Liam T

On Sunday 7th July I took my first trip to Alton Towers - I had the opportunity to go way back in 2002 when Air opened but I chickened out because I was a massive wuss back then and the thought of being miles from home scared me
I was REALLY anxious about going - mainly because of my anxiety issues and also, as before, the thought of being so far from home was pretty scary (furthest I have ever been is DLP back in 2000 before my panic attacks began). But I bit the bullet and went and am SO glad that I did (even if it did mean me needing to take a fair amount of medication).
After a 3 and a half hour drive we arrived and I was feeling really excited. We parked up and got the monorail into the park entrance and myself, Mr Fish and Matt Creek met up with Stretchy. Once the kiosks opened we got our tickets (Mr Fish and I do not have MAPs so we BOGOF'ed). Went through the turnstiles and were approached by a member of staff asking if we wanted to buy a photo pass - gutted that you only get 4 photos when it used to be 5 but we wanted some ORP's - The photo passes were £25 BUT that included a free digital download for each ORP so Mr Fish and I went halves (I couldn't justify spending £25).
We tried several times to contact Marc who was joining us along with Ricky & Chris, Thrillseeker Alex and Liam but had no luck so we headed straight to The Smiler. Luckily the queue wasn't too long by the time we reached it and we stood watching it testing - the dummies have smiley faces on them . At one point, one of the trains stopped almost at the top of the second lift hill and I thought "uh oh" we are doomed but the ride opened and we walked through the queue line which took about 2 years (slight exaggeration!) I looked back at the queue which was trailing right up the hill and was thankful that we got there when we did. The inside section of The Smiler is HOT - not helped by the fact that it was a boiling day anyway!
We got on the ride and had the front row which was really good although I felt a bit stupid when I started screaming like a lunatic when the train had only just started moving
My only concern with the ride was my fear of vomiting on people - and because the ride goes SO close to the queue line I would have been mortified had I been ill and not only sprayed my fellow riders but also potentially those waiting to go on the ride. Luckily this didn't happen (I take some amazing anti-sickness pills). I really enjoyed the ride even though it does leave you feeling more than a tad disorientated . Without that second lift hill I think I would have felt pretty ill. Speaking of which, the vertical lift hill - not keen on them to be honest because I have a crazy fear of looking up at the sky (odd I know - that is the only part of Saw: The Ride that I dislike - that, and that puppet thing ). Having been on Saw, I kind of expected a massive drop at the other end but I can't complain given that you are inverted 14 times
We went back on The Smiler at the end of the day for another go - Marc and the others had bought fast track tickets for their first ride so our second ride, we all went on together.....and queued for 2 hours (although I am pretty sure it was longer than that as there were a couple of announcements apologising for delays due to queue jumpers - naughty!). So being in the queue line for a fair amount of time (whereas the first time I rode we were on the ride fairly quick) you realise just how close the ride goes - it made me jump several times! The ride also seems to roar - it is so loud and me being pretty much deaf as a post I could barely hear what the others were saying . However, being in the queue for so long gave me the opportunity to get a load of photo's and vids of the ride - which I would post here however I STILL haven't figured out how to do so
When we eventually got onto the ride, I sat in the third row on the far right - Alex wanted to sit between myself and Liam to compare what we were both like regarding screaming - again I began screaming as the train left the station and as the ride left the first lift hill I think I may have come out with some unsavory language . I don't know if it was the train we got or the fact that I was sat in the 3rd row but - it was PAINFUL and I came off with a massive headache .
Overall I really do like the ride and the fact that when you are in the queue line, the trains go so close to where you are standing. I thought the queue line would freak me out as you are penned in with fencing above your head but I felt ok about it. The inversions are good, a couple which are really intense and at points you don't know what the heck is going on (or that might just be me as I generally don't know what is going on at the best of times).
This is the second Gerstlauer coaster I have ridden and I would say (although I don't like to compare) that I prefer Saws inside section (although not keen on the puppet!) and the drop after the lift hill, but both are brilliant rides.
Ok so I appear to be waffling.....
As I said before, it was really hot on Sunday which meant that the park was pretty busy - meaning that my ride count was low, however, that didn't affect the fact that I had an amazing day and also conquered my fear of one particular ride that the thought of bothered me.....OBLIVION.
