AstroDan

I wouldn't want the mess that was EP's Horror Nights 2011 anywhere in the UK. Generally, the event at EP is good (I would go so far as to say it was incredible in the early years) - but last year the event was a complete mess. Thankfully, the event at EP is being massively improved for 2012. However, I agree - more roaming actors after dark would be a great thing - but I get the impression budgets for FN are down, with it closing an hour earlier now.

Horror Nights 2012: Attractions Map Although not shown below, Matterhorn Blitz will also be open for Horror Nights this year. Hopefully, the fact that there are two more rides open than last year, will allow the event to better cope with crowds. Also, it looks far more spaced out - which is great.

Indeed. I was on park yesterday and it was very quiet - the weather not helping. Nemesis was entirely walk on (with a 2 train operation) from about 4:30pm until ride close at 6:00pm. Oblivion was walk on for most of the day also. Th13teen was barely 10 minutes. The only rides that had a queue were Rita and Sonic Spinball, Sonic not being helped by the wet weather operation. Air was also very short - and was less than a 10 minute wait after 5:00pm. Even Sub Terra had a less than 10 minute wait later on and never peaked over 1/2 hour. The development for SW7 since my last visit to AT is striking. The size of the hole is quite something!

I agree that young people, I.e. Thorpe Park's target market, wouldn't have the money to spend that a family or group of older adults may do - which is typical of what guests at the likes of Alton Towers area, spending up to £200.00 per room for 4. That said, why build Snoozeboxes? Within the Merlin portfolio is Heide-Park and, as part of Heide-Park Resort, there is a hotel (newly built by Merlin, called Port Royal - and it's fantastic) along with the Heide-Park Holiday Camp. This is made up of lots of small buildings, with a basic bedroom and adjoining toilet facilities. It's a cross between say Europa-Park's Tipi Village and a Hotel. It costs around €25pppn (£20). This would surely be a better way forward?

Surely Merlin have enough skills and knowledge to know if a hotel is going to be effective, without trialling it using portable bedrooms? You don't see Alton Towers, Chessington, Europa-Park, Pleasure Beach, Phantasialand, PortAventura etc. building some temporary rooms to see how well they sell?

I also reckon the rooms would only be about £100 for 4. I can see this being marketed as a crash pad and a crash pad alone. ATR has around 450 rooms - sleeping up to around 2,000 guests as far as I am aware, so obviously much bigger.

In season, as in when the park is open - the following are available in the evenings at AT Resort: - 2, 3 or 4 restaurants dependent on number of guests staying - 2 or 3 bars dependent on number of guests staying - Pirate Bill show in ATH for kids - Vocalist/live band show in ATH in evening - Family disco on Splash - Spa open till 8:30pm - Golf (closing times vary) - Water Park (closing times vary) Thorpe is in no way going to be able to match anywhere near that. The best, surely, would be the bar in the dome and the bar alone?!

I presume Bar 360 will offer evening entertainment. Perhaps they could do park tours by candelight?

Marvellous news. Nothing a good cocktail won't sort out!

I presume these snoozeboxes will cause... THORPE PARK Resort from 2013?

Extra revenue for what? I wish every penny profit that the likes of TP made went right back into TP. It really doesn't. That isn't how Merlin works. I am fairly shocked at these plans... it's not exactly following Port Royal (hotel at Heide Park) is it. I don't get the need for temporary accommodation. Why not just build the full hotel now and not hang about?

I am sorry but the fastrack system sounds like a joke. I have barely read a trip report from PA by someone from the UK of late that hasn't shown use of the fastrack. Unlimited fastrack for €50 for the duration of your stay? Sure, it's cheap - but that means everyone is going to buy them? I dread to think the impact this has on the hideous cattle pen queues of Furius Baco and Shambhala etc. I can't believe PA are still putting in such awful queue lines frankly. For a park of such a standing, and high regard... they need to look at the Wodan queue. And learn. If the unlimited Ultimate Fastrack services at AT and Thorpe were £40.00 for your whole stay in the resort hotels then everyone would be after them. And then the general "non-fastrack" guests would find their queue times massively exaggerated.

Developments over at towersstreet.com are coming along nicely, with the basic Beta website now up and running, and the forum very active. Feel free to pop over for all things Alton Towers - and international!

I was at Gardaland for the first time last week, and had the chance to ride the Vekoma MK900-M (mine train) coaster, Mammut, which was installed when Merlin were operating the park. It was a cracking coaster, only beaten in terms of Mine Trains by Colorado Adventure, and was themed from top to tail. It would work brilliantly at Chessington!

AT usually change the cable overnight - which is very quick. It used to take them 3 days in the rides early years.

Apparently Alton Towers reckon this could be open pretty quickly. Let's see...!

Great! It's a shame you didn't see the hotels - they're some of the very best you'll see. Especially Hotel Colosseo and the new hotel, Bell Rock. There's always next time, eh!

It is indeed. The ride actually threatens some airtime on the hill after the first helix, and there's a little more "being thrown about" on the banked corner, too. Still could offer more, but at least it's an improvement. I think the ride is actually going down really well with guests now. It's no longer got hype, and everyone just enjoys it. Also, queues for it tend to be quite reasonable compared to the likes of Rita, Air etc.

Fascinating photographs. I have been to Europa-Park many times over the years, and it keeps on improving with age. It really is stunning - it's hard to pick faults with it at all. Even with big crowds, queues aren't too ghastly and they move so quickly. It makes the likes of a 2 hour Stealth queue or 3 hour Swarm queue (as it was one day last week) seem, well - almost impossible to contemplate. I would love to hear more of your thoughts about the park - did you visit the hotels? Camp (Tipi) resort? Was ride close extended beyond the standard of 6pm?

I just don't get all of the fuss over Swarm. Sure, it's pleasant and the first drop is nice, along with some good theming here and there, but in all honesty it doesn't do much for me... I would take Inferno over it. The only UK B&M I would rank lower than Swarm would probably be Air. I am of course grateful for another big B&M in the UK, of course... and I respect the fact that for many people it's such a high ranking coaster, but for me - not really.

There are not misters on that side. There was probably a delay in sending an Oblivion shuttle, so the mist had time to gather and rise back up out the tunnel.

It barely gives much away... It's not like you can exactly make it all out anyway!

1. Nemesis. By a mile. It beats the pants out of most other rollercoasters in Europe, let alone the UK. 2. Oblivion. Bit short... but it's got an amazing drop and the tunnel is one of those "OMG" moments. And quite frankly, the other three, none of them do much for me. Inferno is fun, but I find lacks grunt. Air is just slow, although I do enjoy the sensation. Swarm has an amazing first drop but I find much of the ride a little bland. Probably 3. Inferno, 4. Swarm, 5. Air? I didn't like Manta (Orlando) much either so I guess flyers aren't realy my scene.

It is a family park, run by a family - but you won't have seen operations, standards, quality of service or hotels like it ANYWHERE else. If it's *just* thrills you look for, stick with... THORPE PARK.

Hotel Bell Rock is now open! There was a fantastic opening for it yesterday which featured guests such as Roger Moore, the German Finance Minister, the US Ambassador in Germany and DJ Bobo (famous swiss DJ singer), along with fireworks and music. <3 Europa-Park <3