Benin

Fury runs lower capacity during rain because if it didn't it would probably have a block shutdown or sommat... Either way similar happens to Spinball...And WHETHER!!!! Not weather ¬¬

They need to fix that... Just get a few more Tensa barriers in there and stick a staff member at the entrance to check APs, and have one manning to back to double check anyone who may jump under...God it's easy this lark sometimes

This is... arguable... As if this was the case, then NO rides would have seat-belts...This is why seat-belts are known as fail-safes... The chances of a restraints rising mid-ride are EXCEPTIONALLY rare (cannot stress this enough), however, in order to ensure top guest safety and security many rides do have these seat-belts... It's amazing how much difference these actually make to guest's perceptions of safety as well... They DO make a big difference...Whilst they probably don't need them, it's really affects guest experience... Saw doesn't have them probably to be part of the whole 'scare' experience...

I think they mainly changed it due to maintenance issues more than anything... Though don't hold me to that, since it happened when I was becoming an enthusiast so I wasn't into the whole info thing...But it just suffered a lot I think back in 2000 and hence they made the decision to close it for the year and just completely redo all the electronics/trains/station/etc...It is a shame that it's not nearly enough the same thing as it was now, and it would be nice if they redid the station again (as they REALLY need to put the airgates in line with the cars), but I can't see it happening unfortunately...

Bugger knows, it's Thorpe, couldn't give two hoots how they run it

Yep, especially due to the height, securing harnesses, how to push it safely without injuring yourself, etc...Sometimes H&S is there to actually be safe...

Hehe, I remember that passing through Chessie that day... The guy who was trained to go up and push it wasn't available so that was rather problematic for them

Mine are probably hiding in the house somewhere... Since it's being cleared out, my request my mother to save them should they be found

:POMFG... Yes...Can't find a pic, but this has just reminded me of the old Mini Rolls 'lockers' that you could put in your lunchbox...God I miss the 90s

Because the sign by the attraction says "No cameras/video cameras permitted"... Duh...Of course, this is when you'll reply with "But the attendant said we could", of course not to you, as you never seem to go to Chessie these days... Strange thing for someone who runs a fansite really...

Some of us already have written our reports

Don't forget as well you can get a special 21st Anniversary bear!Though, Purple Bear WINS

This post is a continuation of my report in the Meet topic, so this goes from 11am!So having done Vampire and the meet it was time to meet up with John and the rest (after seeing them in the hotel briefly earlier), and this was done at Rattlesnack, where I waited for them to appear whilst taking some area photos, taking full advantage of the beautiful weather the park was being provided by...Once off, we headed to Runaway Train, and after a brief wait went straight onto our 3 lap goodness, usual fun and tree-grabbing did occur... Awesome sauce...It was next decided for Tomb Blaster times, which is where the day really began to take a turn for the awesome... As it was John's birthday, he had brought hats, blowers and a banner for various ORP times and general amusement... TOY STORY 3 <3After a long queue (how many trains on atm, it's definitely NOT 4...), we eventually got off and were informed of the arrival of the remaining people who had been stuck on the M25... As Fury was relatively busy at this point, we elected for Wild Asia, and Kobra, but were denied by a minor breakdown (10 minutes tops perhaps?), so went to enjoy the Tuk Tuks, our hats useful for easy targeting by us and the rest... The operator here was relatively entertaining, giving targets and the like, as well as singing Happy Birthday over the PA...Kobra had reopened, so we went on it... Short queue, no issues, Kobra is ok... Done...Lorikeets (and the rest of the zoo) were probably the least awesome parts of the day, as they had just come off lunch so weren't really up to much... It was a right struggle to get them to us and eventually bored us to go to Dragon Falls...Again, the 1.2m situation provided crying children, but undeterred we went on and high-fived the excitable batcher... With my broken blower I proceeded to make lots of noise on the ride, taking full advantage of one of Wardley's many tunnels to create a loud noise of death... Slightly damp and moist was a great thing to be today, and was glad of it...Lunch was called, and as we headed to Pizza Pasta we passed IanNem and Rich, who recieved much horn blowing from me (and looked extremely bemused by it), and we settled down for lunch... Where the girl at the front wanted a hat, so she got one... She loved it... And she wasn't the only one to join our lunchtime fun...Later on, as I returned from gaining pizza, my arrival was joined with a young disabled girl (the wristband guys) who stood silently as the awkward turtle raised his head up... Naturally I said hello to her, and the reponse was a noise that truly cannot be described on a forum... Her dad turned up to depart with her and we proceeded to giggle about the sheer randomness of it all, if you think it's bad... Go to hell... We were certainly not being nasty about it and it was just completely random and unexpected...THEN, and small boy and his dad arrived at our table, questioning the location of the Toy Story hats of JOY, so we answered, and gave him another spare hat... This caused great joy in the shy boy's face and he wore it with pride whilst his sister wore a look of rather displeasured anger at the lack of hat for her... Two really random moments that just provided the lunch with excessive lols... Absolutely amazing...We then proceeded to the zoo which wasn't THAT great to be fair... Oh wells, after some faff and Meerkat times we wandered back to Translyvania and the NEW Twilight Zone walkthrough, full details spoilered below... So after that experience, it was time for Vampire herself... Having done it already earlier in the day, I had already seen the two new tombstones, but I didn't realise the second one spoke to the queue... That's a bloody good addition and I just hope they can maybe add a few more to the queue in future...In the queue we bumped into the TPM group and some exchanges were made between myself and Mark9, Skunky, Sheepie and Holly9... All good fun really between us all and a bit of BANTA never hurt anyone However, breaking glass in the queueline to prevent us going through is NOT good sport chaps ¬¬Eventually let in, we pestered Keith and enjoyed a relatively rough experience on the ride... She's still a classic though, and certainly still one of the UK's most important and iconic rides... I'll miss it when it goes whenever that is, but hopefully Chessie will do as much as possible to delay that inevitably... 21 years is a fantastic age for any coaster, and I would love it to be going still in 9 more years...As we left the ride, we decided to buy MERCHANDISE! Including the brand new Vampire Bear <3, 21st Anniversary Bear <3, 21st Anniversary Pin <3, and a pen... :(We then did Bubbleworks, which is still crap... But we got another epic photo of joy <3After Bubbles, it was about 5:30, so a quick dash to Mexicana to pick up photos followed the run to Fury for one last ride... Top Trumps happened in the queue but I have no idea who won as the batcher decided to steal the show by singing Happy Birthday to John Christina Aguilara style... It was amazing, and Zoe my dear you are fab... Tom, tell her that :DFury then proceeded to top off our day but not only being awesome, but stealing John's hat on the Horseshoe Turn... It floated away so slowly and really finished the day off extremely well...After goodbyes were said, I met up with Holly and Ciaran once more, and as we couldn't (unfortunately ) faff and wait for the next train, we got the 6:40 train home very tired and achey... But BOY was it worth it...Today was such a stark difference between opening day, where there were a LOT more niggles in the park... BUT today was completely different, with Kobra being the only ride I saw break down, but the staff being generally fun and excitable all day with not as many "What's your favourite ride?" questions being plumped at me...Quite simply an awesome day with awesome people with an awesome park, maybe next time I'll stay with the TPM meet and think up something that can be yelled on Pirate Ships :DRide CountVampire - 2Bubbles - 1Fury - 1Tomb - 1Runaway Train - 1Kobra - 1Tuk Tuk - 1Twilight Zone - 1Lorikeet Lagoon - 1Falls - 1