After riding The Smiler we headed over to Oblivion which had quite a short queue - I was feeling really anxious, bordering on a panic attack. I really hate the feeling of falling - although I have been on Detonator 3 times and panicked on the way up but each time loved it. The ride decided to have some technical issues whilst we were queuing so some people decided to leave the queue line but we remained in it even though I was desperate to run off . It didn't take long before the ride was up and running again and I was getting closer to having a heart attack. We got front row (yay) and I was almost in tears going up the lift hill - I just wanted it to be over and done with ASAP which it was and I actually loved it! I thought it would be far worse than detonator but you don't get the same force so I would have happily gone on again had there not been a queue. I felt really pleased that I did it - not only because I was bricking it, but also because I had only previously ridden 2 B&M coasters (Inferno and Swarm) - I would love to ride every B&M coaster but my fear of flying plus lack of money is a bit of a block to this!
So after riding my 3rd B&M, myself, Stretchy, Mr Fish and Matt Creek headed off to meet up with Marc and the others (who had already managed to get on Nemesis, Nemesis Sub-Terra Battle Galleons and Th13teen! Whilst waiting for them they had 3 staff members entertaining the crowds and I had to restrain myself from joining in. So I stood there watching (and singing into my microphone aka water bottle) whilst they were dancing along to "You Can't Stop The Beat" - would be great if Thorpe did similar stuff to this as it was really entertaining and a group of girls joined in and were obviously having fun (not that I was jealous)
Marc and the rest of the group arrived and we headed off to ride Th13teen. The queue times were clearly not updated as we were in the queue for what seemed like forever - but we played Mr Fishs game which consisted of picking an envelope which contained the name of a theme park and then having 30 seconds to name as many rides as you could. I got Thorpe Park but confused myself as they have way too many rides which begin with letter S, so I lost to ThrillseekerAlex who got Alton Towers and beat me - then went on to win the prize which I had my eye on - a pacman soap on a rope. Stretchy made me laugh when he genuinely didn't believe that Monkey Swinger at CWOA used to be called Billys Whizzer - the look on his face classic! To be fair, Stretchy has never been to Chessington which I think needs to be sorted out - however with the current state of the park I wouldn't suggest he visit any time this year
We eventually got into the Th13teen station and I was slightly scared because I think it was Ricky who informed me that you get electrocuted or something (or I may have just made that up). There was an amusing moment when both myself and Alex counted 10 people in our group when there was actually 9 of us (my excuse is that I counted my imaginary friend ). I sat next to Alex who I think could tell I was a bit anxious (not helped by the fact that, whilst going up the lift hill he told me that the ride has 2 loops - NOT funny when you are sat there with just a lap bar - if I am going upside down I wanna be fully secured thank you very much) Thankfully I had already ruined the element of surprise by watching the ride on the internet so I knew what to expect however this didn't stop me screaming - A LOT! I think my screaming got worse when the first mini drop happened followed by the slightly bigger one then I began screaming like a complete lunatic when the ride went backwards - I HATE going backwards, even on a train but screaming actually helped otherwise I may have been a bit
We had lunch at Woodcutters which was really nice and the service was good in there, and then headed to Hex - when we got inside, the ride was having issues - typical, but it was sorted fairly quickly. I had NO idea what to expect from this as it is one of the rides I hadn't really read much about. Whilst the first film was playing I could feel a breeze on my neck and felt a bit anxious, then turned around and realised it was Liam!
The end bit of the ride seriously disorientated me - we walked into the last room and I said "Oooh we can sit down" - then when the lap bars came down I began to wonder what the hell was occurring (no one in the group warned me about it) - holy cack, I nearly pooped myself (yes I am a bit of a wimp) - and things that mess with your mind (especially mine as it is a tad bongled already) I am not keen on and it got to the point where I had to close my eyes and lean my head on the lap bar thing.
After Hex, Marc, Ricky, Chris, Alex and Liam went to use their fast track on the Smiler, so myself and the others heading towards Nemesis - we were going to catch the sky ride but thankfully it was busy (the thought of cable cars scare me senseless) - however, after trekking what felt like 20 miles I would have happily got on a cable car just for a rest . So, after taking about 5 hours to walk to Nemesis I was just about ready to collapse - stretchy and Matt Creek were walking way faster than myself and Mr Fish - I am so unfit I had to take my inhaler(!). Nemesis had a bit of a queue but it seemed to go down quite quick, and we decided to go front row - I am always a bit anxious on rides I have never been on before (I even screamed on the dragon coaster at legoland ) but I felt pretty much okay about Nemesis having ridden Inferno 5 times in a row at the ERT event. I sat front row, far left and absolutely LOVED it - B&M coaster count up to 4 and I have to say that you would never know that the ride will be 20 next year - it was pretty smooth and just amazing! Although I have only ridden Nemesis once and Inferno about 14 times, I would probably rate Nemesis higher in terms of intensity and general enjoyment. Again as I have said before, I don't like to make comparisons with rides but they are both B&M inverted coasters and have the same blinking name in them. I personally think Thorpe should have called N:I just Inferno because people are naturally going to compare the two, even those who aren't particularly enthusiasts.
