Coaster

For me, I think Merlin membership is a way to con people. Okay, you pay a certain amount a month and can terminate the package after 12 months. But however it's actually more than the passes to subscribe to every year and yet you cannot use it less than 12 months.
Though it may be good for some, I'm sticking to my traditional method of buying a pass year in year out.

When you've already forked out on an annual pass, £16 is too much for three hours of rides.

I've never noticed this topic before, but I play the Trombone.
I was recently part of the band for my school production of Chicago (which was very good and professional!)

Think I'm going to play along as well.

http://www.thorpepark.com/press/releases/2013/10-07-2013-THORPE-PARK-ice-scream-weekend.doc
Ice cream snow storm anyone?
Looks like I know where I'll be on the 26th...

I am now waiting for when we can have the X theme on this site or Thorpe let us pay for it to download.

This is great news and it shows that they actually making improvements, I'm very happy they've sorted X now!!
It's such a shame about Tidal Wave and Saw's queueline speakers though. The atmosphere is not the same when they're switched off. That said though, maybe they'll get around to it. They seem to be gradually sorting the little things out this year.

I've noticed a few changes to the parks audio system so far today as well as some updates:

1) On Slammer, I've noticed that the music and its safety announcements have changed slightly.

When the ride was in motion before, the track cut off mid-ride because Slammer now takes a lot longer to raise to the top. Now, Thorpe have extended the track by almost another minute by adding segments in between the raising and lowering parts, whilst the main track plays when the ride is being throttled.

Also, when the ride used to end, it went "Your frame with Slammer has now come to an end. When the restraints have released, please leave your seats and exit--" and cut off from that point. Now, it continues with "--and exit to the far side". Its essentially the old and new ending announcements put together. Good to see they've fixed it finally!

2) X's dome speakers are really loud now. Before, their were played at a moderate level but its now loud and they produce a lot of bass! They could be turned up a little more, but for now, they're certainly a lot louder than what they were at the beginning of the year.

Also, the dead sections of the indoor queue line for X have been fixed, including where the really loud one at the end of the corridor is. Plus, the zigzag section just before the station has the rides music playing in there now with a new speaker.

(X also has a few new lighting changes near the station too.)

3) Vortex and Lost City's music are back again. However, Vortex was very quiet for some reason...

4) Tidal Wave's queue is now silent.

5) Saw's queuline speakers are STILL dead...

6) Nemesis Inferno has some new tropical forest sound effects in the main queueline with rain/water-like effects (behind the queue line shop). Also, its old theme music is playing at the entrance again.

7) The Noise is only playing at the entrance, bridge, dome and Neptune's Beach. (Keep it like this Thorpe!)

8 ) Rush is finally using its queue speakers at last for its music, however, they're a little quiet to hear.

9) Colossus, Lost City and Amity Cove are still high pitched. (Please sort it Thorpe.)

Overall, happy to see Thorpe making these little changes, but there's still a few other parts of the park that still need work.

Well that depends on the person doesn't it not everyone enjoys Nemesis!

It's been like that for a couple seasons now, I know it's annoying listening to it in the queue line would rather listen to ambiance/normal theme.

Are you actually complaining about noise at a theme park?
It's not supposed to be a quiet day out! You can hear Nemesis across the park too!
What's your name, Mr Roper?

Yes and and huge Fanboying Yes to the entrance music:)

In terms of steel, they could only really add an airtime machine, as that's what the park's missing. That's what the UK's missing. If they were to build anything else with the current park offering the unprecedented array of thrills and world records, they would either be competing with themselves or with other parks, and by extension, themselves once again (no other UK non-Merlin owned park really threatens Thorpe).
So here's the deal with Thorpe's current coaster spread: They have a sit-down multi-looper, a modest inverter, Europe's fastest accelerating launched coaster, a badly-built jaunt through a few trees in a matchbox on wheels (or the world's first horror coaster and steepest free-fall, if you please), and the UK's first wing coaster. The even have a mildly thrilling dark coaster/rave.
Their current arsenal rules out most of the steel options available to them that will offer something different. For example, even an intense B&M flyer will draw comparisons in ride experience to The Swarm, and inevitably Air too. A Dive Machine will draw comparisons to Saw and obviously, Oblivion as well. Anything with a notable number of inversions will overshadow Colossus and The Smiler. So say they chose airtime, but go for a steel model like an Intamin Blitz or a Mack Launched Coaster. Then the comparisons with Stealth and Rita start. Not to mention Stealth in such close proximity, with this coaster possibly being two-thirds its height it'll diminish Stealth's imposing factor. All these designs also have their own logistical problems I.e. theres no underground envelope for a Dive Machine and there's seriously not enough space for a decent-length flyer or even the Intamin or Mack models.
I realise this is a very reductionist and fairly soulless method of deducing what coaster best fits Thorpe's needs but, theme aside, this is what marketing will be looking for - pocket-holes in Thorpe's sprawling coverage of statistics. The biggest one, staring them right in the face, is a woodie. It knocks two birds with one stone as it'll be packed with air-time and provide the UK with a new kind of thrill not seen for seventeen years.

