Phill Pritchard

Original Source are a brand of shampoos, shower gels etc that sponsored Tidal Wave from 2006 to 2009. Original source is owned by PZ Cussons which also own the Imperial Leather brand (former sponsors of Bubbleworks at Chessington WOA and the Flume at Alton Towers). See website.Previous to this sponsorship the ride had been sponsor free for 6 seasons and many fans could not understand why it suddenly need one. The sponsor's logos and advertising slogans were pretty much plastered all over the area, ok that may be a bit of an exaggeration but it was some pretty heavy handed 'branding' I don't think it helped that the colours of the logos, signs and sponsored theming were so brightly coloured, new looking and not faded or weathered to fit in with the Amity theme. They would also have people walking around the outside of the ride handing out samples of the Original Source shower gels etc. But to give you an idea as to why Original Source would have been interested in sponsoring a ride like Tidal Wave here is one of their old TV ads that helps to show how they used to advertise their product as having an intense, refreshing hit to it: http://www.visit4info.com/details.cfm?adid=14898 I was personally quite pleased to see that the replacement Dr Pepper sponsoring was a lot more subtle.

Phineas and Ferb is amazing, the best Disney TV cartoon/ animation since the early 90's!

Hi Kevin, nice to learn a bit more about you. I'm with you on the whole football thing, I can't stand it either.

^ In the past 4 years? Don't you mean the last 8+ years

We are going to see Harry Potter at the BFI IMAX the day before you Not in the premium seating though but we are also planning on going for a nice meal afterwards.Have you been to the IMAX before?

This was Treasure Island Railway and it was at the park from 1983 - 1993. I used to love this ride when I was younger, I don't think I was ever given the Black Spot though although my Wife says that she did and you could also trade the voucher in for a can of Coke.From what I can remember the trains were separate to those that went to and from the farm, you could walk to the ride area/station on a road alongside the CCR tracks from the Thunder River (Rumba Rapids) area up towards the farm, it was kind of half way between the two.I have many great memories of this ride, it is a shame that they closed it when they did but even if RMC had kept it operating I don't think Tussuads would have kept it.

I am currently watching the 90's animated X-Men series on Disney XD at the moment and I had forgotten how good it was! Plus Spider-Man was on before.

Looks great and that animatronic in the video must be one of their best I've seen.

One more for Last Stand.

Thanks for a great trip report so far and for some excellent shots of the rides. I look forward to reading more!

Revenge of the Mummy is definitely our favourite, off the top of my head I can't remember how many times we went on it definitely many more times than any of the other Universal coasters. Duelling Dragons/DC was having a bit of an identity crisis when we went as it was still in the process of changing over to Dragon Challenge so we were still calling it Duelling Dragons and Fire was my favourite. I loved HRRR but only got to ride it the once and I found the Hulk to be a bit of a disappointment after riding it twice as it was just too rough, especially on my neck.

We rode it twice on Sunday, once in the morning and then again in the afternoon and I think it may have been playing a different track each time.We enjoyed it, but then we always have. The new LED lights on one of the brake runs were a nice touch but at the beginning of the ride there is too much light so you can see the floor of the pyramid etc. The music was ok, but could have definitely done with being louder in the ride itself, they need to get that right to gain some of the atmosphere that other 'rave' rides like EuroSat have. I also agree that some lasers would be a nice addition.

I was wondering if anybody else could remember the old Virtual Reality Theatre that was at Chessington in the early 2000's?I remember on one visit with my family and Girlfriend (now Wife) we gave this new attraction in Mexicana a go. It consisted of a number of large seats arranged in rows facing out into the park and you had to pay to use the attraction.The attraction basically involved a number of members of the public making fools of themselves for the entertainment of nearby spectators. With the 'players' wearing immersive VR goggles they were kind of cut off from the outside world and it was very easy to caught up in the game and forget that you were in full show to the public and could be watched by a large crowd. Boarding the attraction the attendant would ask for each player’s name, what they didn't realise is that once the 'game' started this attendant would also be participating giving commands and instructions to the group and individuals via their headsets as the game continued. I feel that calling players by their own names to encourage them to get more involved was a nice touch. I wish I could remember what the game was about but during the game you would be encouraged to run on the spot, bounce around in & jump up off the seat, scream, duck etc.I have found some information about these attractions online:Apparently the Chessington installation was originally quite a nice money earner: http://rteops.com/chessington.htmlAn archived site with a pdf brochure for this type of Virtual Reality Theatre: http://web.archive.org/web/20040307123724/http://www.cyberminduk.com/entertainment/vr/theatre/vr_theatre.htmAnd last but not least here is the video of a similar installation that brought back some happy memories for me:

I seem to be having trouble commenting on other people profiles. This happened with one user last night and with another this morning. Is anybody else having this problem or can anybody help?

We had a very similar experience too with a very long queue during the 'hottest day of the year' in either 2002 or 2003. We can't remember how long the queue was but we would guess at over 2 hours. It was so hot that Thorpe Park had extra members of staff walking past the queue lines selling bottles of cold water and people were buying bottles to drink and some to pour over themselves to cool down whilst waiting for the ride. That day the queue could have done with some of those queue line misters that they love so much in the Orlando parks! But as was mentioned above this was back in the early days of the ride when there was still quite a lot of 'buzz' surrounding the ride and the effects we still entertaining even when you had been queuing for over an hour.

The great news of the new coaster means that we will definitely have to make a return visit sometime soon in the next couple of years. I can't wait!

Wow... just wow! The level of detail at that place looks amazing. Another one for the list!

Actually I have just looked at the map and that night we started with Torture which means we missed out Labyrinth of Lost Souls, Plague, Great Fire of London and Surgery from the first section. Then after the new Jack the Ripper section we were led via the old Fire of London spinning tunnel to the Extremis waiting area therefore missing out Bloody Mary. We did get to walk through the Labyrinth section later in the evening, just as a well lit mirror maze though.Despite this it seemed like a really full experience when we were there. But I think we will definitely have to go back again soon to see the rest of the attraction.

Great review Benin. One thing I have learnt from your post is that the 'full' London Dungeon show at the preview evening was not quite full. We did not get to see the new surgery room or Bloody Mary, the later being a show we have not seen before, following our tour that night I thought that maybe these were not currently being used as part of the normal show, just us that night then.

The last couple of days I have been listening to the Dreamgirls soundtrack in the car. I had forgotten just how good that one was aswell!

Wow has anybody else seen todays Doodle? It's a strumable guitar! http://www.google.co.uk/

Another great sounding ride that had closed by the time of my first trip to Alton Towers.

I wish I could have had the chance to ride the original Haunted House, from what I have read and all the photos I have seen online I think I would have loved it. I enjoy Duel but I think I would have prefered it just as a normal Dark Ride.

The new Potter trailer does look amazing! I can't wait to see how it all turns out. (p.s. I have not read the books and would appreciate no spoilers )

I cannot usually stand Jeremy Kyle but that was inspired! Where do they get all these freaky people from?