", as supposedly he can see the jewel in the coffin. Somehow he then falls into the coffin (I am not sure how this was achieved, I can't remember this scene and the now removed POV video did not show it very clearly). A skeleton then shuts the lid of the coffin on him, holding the jewel in its hand. It all linked together, and made much more sense than the sequence that plays out now. The only things that remain of this sequence is the skeleton holding the jewel behind the coffin. Where Abdab used to be on the platform, the mummy with the laser now stands.The fire pit scene, in which the big statue of Anubis with laser eyes appears, you may notice a wobbling obelisk to one side. Abdab used to be clinging on to this wobbling pillar, trying to reach for the jewel which is now embedded in the paw of the statue. Why does it keep moving to different places!? And how did he get out of the coffin for that matter? Anyway, you can see it in this photo...The biggest change is the finale scene, which has been completely gutted except for the set itself and the moving stone heads on the walls. Now, there is a large snake animatronic that hisses a lot. Before, there was no snake at all, instead a very strange and probably rather amusing 'rock band' sequence. Abdab would be seen standing in an iron maiden with the lid open. Next to him was a mummified guitarist playing a heavy metal song about how they are going to kill Abdab for trying to steal the jewel. Then a shiny strip curtain would rise up behind them, revealing several mummy animatronics that would dance along, which I remember being very scared of! After the song, the iron maiden would shut on Abdab, supposedly killing him, and the jewel would be seen embedded on the other side of the iron maiden, glowing, in a rather ironic moment. Poor chap, he got so close.One last thing, you know that bit where the trains stop momentarily to view the on ride photos on the screens? On the right of that corridor, a "ghost" Abdab would appear holding the jewel, with glowing holes in his body, taunting riders because he did get the jewel in the end, even though he got killed. The trains would then carry on into the offload station, after passing some flying heads on poles (similar to the screaming room in Alton Towers' Heaunted House/Duel). Recently I had a look and the pole mechanisms are still there above the track!Hope that helps! It is all I can remember from when I visited myself in 2002, and all I could tell from the POV that was on YouTube a few years ago (now removed by the user).

I am pretty sure they had to lower the whole floor as well, which would have meant pieces of theming would have been stripped away and not put back. I hear the old trains used to run through a slight 'trench' through the station. With the new trains, since they are floorless, there would have been a random step down when riders boarded their seats. I guess they somehow lowered the whole floor so that the platform was completely even. If you look to the sides of the station, you can see what look like thick skirting boards where the floor meets the wall.Also, I assume all of the cloth cobwebs that hid the ceiling and track mechanics were removed to allow the technical modifications to be made. Of course, they were never put back, resulting in a slightly bare station. I don't like looking up, it isn't pretty...

The route for Hellgate is part of X No Way Out's old indoor queueline that got cut off years ago.