Benin

Interesting to see how this develops... Will there be new entertainment options? Will it be reasonably priced? Will it be popular? Will it help or hinder the park's resort image? And more importantly, will it be made out of shipping containers?

Eh? I'm lost here, since when did either of those places give off that sort of vibe? Amity Kebab and Roasty Relish are both fab additions... Was actually surprised how good the Kebab place was, which is testament to the great improvement of food at the parks... Indeed, there's very few if any truly awful food places these days at the parks, compared to a few years ago when you wouldn't want to set foot in a park food joint bar the BBQ place...

I'd LOVE to see some actual proof to this, because, erm, HAVE they mucked up? Or are you just making crap up to fit your poorly constructed arguement?

Is that Alton specific? Because the same can be said of ALL the Merlin parks... And I'm sure Storm Surge made loads of the North stream down the M6 to experience it... Would rather a park get a well thought out addition rather than cheap and rushed (which is why Towers' 2011 addition didn't materialise)...

KFC has expectations?

That's what happens when people pay too much attention to the PR crap that gets spouted by parks... I enjoyed Thirteen from day 1, because I saw it as a family ride with a special drop... People fell into the hype, and were hence disappointed... Go on Thirteen now, and the entire train laughs from the indoor section onwards... That's what theme parks are about, people having fun and enjoying a ride, not saying it's not as good as such and such ride yada yada...

What's the betting that there will be more scuffles/fights at the Crystal Palace vs Millwall footie match this Saturday in comparison to Thorpe? Yeah, there is nothing to worry about, unsurprisingly, the parks DO know what they are doing for the most part...

Nail pretty much on head here, the GP reaction to Thirteen after it's had a chance to bed into the park is so much better than the initial reactions on opening day and the weeks after... Nowhere near as bad as some people seem to make it out to be...

4 rows of 4? Perhaps it won't be a Gerstlauer - http://www.maurer-rides.com/x-coaster/x-train/

Deja Vu <3 Panda Express <3 Good to see a review of a park people rarely hear about... And horray for over-hyped Intamin rubbish!

8 passenger launch vehicles? Fluch? Iron Shark lapbar cars though would be much approved... Probs won't happen but still... Do want...

Yep, and that's been EXTREMELY successful in bringing in the crowds this year hasn't it? Oh wait, no, Thorpe aren't hitting the numbers they expected are they?

Bad Thorpe? What if the woman had been messing about and it was her fault she got caught in the conveyor? I swear like half of all theme park incidents are down to guest idiocy...

Ahhh, but was the loss of guests solely because of no new attractions? There's always something more to things, as last year was a HORRID year for all Merlin parks, not just Towers...

They don't need a new ride... They need to improve the atmosphere and look of the park, as currently, it's a bit lacking in both those areas...

Because the original Zodiac model was ancient and prone to throwing pods into trees... Sometimes rides do need replacing, but why replace rides which have nothing wrong with them?

I wonder though if Burger King gets busy because of being a recognised brand... Thorpe's restaurants outside of Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut very rarely get very busy in my experience...

That last picture just goes to prove that Disney face characters always look really really bad... Especially it seems the American ones... The Circus looks great though... I'm still holding back till Fantasyland is actually finished though...

Won't be McDonalds because they made them go away from Chessie and Towers in the first place... Yay for more branded outlets though, one thing Merlin have done well, is the park food, so much better now...

Didn't actually know about it, but that's quite an exceptional case and kinda needed to be done? Since there's nothing really wrong with Det or Vortex, why replace them?

Oh it's clear they do, and I like Slammer as a ride, but should it continue as it has been over the next year, I just don't think it'd be worth the constant expensive investment Thorpe are doing... You have to draw the line somewhere... God knows where the money saved would end up though, none of us can truly know that...

I support the whole "better things Thorpe could spend money on" approach here, mainly because of how much of a drain Slammer must be to the maintenance budget... Why will it be a drain? Can't go to S&S and I doubt the ride has any form of warranty anymore because S&S themselves have gone "nah, it's dire" and given up on the entire concept... That leaves Thorpe with needing to go and create replacement parts through custom methods, possibly either through getting one company to manufacture the parts for them, or getting multiple companies involved... Either way, it's a costly and long (as proven by this year) process, and might well outweigh the positives of having the ride still running in the future if it continues to constantly be a thorn in the side of the park with prolonged breakdowns that have plagued the ride since 2005... As much as the uniqueness helps the ride, I wouldn't be surprised if one day Thorpe just give up on it if it continues acting up like this... I know I would look elsewhere eventually...

People bother to queue so long because when Thorpe is busy it's often the shortest queue on park... As for quiet days... Well, the low throughput contributes to the long queue...

Until you try and cross the road... What IS it with the continental cousins being so mental in inner city roads (Germans aside, but they have common sense)...

Erm, no, this will never happen and has never happened in any theme park...