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I am sure everybody has worked that out by now! How could you possibly not know with it being discussed and advertised so much?

It is only temporary isn't it? I did it by accident once and was left wondering where my photo was at the end. There was one black image and I worked out that it was probably that one. It was the only one that cam out black because the light sensors in the camera had adjusted to the bright lift from my flash making the picture go so dark you could not see anything. After a few seconds it must have gone back to normal adjustment.So, it is only temporary. I hope. Red dots don't sound good!

I loved the bubbles that greet you as you enter the machine room...Great touch!

The Anubis statue has green lasers in his eyes. The giant snake I am pretty sure also had green lasers in his eyes. Last year I think the snake's lasers broke and now he has red/multicoloured LEDs in its eyes.

That sounds interesting. You could see they were LEDs, so that effect might work quite well if its not too cheesey. When I went on it they were just red, though.The giant Anubis statue is this monster (below). I think it I Anubis. He was the Ancient Egyptian god of the Afterlife and was depicted as a half-man, half-dog creature. Usually he is black so you might not recognise him, but I might have the completely wrong God.

HD Ride: Tomb Blaster (New)HD Ride is a series of videos I publish on most rides I have been on. In this updated version of the Tomb Blaster video you can clearly see the lava crack effects at 4:07. Also, the snake's red eyes are seen. I am pretty sure they used to be green like the Anubis statue a few years ago until the lasers broke...I didn't notice any change in the Sarcophaegus scene (probably spelt wrong). It is a weird scene, though, isn't it? Some spikes hang from the ceiling and one moves up from the ground, but then a mummy with a gun appears in front of you for a while instead. All the time that other mummy holding the jewel can clearly be seen on the left in an area that has no connection whatsoever to the main scene anymore. Then the mummy falls backwards as the coffin lid opens!? And some cardboard cutout treasure rises up by magic. It needs some consistency, because as it stands it is just a jumble of left over Terror Tomb bits.

I am sure these were only fixed effects that have not been working for a while. The flame effects in the scene with the giant Anubis statue were a nice touch, but I would not really call them flames, more like glowing cracks! I also saw some quivering bodies tangled in webs behind the track in the snake pit scene. Quite spooky!

Most of the Rubber Duck Hatchery scene was not functioning either. But who's complaining?:mellow:With all these little bits and bobs of Professor Burp's Bubbleworks returning it makes me remember how well designed and overall magical the original ride was. The zany entrance music playing in Transylvania, the loud boom of the main fanfare as you entered the station and ALL the scenes moved and really had life. Something that a bunch of static props of ducks on poles don't do.

You are right, there was a longer queueline which was probably themed. It involved a revolving tunnel and a simulator lift, apparently. This section was not removed but re-routed so that it could be used for Freak Show 3D and then Hellgate.It could add a lot to the ride if they used it as part of the indoor walkthrough on X No Way Out. All that is left is that small bit with the robot figure behind glass and I think there are a few air blasters around that area, before it goes into a queueline...

Thee machines were always there, as I saw nothing added. I have noticed a good few effects have been fixed, however.The figures in the Bubble Mixing booth have been fixed and now move again;The Foamer control box's levers move by themselves, which I have not seen before;The wailing light on top of the Rub-A-Dub Reactor, left over from when it was the giant Gas Cylinder;The spinning cogs and wheels above the channel in the Fairground spin again.It would be great to have the lighting fixed in the Fountain Finale. The strobes have been toned down and there are glaring spotlights after the drop which illuminate the whole room making it look very small. I also hope the sponsorship does get removed eventually, it makes the ride seem more tacky than it actually is underneath.

I am not an average guest, and I thought it said:"Please keep your arms and breast inside da boat at all times. Hankoo!"and"Oi, keep your booty in da boaty. Don't bomshtep bomshtup. Too young! Don't stand up till someone tell you!"Everybody was very confused but the voice over was great and quite fun. The new announcement says something like:"Wise dragon says: Keep your arms and legs inside the boat at all times."It is too generic for me. Even if the previous announcments were too heavy, the replacement could have been more creative.

There was definately one tomb still there on the left as you walked through the crypt - I caught it on video and when it finished processing you can clearly see it. I knew there were a few tombs in that crypt area, but didn't notice much difference. Does anybody know why they were removed? The actual tombstones looked quite healthy so I doubt they were removed because of vandalism like those near the start of the queue.Are the ones on the wall still there?

