electricBlll

All three Merlin UK parks have seen a major change in the past years with how they are run and how developments are made.Wild Asia is an extremely effecive investment, and very "retro" Chessington. We would have never seen something like that if it was done in the mid 00s. In my opinion, we have gone from crap to fantastic. New theming everywhere this year, which shows detail is now considered important again. Loads of improvments, especially Mystic East and Transylvania. Bubbleworks is crap because it was designed in a crap way. My point is, Chessington's management/art depo/ride makin' peoplez have been completely reorganised and we will probably never see something half-hearted, gimmicky and non-sensical like IL Bubbleworks ever again.

My crystal ball begs to differ.

It is not meant to last for long. A horror maze's life span is only 3 or so years really.

So is Bubbleworks, though. It uses a lot of reused props, yes. However, pretty much all the new effects are rubber ducks, as per the IL marketing brand of the time.Also, Tidal Wave opening without a sponsor. When the sponsor did come along, signs were merely added to the existing theming. That meant all that had to be done when the contract ran out was remove those signs. Entirely different situation, really. It isn't like they took out the old Amity Cove theming and replaced it with giant Original Source bottles like they did with Professor Burp's Bubbleworks.

Well, they have to do something with X sooner or later. Something that is going to last for the rest of X's lifetime. They can't keep putting it off for another year. This year did seem like the perfect year to do this, but with Storm Surge as well I doubt anything that major is going to happen.To be honest, I was surprised to hear that "X will be getting a retheme". They are being a bit ambitious doing it this year. Hopefully they are going to finish the construction of Storm Surge very soon (say, a few weeks after closing date). That way other jobs can be done faster, like theming the ride and maintenance and perhaps X's retheme?

Yes, there does seem to be very little space in some places. If there is enough room (not all the break runs are that close to each other) and if it is possible, it would be great. However, it would mean having to restructure all the emergency exit platforms and fire escapes.One are that can definitely be improved is the first area, just after the leave the station and before you hit the lift hill. There is just nothing there, a total waste of space. The only good thing about it is that there are those felt covers that stop you from seeing behind you when in the station, before swinging out the way when the train is dispatched. You could pass a large industrial machine that appears to power the lift hill, with huge cogs and creaking sound effects. Accompanied with highly technical-looking equptment. The lift hill itself also needs to be themed, perhaps a bit like the Hulk's launch tunnel at Island's of Adventure.

They have the whole closed season to retheme it, that is long enough to install many effects. If Thorpe Park want an exciting dark ride, all they need to do is research, plan, think, spend and create.

I am not a big fan of spinning tunnels, but the idea could easily be developed to create something far greater. Perhaps a sequence like this for one of the break runs:For example, the train could stop on one of the break runs, enclosed in a small tunnel. A door shuts in front of you, seemingly locking you in (this could be achieved by lowering a themed door from above, stopping only slightly above the track). The whole tunnel then begins to rotate (the door as well, using a motor in sync witht he rest of the tunnel), and because everything you see is turning you don't get the problem that normal tunnels have. Also, since it started turning after you became locked in and you are not simply travelling straight through it, it adds an extra element of danger and uniqueness. With sound effects and lighting from behind, it would be very effective.This is likely not to happen, though. I hardly think this retheme is going see effects like that, or any new effects at all. A few lights maybe and a tidy up, maybe even the really old sensory effects (fans, mist, water, robots in queueline) could be fixed. It's a shame if only minor changes like that do happen, because there is so much potential going to waste on X. Why not fix it for good, make it a proper dark ride. Even something like the beginning of Saw would be good.

No, it wasn't, you have just just made that up by shoving together two different phrases.It was advertised as the "world's most extreme horror maze" which of course is not true as "extremity" cannot be measured and is therefore not going to go in the Guinness Book of Records.

Saw Alive was never advertised as the world's first year round horror maze. It is the park's first, yes, but nobody ever said it was the world's first. Also, did you really have to quote the whole post like that?

I agree with this. Although Morwenna and John did show signs of 'Alton Towers Pride' when talking about Thorpe Park at the Thirteen Evening, I imagine that in the broader picture there is no conflict. Thorpe Park and Chessington have been working together since the 00s now, and Alton Towers caters for both markets further up the country. People do compare them both, but there is not enough competition to affect their developments.Actually to quote Morwenna: "Alton Towers will always be number one no matter what Thorpe Park say."

It is a shame that they chose that dinky little chain rather than a slightly more imposing fence of sorts. But the annoying this is that it does not seem to occur to them that such a thing is wrong.

