Benin

There's very much an over-arching story here about animals being held in captivity in general... Nature still takes precedence over any training an animal may have received, for example when the lions of Chessie snacked on the baby binturongs last year... Orcas are so huge and reasonably dangerous it's a very tricky subject to have, because zoos are so big on the conservation of species (the baby being 'sold' was probably part of a breeding programme as you see at most zoos) so the incident there is one that could be explained through that... I think a lot of activists tend to forget about the conservation efforts and good zoos and aquatic centres do, probably why Merlin forces it down the throats of visitors these days... The trainer incidents did lead to them not being in the water since, which is for the best, as nature will always find a way...

Would making excessively loud (fake) sex noises help? Worth a go... If not, ask to move flat...

Unfortunately I can't seem to find any to recommend, but my personal idea would be to get the best speakers student loan can buy, face them onto the ground since he's directly below you, and blare out Rammstein (or any heavy band of your choice/his least favourite genre of music)... But then, I'm an evil git...

Meanwhile, My Magic+ is going perfectly... http://micechat.com/49401-my-magic-plus-failure/ Apparently the new gateless system makes children 'beam when the green light goes on', which is of course nothing like the system in use at every other theme park in the world... Fun tip, don't mess with unbroken systems...

http://www.listchallenges.com/disney-movies?ref=share Out of EVERY single Disney film ever made, how many have you seen? 112 for me, which I think is a testament to the level of absolute TURD the mid 2000s Disney released...

Judging by the rumours I've also heard, I'd happily take money from you you up on such a bet... It sounds like a bitter disappointment quite honestly... So it suits Chessie...

Another vote for Blackpool's Wild Mouse, with the second half of Ultimate a honourable mention... Although most rides these days don't tend to scare me, Top Thrill Dragster certainly un-nerved me...

I think though the way people seem to complain about theme parks on their Facebook page is the issue though... Look at all the BOYCOTTS and OUTRAGE that people show because of out-of-date news stories, bunnies and just general stupidity... People then complaining that the park isn't paying attention to their post is a personal favourite of mine... The parks still say to the people "Please contact this email" anyway, so what's the actual point in complaining about quite often stupid things when that's gonna be the park's response until you do it properly?

A tub of out-of-date popcorn eh?

Towers looking for feedback on the Facebook page... http://survey.altontowers.com/s/AltonTowersFacebook Unfortunately there isn't an option to say 'Be more like Thorpe's'... But you can probably put that message across... Though of course, I couldn't mention that my reasoning behind not thinking the Facebook page is a good place to get my queries answered is because I'd contact them properly or complain at GS...

Pieces of Slammer that they don't know what to do with? I hope it's that...

Naked Swarm trains make you glad Merlin actually bothered to theme them...

Hey look guys, Thorpe have posted a picture of a wooden coaster, they MUST be getting one now, otherwise why would they post it? Right?

http://www.phantasialand-fans.de/topic/6735-neu-2014-chiapas-baufortschritte/page-39#entry277596 Looking at recent testing they've improved that issue... That final drop though is

The cattlepens on Raptor just rely on the ride visuals (although have some interaction with one of the splashdowns)... I think a lack of atmosphere for Swarm is more than Thorpe tends to lack one in general though for the majority of visits... Probably the last time I felt there was an atmosphere at Thorpe was during a Fireworks night...

Raptor doesn't have actually much in the way of theming beyond the tonnes of concrete and the near misses... It however uses the landscape really well and it feels like it belongs into it's own little area/plaza, hence to me it feels like a more complete ride than Swarm... Swarm also isn't helped by the mass of nothingness by the brake-run, the spread-out nature in comparison to Raptor (which after the turnaround sticks to quite a limited footprint) as well is an issue to make it feel completely themed... It also feels rather rag-tag with what's there...

You use Saw and Swarm as examples, BUT... They both have a huge USP, and of course we know that Saw's theme is a result of Thorpe/Merlin using market research into the idea of a horror IP themed ride... You seem to be thinking that I don't think a wooden coaster be a good idea, because I think the UK NEEDS a modern one here as soon as... BUT I can understand why Merlin would use their market research as a reasoning behind not building it... After Swarm not bringing in the punters as hoped and Saw/Smiler/Thirteen all doing so, it's clear that their view is that USPs are the way to go... Which doesn't work unless we end up with an RMC... Which would be meh...

The Blackpool woodies ride nothing like a modern wooden coaster, and due to their age and rickety ride (which is part of their charm, but they can ride badly) can be perceived negatively and unsafe (Big Dipper accident)...Do the majority of people visiting Thorpe know of Oakwood and Megaphobia? If we're going to look at commonly ridden wooden coasters by the GP, you have to look at rides like Gwazi and Stampida, which are all pretty awful rides in general... This again skews the idea of wooden coasters being too rough to be enjoyable (which Gwazi and Stampida are, no doubts)... We know the modern GCIs are good, sure even an Intamin one would suffice (though I think they're pretty soulless)... But until trends change, the parks will not be allowed to spend a large investment on a perceived risk, especially after Swarm 'failing'... If a company doesn't do it's market research and just puts out whatever they want, it can either be a successful idea or a terrible one, the odds aren't that great... Need to remember as well that wooden coasters require a lot more care and attention, with specific engineers for the job amongst everything else... They are actually serious large long term investments, otherwise a good one can become awful (Stampida)... Another issue to consider when building one... Fortunately, the European parks have an actual clue when building new rides... EDIT - Mark, you know as well as I do that enthusiasts make up for very little of the overall attendance pool... And for the most part, our opinion is very skewed in some cases (or certain forums), so more often than not I'm not surprised that there are very few parks that converse directly with enthusiasts... Here and Valley Mania (though I think that might have changed) are exceptions, but Thorpe have only really locked into here over the last year... And yep, it'll be a gimmick coaster if we ever get one... Though that High 5 one can count as a gimmick thing... And that's not one of those inverting ones!

Merlin think that though because they do market research (like any intelligent company) on the majority of their guests... Similar reason why Saw came about because research showed there would be an interest in a horror film IP ride...

Is a lack of building thrill rides over family rides/Thomas Land REALLY making them lose attendance? If it was, I doubt they would've expanded the ride selection in that one area again and again, whilst adding Ben 10... Still waiting on Haunting's retheme to Scooby Doo, let alone Dexter's Lab Apocalypse...

Considering they did a Krake live action maze in 2011, one would not actually be surprised...

A coaster that has one high point and the rest pretty low? End up getting Intimidator 305 then should such a thing happen... Though of course due to the proximity of Heathrow, it would be an immense challenge to get the ceiling to that height considering Stealth was a bit of a struggle...

Some more pics off their blog: A near miss under the shop, Merlin are the epitome of originality... Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! The white track looks really weird tbh... Tis 6 rows though, maths clearly not my strong point these days...

Watched Catching Fire yesterday... It would be very difficult to translate into a theme park environment without throwing excessive amounts of money at it with an area probably equal to the size of Thorpe itself to make it remotely believable... Easiest way of doing it would be an Interactive dark ride mostly focusing on the training before the arena (so ripping off Men In Black Alien Attack's story)...

Social media marketing 101 indeed...