Chessington yesturday was amazing. So much has been improved all over the place. Wild Asia was definately the highlight and its magical, immersive and clever touches all around made the experience great. Lots of areas around the theme park and zoo have not been forgotten and they all offered great fun. First of all, the park has been totally rebranded. All over the signage, logos and direction posts have been replaced with a great colourful image. It is not far off from their late 90s look, with that fun-looking font and all that. I really love the whole 'adventure' them, though. It suits the place so well, especially the new land and areas that they have recently improved.The entrances have been totally refurbished. We went in the south entrance (now called the 'Explorer Gate') which has been rethemed with bamboo fences, a desert jeep as well as other bits. It shows how much effort they are putting into making Chessington 'the new Alton Towers' as is their goal for the next few years.We went to Wild Asia, and what can I say? WOW! It is barely recognisable as Beanoland, with everything themed and decorated wondefully. The attention to detail is very good, but it even appears quite magical from the bigger picture. The front entrance is designed very well, with animal and pattern painted stone structures around as if you are walking into an temple or city. The view of Kobra is very clever with the huge snake statues at each end and the general ancient look of the buildings is great. You have to be there to see it really, it is very well done. The back entrance was also rather imposing as you could see the other snake statue from quite far off on the pathway. Tall bamboo fences now hide any view of the future development field in that area. Ambient sounds were playing throughout with some nice tribal-like music.The old Beanoland fountains have been fixed and rethemed (below), and the tree house has been replaced with a much better model, featuring a talking and squirting elephant head. Now, this is quite cleverly done because the elephant actually interacts with those near it, not just some prerecorded sound effects. I spotted the hidden window on the building behind where the man operating the voice and water squirter was looking out. It makes for a great little feature. All the rides are so much better now. Temple of Mayhem was shut, though I could just see bits and bobs inside. It looked good from the outside. The other rides were completely in a new lease of life. Monkey Swinger (sadly the tails on the chairs did not materialise) has been rethemed very well from Billy's Whizzer. The cheekiness of the ride along with the fountains has sadly gone, but the structure and experience is pretty good and a lot better. Jungle Bus has a much better location now and looks like it was actually being loved! It is a lot better in terms of appearance than the tacky cardboard theming of Bash Street Bus.Kobra is so good, it is already a classic Chessington ride in my view. The entrance and fences are adorned with stylised flags with detailed images of snakes and elephants on them, as well as bamboo fences continuing the Wild Asia them throughout. There are good views of the ride and the back of Mystic East from the queueline, and it is not too cattle-penish. The ride experience from the disc-o is perfect and suits Chessington and Wild Asia pefectly. It is fun, thrilling and different. Being the first ride of its type that I have been on, I think it was great. The feeling of rolling and spinning whilst picking up speed starts it off well, before the car goes too far and 'falls' over the top off the hill and dives into the other section! It then starts whizzing through it all, going very close to the edge of the track and shooting over the airtime hill. The restraints are very peculiar. it was certainly tricky to breathe if you were not pushing against the back pad, but the position and space to move added a lot to the rush.After Wild Asia, I found out that the rest of the theme park had certainly not been forgotten. It is, however, clear that a lot of the rides and structures are very old. The dragon animatronic in front of Dragon's Fury has been repainted, but was not working yesturday. Dragon's Fury itself also needs a repaint, which could be costly (they did it with Spinball, though).Transylvania is hideously showing its age despite numerous improvments. 20th anniversary this year! Bubbleworks was nice and fresh, even if Imperial Leather still sponsor the ride and there are still weird scenes (it is even stated on the map that Chessington is associated with the company, so I guess the contract was renewed). The music in some scenes play on full loop again, though the fairground and founatin finale have music in a poor state. The finale in particular was rather odd. Gone were the fantastic, climatic strobe effects from the old ride, now glaring spot lighting lights up the whole room making it look very small. I want to see a retheme in the near future. If they can do Beanoland so well, a refurbished Bubbleworks should be spectacular.I am glad that Chessington have expressed their plans to update and retheme the rest of the park. This means all the bad points I came across are likely to be fixed in the near future. Transylvania, Mexicana, market Square and Pirates Cove in particular.Vampire has had various good improvments. From the back entrance to Transylvania, there is a new Haunted Hollow-style walkthrough which I asume is left over from the Halloween attraction they had there. Along with tombstones and a replica hearse of the one at Alton Towers, it makes a good back entrance to Transylvania. Whilst on ride Vampire (it was going slow enough for me to see these things) I noticed there were BOSE speakers in the tunnel, but not playing anything at the moment... :-k I also caught sight of the waterfall near the entrance to Vampire, which is now blood red (as in Nemesis!).The previously horrific outdoor queue for Vampire is almost perfect now. The sturdy metal fences have been repainted and are much better than the wobbly wooden ones from a few years ago. The battered up gravestones have been removed, with the good condition ones left. In there space was some new theming. Well, I say new, but it was actually Abdab from Terror Tomb dressed in robes! I have not seen his face for years and he is pretty scary even now. A shame they are not animated and look a bit fake, but it they work really well in their positions and give something different to look at whilst queueing.The incredibly dusty station for Vampire NEEDS a refurbishment, though. Cables are visible and the bare cieling is disappointing if you catch sight of it. Apart from that, the music was loud and booming as it should be, and the fixed organist was light up to perfection with colours and strobe effects. The fake bat model from the queueline has also been moved as a piece of decoration on the wall of the operating cabin.Mexicana is yet to be fixed, with the mountain on Runaway Train stille mouldy and lots of old bits of theming lookign delapidated around Rattlesnake. Mystic East is pretty good, with all the fountains and effects working (including lights in the Buddah statue's eyes). A bit weird that the rocks that were recladded only last season have now gone tacky again.Forbidden Kingdom was looking spotless; I think the theming and facades have been cleaned. It makes you realise how great the theming in that area actually is. Rameses' Revenge's squeak has been WD40'd over and the fountains were running smoothly. It did not particularly want to get wet whis time, though. Tomb Blaster has also been improved here and there. All the effects were working, including some I have never seen before. There were some quivering bodies tangled in webs behind the track in the snake pit scene, as well as a cracking wall/lava sort of effect behind the track in the scene with the giant Anubis statue. A shame there are still dead spots where Abdab used to be in each scene, however. Oh, but I do like looking out for left over bits from Terror Tomb! Look closely under the Tomb Blaster sign and you can see the "Forb... ...mb" poking out either side. When you are at the top of the queue, look down out of the window at the sign below and all the lettering from "Forbidden Tomb" are still there. Thanks to the tall water balloon stands from Beanoland being larger than the fence, I found the ride graveyard. I took this photo from over the fence:Notice the water balloon stalls on the left, with Denis' large head on the floor in the middle next to a piece of fountain theming. Gnasher's head is visible far back and some old Bubbleworks boats are on the far right.Something that made my day was the zoo. Coming up really close to the (incredibly lively) animals was amazing. It was feeding time when we went in to Trail of the Kings, and the tigers were pacing up and down right next to the windows. The lions started eagerly shuffling about too, until they were locked into their little house for the zoo keepers to come out with the dead rabbits. The huge Asiatic lion came out first, already with a huge side of ribs in its mouth. It started crunching away at the meat, even found one of the rabbits and moved it closer so that the other lion would not get it. The tigers started going mad when they saw the food. Instead of pacing they went running and leaped up at the windows, making all the children jump! The Persian Leopard was also a great creature. We watched it try and attack a tough bag which started to stain with blood on the inside. It obviously had some sort of dead animal in it, but it kept fighting to get it out without succeeding. Eventually it made a hole and some of the fur came through... The zoo is certainly a great part of Chessington's 'wild adventure' and was being loved by eveybody there.The whole Trail of the Kings are is surprisingly well themed, actually. A lot of attention to detail that even the big cats enjoy. The gorilla enclosure was closed off and will be forever, it seems. They are building a bigger one on the picnic lawn near Hocus Pocus Hall at the entrance to Trail of the Kings. This comes after an inspection deemed the old enclosure too small to be satisfactory. Also, the construction for the new African Savannah Experience has started on that grassy knoll behind the hotel. A shame to hear that it will be "for the hotel guests", though. Hopefully they will open it to guests as well and mean the hotel guests will have the view from their bedrooms.Overall, I had an amazing day at Chessington. It is certainly a fantastic theme park for families, and with their new brand image and future plans I am sure the whole place will be given a better lease of life. Wild Asia is a place of great quality and has been pulled of really well. I am looking forward to seeing the changes in the next few years!