The park have also kindly sent over some answers to the questions we sent on to them!
Here they are below, an a big well done to the engineer who counted all them components!!
Q: Roughly how many components are included in a ride train?

A: There are10648 components per car (one of our engineers counted them all!).
Q: How long does the average wheel last and what do you do with the old ones? How about auctioning some off for charity?

A: Running wheels last about 3 years and side and upstop wheels last 7 years.
Q: How much of these cars are the original ones that were delivered (I assume you replace quite a bit of the workings of them each season so I am guessing its just the seats and chassis that are original)

A: 6196 components have been changed per car since the ride went in, so that's about 42% of the cars that are still the original.
Q: Have you ever thought of adding lights to the trains like the eyes of Swarm?

A: Unfortunately this would take an extreme amount of redesign of the train and station electrics along with the extra components.
Q What is the one fact that you think the coaster geeks and nerds don't know but would be amazed by?

A: It takes 5 weeks to completely strip, clean, inspect, rebuild, grease and test 1 train. This takes 2 engineers, 3 winter cleaners and 2 external inspectors.
Q: Because of the Nemesis name being implemented into Inferno's name, it means they are constantly compared. Would Nemesis Inferno ever be renamed to just Inferno?

A: Nemesis Inferno has become a brand in its own right and we don’t mind the comparison’s to Nemesis at Alton Towers. Both rides have their own strengths.

Both me and Cornflakes agree with this, but the best themeing on the ride is the STATION. Everywhere else is either pants (like the ride section on the inside with so much wasted space) or just not themed very well. The station has the actual trap blueprints from the films littering the walls, the different traps with manequinn parts in them and various tools on the wall to really give the illusion of you being in Jigsaw's workshop!

Are you actually complaining about noise at a theme park?
It's not supposed to be a quiet day out! You can hear Nemesis across the park too!
What's your name, Mr Roper?

I finished reading the autobiography a while back and it really is very good, laugh out loud funny in places and full of tales I found fascinating. Wardley manages to to convey such passion and enthusiasm for his work it is easy to see why he has been so successful and how the experiences he gave himself set him up for that success.
Others have commented on how lucky he has been to be able to do the work he has done, and to an extent the right time right place factor will always be true, but what is even clearer is you make your own luck. You get out and do it and stay true to your beliefs. When Chessington came knocking he could have told them what they wanted to hear and got himself an easy little job, but he didn't. He told them his truth and they didn't like it because they wanted a quicker easier fix that didn't exist, but he left them with something to think about and sowed the seeds that would allow him to develop the place in a way he knew would work. Persuading others that you are right is the bigger skill than being right in the first place.
It is really quite an inspiring read, makes you want to get out there and do something you love.
An amendment has been made in later additions giving a little info on the smiler, and that can be found here. It is a little bit cagey on the process but, regardless of how good the smiler actually is, has this slightly heartbreaking passage
After a whole career of getting things right why couldn't they have just trusted him on this one? A woodie clearly is the ride he has wanted to build at Towers, and it is the one I wanted to ride. Such a shame.

Are you actually complaining about noise at a theme park?
It's not supposed to be a quiet day out! You can hear Nemesis across the park too!
What's your name, Mr Roper?

My heart bleeds...

I have to say if thorpe doesn't get a woodie and then alton doesn't get a woodie either I would be very dissapointed (but that is just me)

You got the joke then
You're right pluk, there was only one negative comment I saw and there's been thousands of positive ones. The negative was was literally: "Went on one in Margate. No big deal" Margate?! Lol.
Come on Thorpe! Do us proud!

Had a thought. A Thorpe thought. What if Merlin have finally realised the immense popularity of Colossos at Heide Park? It's owned by Merlin, and it once broke world records for speed and steepest drop on a woodie, and still holds the record for height at 196ft. It's certainly something Thorpe could push promotionally (they're probably not going to change their marketing angles and simply market "airtime"). I'd love a 164ft woodie but... where would it go?

Thorpe have just posted on Facebook:
"A rollercoaster made of WOOD?! Would you?
"
Looking more and more likely now.

I never came out to my parents. If straight kids don't need to tell their parents then why should I have to tell them what I am. I can understand why some people feel the need but for me personally, I don't see why I should have to.

Thanks for that Ryan, what happened to Tommy saying no pictures (I can see why he said that now), I hate wasps so much, but I think the spiders on peoples faces made me cringe more.