Now, I don't have a problem with the site.However, very often I seem to wonder straight into arguments thinking I might have a valid point to add. Well, that is what discussion boards are for. But, every single time I get some smarmy reply highlighting a flaw in my post, usually something completely irrelevant to the point I am trying to get across.When I point this out, which I admittadly would do in an equally as argumentative way, the conversation usually goes in a silly direction. This has ended up, in the past, with getting told I am wrong and myself looking like a troll.This happens at least once a week. In fact, it big arguments seem to happen all the time here to most people.Well, I'm sorry if I ever cause anybody offense. I am also sorry if I should not be expecting people to be offended because it is nothing to get offended about. I am sorry for posting this if it should not be posted, but if it should be posted then... I have hit the "add reply" button anyway.May I add that my argumentative posts seem to portray me as somebody who rages at the keyboard determined not to stop typing because "SOmeBody on dA INTErneTZ iz WRONg!1 I muST COrrecT THEM!" In fact, I am a rather humorous person who just loves the theme park industry and any form of theatrics.

What I am saying is that people are incredibly diverse, so you cannot split them into "enthusiast" and "general public". Some people will notice the number of trains, some will not. There is no way that you can tell who notices what just because they are not "enthusiasts". Sorry if that did not come across.I knew I should not have butted in. Higher throughput is what they should be aiming for, obviously. However, I don't really care if "the GP" notices how many trains there are at all, so I obviously don't deserve to have a place in this furious debate.EDITThanks JoshC (below).

Well you are all arguing, the same thing is now happening in the "Is Alton Towers still going to be no.1?" topic. You all have very good points that you are making, and I don't want to give my opinion in case you all start arguing with me. What I will say is that Thorpe Park's visitors are not either "enthusiast" or "general public". The situation is not black or white, it is far more complicated than that.Oh, what am I saying? Just carry on...

Why does the GP always turn out to be in the centre of these ridiculous debates? One day you should actually go and carry out a servey with this mysterious "GP" race of humanity, and then you might stop arguing.

No. Yes.

Well of course Thorpe Park has good quality rides, with the exception of X No Way Out, Depth Charge, most of the old 80s ones and the slide next year. I don't mean good quality as in my opinion of them is high, I mean that they are professional and sophisticated. It has B&M inverted coaster, a small version of the top hatting launched coaster, a well themed Gerstlaurer, etc. Many places might just have an old Vekoma to handle the thrill bracket. And I have not even started on the flats yet.So, Thorpe Park does have good quality rides, whether they are critically well recieved or not does not change that really. But, if you really want to compare the two, Alton Towers has critically better rollercoasters because there are more of them and the are nearly all innovative.

Thorpe Park is the type of theme park that focusses on quality rides and attractions. It has become less and less interested in continous theming, even though recent developments have been themed properly. However, Alton Towers focusses (or at least, it did until around 2003, and perhaps then again from 2008 onwards) on its theatricallity and atmosphere as well as quality rides. Both parks have seen significant boosts in marketing and devlopment in recent years, but they are still very different to each other, to the extent in which I think they cannot be fairly compared.I will always prefer theatricallity over rides, so I will always prefer Alton Towers over Thorpe Park. That does not mean I don't like Thorpe Park. One notable point is that I think both have a long way to go before they are world class.

I noticed this too. I can only assume it was to speed up maintenance. Ripsaw at Alton Towers had a lot of theming removed to speed up maintenance, as it would take too long to rip the bits off every year. Maybe it is the same situation with Samurai? Although in Samurai's case, it looks as if this is simply a sheet of metal that would be able to come off quickly.

I love being gay in an all boys school. It is awesome! I just feel so comfortable and there is no bullying or anything like that.

Thanks for that! Where abouts was that? I know there used to be similar light ropes down the exit path, but the shape of the corridor suggests it is a completely different place.

I thought I might as well post this on here in case anybody does not already know or want to see the photos retrieved (I wrote this on TTF).

On Saturday, I had a great time on X No Way Out. The lights were on, but I am used to that now.The reason it was such a good improvment was that they were actually using the indoor queueline, like you saw, Tom. That gloomy corridor, as wasted as it is, is so much better than the tatty cattlepen outside. I hope they use it more often.

Yes, it is rides like X No Way Out that get inspire me to get into the art department for theme parks. There is so much potential in there, it would be a dream for the park to finally totally regenerate the whole ride. I doubt that will ever happen to a satisfactory extent though.