I love Vampire's loud music. Last year it got ruined because it was so quiet that the operators would muffle it everytime they spoke in the microphone. Now it is like I remember it years ago, dramatic and thumping (and cheesey). Not even the most overenthusiastic ride operator I have seen there for a long time could muffle it! And for those who want to see them, here are the three new bits featuring reused Abdab.

I have to congratulate everybody in charge with the improvments made to Vampire this year. They did not need to change it and could have simply ignored the awful state of the outdoor queueline but a bit of effort has made a load of difference! The queueline is almost perfect now.The broken, battered tombstones and that plastic bat have all been removed, so no more tackyish theming around the area. In the empty spots, there were some new visitors to Transylvania. Yes, Abdab is back! He is still as frightening as he was 8 years ago when I came off Terror Tomb crying! There were three models (they were not animated) that accompanied three new scenes around the queue. The first was sitting by the tombstones (with a pole sticking out from an exposed mechanism that used to work the animatronic); the second sat smiling next to a cauldren; and the third (previously the figure of Abdab holding a rope to let in snakes, I assume) now holds a lantern whilst sitting on a trailer of crates. Quite spooky to think these were once Abdab!Also, the purplish fences were looking a lot less picked. The front entrance to Transylvania is restored to its former zany self with the old entrance music playing again around Bubbleworks (the same music that is now used in the station). Unfortunately they have not fixed the hands of the clock which are not connected to each other among other bits of improvments not done. However I love the fact that the waterfall next to Vampire's entrance is now blood red (as in Nemesis). The back entrance to Transylvania was a nice surprise! I assume the Black Forest haunt theming has been kept because there is now a small Haunted Hollow-style walk through, including the graves of Professor Burp and Zappomatic and a replica hearse of the one at Alton Towers.