There is maths to it...If it ain't going fast enough, it rolls back...Simples...

I'm going to do a report of my time with the group...After meeting with Holly and Ciaran at Clapham we enjoyed the train ride to the park and waited till 10 for everyone else to turn up... Once we entered, the group went to Vampire, but due to the longish looking queue only me, Mark9, Michaela and Rich took on the 30 minute queue, punctuated with poor staff operations... They need to buck up for 3 trains...After the ride, we headed up to the meet at Tomb, with me bumping into Rob Bishop and having a quick natter before rejoining and having the group photo taken...SO ENDS MY GROUP REPORT!!!!:PI'll keep my main report in the Chessie TR topic as it wasn't TECHNICALLY part of the meet, but I can safely say that today was fab, and was soooo much better than opening day was... Brilliant weather, brilliant atmosphere and not as annoying staff interaction...A great birthday trip for John... I'll pester him to put up a report as well...Ohhh, and the Vampire queue <3 "OH HAI MARK!", Holly's random dancing and JAMIE ADAMS When's the next Chessie meet happening?For the rest of the Report, head HERE!

Aside from that video breaking more park rules, what's the point of it?The whole thing is Honestly

It's boring... Trust me...I've done it on an empty day and I was bored by about 12... And I was distracting myself with filming the park as well...I dread to think how bad the queues will be and hence how bored I would be...

Why do I get the feeling it only has actors in it because of the fire...

So either...(1) It shut/died at some point...or (2) Overly busy and possible chances of over-selling them...

Throughputs are basically the major thing most parks care about, and put first before anything else, including guest interaction...Indeed, some parks focus on guest interaction (see Chessie) more so than this, as seems to be the case with Thorpe and can be seen by how they allow the staff dress and act... But if they cannot do it they cannot do it... Cos if a TL spots it, even if it's in the guest's best interests, the staff get bollocked for it... So it's not as simple as people think...

Oh most defo see you on the train :DYou WERE brunette if I recall... Though that WAS two years ago...

Enough of that now...I shall defo pop up to the 10:30 meet up tomoz... After a ride on Vampire of course... See you all tomorrow...

Then (if I was working on it) would tell you in no uncertain terms can you can get off my ride or I'll get security down...From the staff point of view, these things can't be light, and since the park's want throughputs, throughputs, throughputs, if there isn't an easier and quicker method of draining the boats, then chucking people on them is the best thing for the staff to get the throughputs they are meant to get...

^My problem with Tidal Wave is that it gets you TOOOOO wet... So isn't really that rideable unless it's a day like today, which of course are pretty rare in the UK...Loggers is more rideable in the colder parts of the season, so it just edges it... Especially with the double drop... Best drop in the UK by far...

LOL...Just... LOL... I would go on, but that should be kept to the Colossus topic...Loggers Leap though... Bless it... It's still a good ride... Probs the best water ride at the park...