Benin

A lot of those quotes sound very 'bigging up the new ride' to be honest... Bit like Thirteen being every ride you ever dreamed of etc... Still, interesting, perhaps people are jumping to conclusions though, we'll find out once track goes up...

Or the first lift hill is a rolling launch a la Maverick... Like I hoped for... Which would be amazing... Gerstlauer launches

EFA (in regards to the park obviously, the toy is brill)...

Thorpe's changed the most in the last decade... 2002/2003 were fine years... 2005 was when it started going really, really downhill and resulted in the pit park you see today... As per usual, I believe a rant at DIC is required...

This is a rather unexpected turn of events for Chessie... Maybe people think Zufari is open? Or most of the park is open... Either way, it's interesting... As for opening more rides... Depends on what they can do... It's a surprise Seastorm isn't up but it might well be a year for such a winter of rebuilding for it... But really the only two areas I think they COULD open are Mexicana, 'Africa' and Forbidden Kingdom... But that in turn needs a budget, something Chessie rarely gets, and knowing the luck if they WERE to do that no-one would visit... Chessington road is ALWAYS busy as well, especially as it's half term, meaning it's getting both kids AND commuters... Nothing to see there...

I can add BA to my list of "never flying with them again" in case I encounter a rogue coaster enthusiast... My job is fab btw guys, I earn money (£19k a year) and spend most of my time on here as you might have noticed... #winning

I don't remember Original Source being as "in your face" as Dr Pepper... Both are crap sponsorships though... Thorpe is so American and Six Flags at times </3

Can't afford it what with Disney, Denmark and New York hotels to pay for this year

Month till park opens for main season... Plenty of time to finish Blivvy up... I'll just repeat my desire for a rolling launch, what a start to the ride it'd be if it was curved drop, inline and launch... Offt...

So are Thorpe aiming for families (who won't be interested in staying out till 3am or whenever Thorpe's night events end) or teenagers? I'M SO CONFUSED... Also, you can sleep 4 in that? I stayed in a bigger room in the motel in France... Hell my tiny room in my second year uni house was bigger than that... Notice how no-one's sitting on the top bunk, probably because you can't physically do so unless you're Holly-sized...

Bubbles and Hocus Pocus are already open on Zoo Days, Half Term is being supplemented by Buccaneer and Carousel... A year off for Seastorm then... Perhaps in the future the event might expand (Tomb and Mexicana perhaps? Those are the obvious two areas for some potential extras should the event take off on a consistent basis, this is the first Feb in a few years the weather could be considered decent)... Zufari is a given to be open for Zoo Days once it's open...

Could've just finished the post there...

That is a damn load of groundwork been done since... Jesus... Now we can see it go up nice and quick... And the dream of epic rolling launched hill is still there!

It will be accessible from Zufari directly, so it wouldn't be the most unlikely thing to happen...

Problem is with doing longer seasons is that traditionally British winters do not work well with rides, hence why Thorpe's Half Terms were an absolute flop and why this is the first real season the Half Term events have seen a large influx of visitors...

Chessie hitting capacity already and it's not even the proper season yet...

If Saw Alive was deemed as good by guests would Thorpe not have tried to keep it open last season regardless of cut-backs? It was open for a year... Great investment return... Saying Storm Surge is an improvement over Octopus Gardens... Visually? No... Ride-wise? Nope... Storm Surge also results in a lot of issues regarding flooded boats and staff being rather unsympathetic to guest's not wanting to get soaked through feet... Not a decent investment... Samurai spent the second half of the season dead with Slammer... I visited the park in August to be greeted by 7 rides at least closed at opening, with 4 being down all day (including the aforementioned Saw Alive and Slammer, but will regular guests know this upon arrival? Unlikely)... Again, saying the general maintenance has improved but is still plagued with issues that causes half the park to be shut at the start of the day and of course add in the usual break-downs is a bit of a misnomer... Improvements? Yes; Better? Yes; of a high standard required? No... Didn't mention the pop music... What Thorpe needs to do is actually decide on a consistent identity... Right now it's a mish mash of themed rides, unthemed rides, pop music, themed music, etc... Atmospheric mess because even on a branding scale it doesn't know if it's a theme park or an amusement park... Even the blandness of Cedar Fair know what their parks are... For families, they add Storm Surge, change NWO, yet also removed Time Voyagers, Fungle Safari, CCR... There is no balance and no reason why families who have kids across the age range should all go to Thorpe... Which then leads to Chessie getting higher gate figures (embarrassing thought)... Six Flags parks suffered on a whole, but Magic Mountain was the worst one, as it added solely thrill rides which suffered from huge amounts of downtime whilst not having much for families... Seeing the failures, it started removing crap rides, adding new ones, renovating PROBLEMATIC (not brand new) rides, bringing in an atmosphere and adding stuff for families... It's seeing an improvement (although not with operations)... But that first sentence is very familiar... My original points were that we're calling a temporary hotel a major investment... To one of the UK's biggest parks, that is an embarrassment...

Money invested in the right areas means removing the entertainments department (although that seems to be coming back this season) and adding Storm Surge/Saw Alive... There have been improvements, but on the other side of the coin, there are still lots of problems with atmosphere, operations and general maintenance upkeep... Problems which result in guests having poor days and not coming back regardless of 'improving' old/new attractions... Thorpe aims at the market which doesn't really care about those issues though, yet on the flip side, which market spends the most money at parks? Which market has the lowest disposable income right now? You only have to look at Six Flags Magic Mountain a few years back to see what issues being solely focused on the 'teen thrills' market and having poor operations can do to a park...

I keep trying to read this in an optimistic light, but I just cannot... Get... It... To... Work... The state of affairs when a temporary 'hotel' is considered a main investment and swapping trains (or part of trains around) are considered bonuses to it... No, a bonus would be making the park an actual nice and enjoyable place to visit, which while the (as yet unconfirmed) NWO refurb would go a little bit towards, that is barely scratching the surface of Thorpe's problems...

I don't mind the dispatch announcement, gives the rides at Chessie some character and uniqueness... Indeed, more rides need announcements for dispatch (or at least a theme)... The PA volume is the issue...

Sounds like a normal day at Thorpe tbh... The Eventbrite thing is the new online booking system Merlin have put into place... Nothing to think further about really...

Tidal Wave's went because of Stealth's construction severing the gas line... There is no evidence currently to suggest it will just get turned off on Swarm... Swarm's fireball is a great bit of theming when it works, it should maybe not go off every train (mainly as when it doesn't catch light, the area stinks), it's definitely one for non-riders (who are just as important for encapsulating in the overall area experience)...

I'm starting to think that anyone who suggests Thorpe get a TopSpin should be banned for a week...

Indeed, it's unbelievably exciting that I haven't slept since this was pointed out on here... SO MUCH EXCITE!!!!!!!!111 And as proven after Saw, Thorpe really don't know what to do with non coaster years... Hence the removal of one gimmick whilst adding one on another...

I always found it funny how Fluch von Novgorod opened unfinished in 2009 and STILL looked 10x better than Saw... Also rides better by that ratio... Saw is a complete waste and shows the coin of poor IP design with a rather measley budget once you've paid out for rights... Not even the best Eurofighter in the country...