Is this the not-used-for-years dispatch theme or the main Inferno theme? I love both but it would be great if they used them in the right places.

It is wasted because of all the potential atmospheric blah blah not being used! The idea of an abandoned warehouse where a supercomputer has gone mad would not only appeal to Thorpe Park's audience but be a good, immersive ride. But, no, all they thought of putting on those blocks were some 'effects' that don't work. What about lighting effects such as strobes and pulsing lights, music, better sound effects and some actual theming? Why not make the indoor queueline part of the ride as a dark, immersive walkthrough with all the sensory effects in there?A lot of potential - it is a huge building, too - but none is being used to satisfaction (especially for the general public).

The large majority of reviews have so far been positive, saying the ride is a good addition to the park. I personally think it sounds great! Judging from the reports, the pros and cons are like this:GoodNice queueline with good touches of scenery and theming;Immersive station atmosphere with sound effects and lighting;Good, comfortable and themed trains with room to move thanks to lap bars;Speedy first turn out of station and quick lift hill;Fun first drop and speedy turns in forest area;Good airtime in some positions;Impressive crypt section, with well designed theming and perfect drop secquence;Fast backwards launch into pitch black helix;A ride with a mysterious, sometimes scary and often fun experience;Good throughput.BadOutdoor section could be faster and longer;Not much of a relation to wraiths/possesed girl/storyline as was expected;Overhyped way too much;Unintense track layout for a 'secret weapon'.I am pretty excited about this because, whilst there are obvious let downs thanks to Morwenna Angove's crazy marketing campaigns, it sounds like an atmospheric and very fun ride experience. Most people who have been on it love it, but I can't judge how good it is until I have been on it. It sounds similar to Air in the fact that it is a good major ride but could be better.

I don't mind chart music on the entrance, the dome or pathways. It adds life, even if you hate the songs! They will not so it for their themed rides, though, as that would ruin the point of a theme park, wouldn't it? It is a plus that they still play some end of day music, however.

Yes! I had a feeling they were going to include the shark's head on the inside of the building. And wow! What great stuff they have installed! Really well done.:rolleyes:However, why? It was already a really well done restaurant, but what do you think lead them to spruce of KFC? Is it going to turn into an in-park outlet similar to what has happened at Chessington and Alton Towers?

I have never had a ride without mist, though it is often only a small patch of steam and nothing more. In Fright Nights the effect was brilliant and made quite a difference. This just looks crazy - it is overflowing! I doubt they can keep it up this much, but it is good to have it working on full thes past months unlike a few years ago.

...I didn't say it was broken.:rolleyes:I said it could easily be fixed with a bit of re-doing. It would be simple to do, wouldn't it?

I discovered the dispatch theme a few weeks ago and I love it. I can just remember the taunting 'chimes' melody after the train had dispatched, and the loud, dramatic bursts of symbols and fanfare works really well (you have to hear it to understand what on Earth I am talking about). The way that it used the same patterns and instruments as the music heard in the queueline meant the atmosphere built up the further along the queue you went. My favourite was always the thumping bass that could be heard from outside the volcano. In recent years it has been much less dramatic and obvious, and now I know why...Such a shame things like this get forgotten. It could quite easily and cheaply be fixed, couldn't it?

You can tell that the video was fake. The wide, off-ride footage was cloudy, whearas the on-ride footage was bright and sunny. When the train goes out the station, she says: "See you in a while!" and then "It hasn't even started yet and I am scared." However, you may notice that the gap in between these lines is impossibly short, and they almost over lap each other.It was definitely not live. This could point towards being filmed in stages, so it is most likely that work has since been carried out? Obviously not a lot as it was probably all filmed on the same day, just not at the same time. You could tell the effects that the bootcampers are talking about were off and the safety lights were all on in the tunnel, crypt and station. It also means that the show sequence in the crypt could in reality be longer, as when the park opened for half term everybody said the train stayed in that room for about 30 secs.

I have a fairly compact digital camera that can take photos fantastically. SLR cameras are amazing, but only if you know how to use them. If not, you are better with a model that has an automatic setting rather than manual, such as a compact camera.I have a Canon Digital Powershot SX200IS! Which has the added bonus of being able to shoot video in 720p HD and has a great 12x optical zoom. It suits taking photographs of rides in action brilliantly (if you use it well). Here are a few photos that I quite like, but they are not super fantastic amazing wonderful or anything. You would need to be a professional/amateur photographer for that.