AstroDan

There is more information and a bigger range of concept images, together with an overhead plan of the new rooms on www.towersstreet.com

It's very comfortable!

Also, the weather before 10am is often extremely cold in February, so it's hard for rides to even operate at that time.

I refuse to eat at Bar 360. I went 3 times when it was The Glass House (was that the old name) and the wait on food was always 45 minutes or more! Terrible service!

What excites me most is that the ride on that video looks awesome. And the Smiler will be better than even that.

The idea isn't that it's good value. I say they charge double.

I was about to say - queueline videos do work and are still used. There are videos in four different areas, including the station.

Ugh. The Dapple Grey. Not a fan, sorry! The Blacksmith's Arms in Alton looks bland from the outside, but is cracking inside - a really good meal. As is The Bull's Head in the village. The White Hart, also in Alton, is currently having a full kitchen refurbishment and isn't serving food - but it re-opens fully in March!

ERT wouldn't be viable given how small The Crash Pad is compared to a hotel. For the number of guests, I doubt opening rides early would be financially attractive.

I am confident it will open in May.

Where is this mention of 10.30pm? I see it nowhere?

It certainly appears that no further track construction has been done for a few weeks. Which I accept, is confusing. However, we can only assume that other areas of development have been underway - of which the park aren't going to be posting pictures. I would imagine that the groundwork is pretty much done, so it's just going to be a case of slotting the track into place in the next few weeks.

People need to accept the project is delayed, they have probably totally re-scheduled everything now that they have a target date of May. Whereas before, they were probably rushing, now they can actually do a decent job on it. Just enjoy the cool pictures! They aren't posting pictures of footers and concrete walls because the average person on their 1.2million followed Facebook page isn't going to be interested in that.

The tree is down in the valley, so no chance of seeing anything from there! It's from the little cottage by the road, there's a field above it, adjacent to the road. You can see parts of the Smiler from there.

I have been up at Alton Towers for the Caribbean Beach Party Weekend at Splash Landings. I took a walk down to Sharkbait Reef today (as it was open) - the amount of track in the minibus car park is staggering. There is more than there was in November. And this isn't including what's already up, what's already been moved to the site, nor were any lift hills in sight. Amazing, really - how much track there is to this ride. I also took a wander down to the Chained Oak, and from the lodge cottage at the entrance to the farm, you can get a reasonable view of the Staffordshire Knot element of The Smiler quite well. It's awesome seeing it 'for real' through the trees!

The ride cars have been gradually sorted out over the past year or so. They attempted, badly, in 2011 (ish) to paint over some of the more worn restraints, but long term, they have ended up looking worst as paint has cracked off, leaving the faded mess behind anyway. Some of the cars already were looking good, with all new restraints. Hopefully, they'll sort the remaining few out, and possibly tart some of them up too - like where guests put their feet, a lot of the paint was going.

There hasn't been any further track construction in the past few days - although I believe the station building is developing!

I'll say it again, just because I like to say it now and again. The ride is appalling. In every way.

See - the mickey taking of 'toilet topics' annoys me too - because they are, as I have said previously - one of the MAIN THINGS that matter to guests. BigBobJones - I don't accept some of your arguments re Alton toilets compared to Thorpe's. Yes, there are always cleaners in the toilets at Alton - and in that sense, they're usually OK. But - they're generally very outdated in design and as for the water at Thorpe dribbling out of the taps - have you ever actually tried to get hot water at Alton Towers? Upon pressing the hot water, you're lucky if you get more than 2 seconds of water before having to press it again. And even then, it is often cold. All the park toilets at Alton Towers are very old, none of them have been updated in at least 15 years.

And the current exchange rate is at a 12-month low, making prices in Europe 10% more expensive than they were last August.

2013 Season Information has been released by Europa-Park: Main Season: 23.3.13 - 3.11.13 Park open from 09:00 (hotel ERT 08:30) to a minimum of 18:00, extensions up to 21:30 depending on how busy the park is. Winter Season 23.11.13 - 5.1.14 Park open from 11:00 (hotel ERT 10:00) to a minimum of 19:00, extensions up to 20:00 depending on how busy the park is. Admission Prices as follows: Adult 1-day €39.00 (£33) Adult 2-day €73.00 (£61) Child 1-day €34.00 (£29) Child 2-day €63.50 (£54) 3-day tickets are available on request. 4-day tickets only available for hotel guests. Annual Pass €158.00 (£133) Parking Charge: €5.00 (£4)

Toilets might be seen as a joke on forums, but you know - they really, really matter. If somewhere has clean toilets - the reputation goes up. Check out Wetherspoons, for example. Even their most old and grottiest pubs have nice loos! Hopefully the X Sector toilets are being modernised for March - as toilets at AT generally are very, very old.

Good job you (presumably) never went to Europa-Park in 2009, then. For the first season of the Iceland area (and Blue Fire) there were some slightly posh portaloos (with bunches of flowers in them) where the now Gazprom Hall is. It was simply due to the fact there were no other toilets within 150metres or so. There are now 3 sets of permanent toilets in Iceland.

I am very sure that Alton Towers will be working tirelessly to get the Mr Twirly image, and various backstory information out into the public arena so that they understand what this ride is all about. It's only just been released, it needs time!

My problem is, I haven't genuinely been on a coaster where it being backwards has been one of the plus points. I don't particularly enjoy going backwards on Euro-Mir, I don't particularly enjoy the backwards sections on Boomerangs or Revolution, nor do I particularly enjoy X. I tend to have to twist my neck slightly so I can see what's going on, or I get pretty dizzy.