Although I do prefer Nemesis to Inferno, I like that on Inferno you have the pre-lift hill section and the tunnel with the mist darkness which I think is pretty enjoyable but the ride layout of Nemesis in my opinion is far better - plus actually has theming. I was a bit worried about feeling rough after Nemesis but I felt completely fine - Inferno leaves me feeling dizzy for some reason and I am not sure how I managed 5 consecutive rides on it although I had to run off after ride no. 5 as I thought I was going to be ill.
I really wanted to get an ORP from Nemesis but some of the flaming screens weren't working grrrrr so our picture didn't come up. Random thought here (my ride knowledge is extremely limited) - is the vertical loop on Nemesis bigger than Inferno?! It has to be - it looks mahoosive in comparison.
Ok so I am still waffling and on my way to typing a flaming essay/novel.....
I really wanted to ride Air but it had a 60min queue and we needed to meet up with the rest of the group. Ripsaw was looking quite tempting with those water fountains but we made our 5 hour journey back to meet up with the others - the sky ride was busy so we burnt off about 2000000 calories by trekking it back
We all met outside Battle Galleons and as, by that point I had already sweated off about half a stone I was in desperate need of refreshment so myself and some of the others went on. Wow - I had NO idea I would get SO wet. It also made me realise that some kids can be completely annoying as we had a bunch of them in the boat in front shouting at us - just spray the water people, and shut ya cake holes
Again I screamed on this every time I got pelted with water when I wasn't expecting it - at one point I was the only person in our group on one side of the boat so I attempted to multi-task and use 2 guns at the same time but then realised that it didn't work out so well as I couldn't move the guns unless I had a 3rd hand
Towards the end of the ride we spotted Liam and Alex waiting to drench us so we were on a mission to get them as soaked as possible - however, they were no where near as soaked as us when we got off the ride - I was literally drenched - almost "Tidal Wave" drenched but it helped to cool me off . I didn't realise that you can get an ORP from this so when we walked past the screens, the pic had been taken when I was on one side of the boat by myself so all you could see was me looking tired and behind me, the other guys backs!
By now it was just gone 5pm so we all headed over to The Smiler for our last ride of the day. I really wanted to do Oblivion again but it had a long queue and we didn't want to risk not getting another chance to be corrected flung around and upside down 14 times. I won't repeat myself (for a change) as I have already typed up a bit about the second ride but all I would say is - first row was great - third row = massive headache!
Smiler merch is.....not cheap, although I quite fancied the onesie they do. However Stretchy pointed out that a lot of the products are poor quality so I just bought a small bag (which would probably break if I put anything more than a bog roll in it) and a Smiler wristband. The teddies in there are something ridiculous like £15 = daylight robbery!
Due to delays and the massive queue line (I have always said I would never queue longer than an hour for any ride but a lot of people sat down in the queue line - myself included) so we didn't leave the park until gone 7ish. The monorail was closed so we had to walk about 200 miles to the car park. I was exhausted, sweaty but so happy that I had FINALLY gone to Alton Towers
As I said before, my ride count was low but this didn't put a dampener on the day at all - it would have been nice to try out Air, The Flume and Rapids (we didn't even go to Katanga area ), Rita and Duel but on a busy hot day it was impossible. Being so far from home (Ok not massively far, but just short of 200 miles) I dealt with pretty well and even getting there was a huge achievement for me.
It was lovely seeing Stretchy, ThrillseekerAlex, Ricky, Mr Fish, Matt Creek and Marc again fantastic to meet the lovely Liam aka LIMA and Chris. We went to Harvester afterwards where I suspect we all stunk as they put us on a table away from everyone else and underneath air conditioning - I was SO cold. Ricky made me laugh when he asked for a side order of no air con .
All in all a brilliant day with lovely people - I am hoping to be able to go back to Towers when it is much quieter so I can go on all the rides (if that is even possible in a day) - I had NO idea how big AT is but I love the fact that one minute you are at a ride, then you are walking through what appears to be a forest, then you see how lovely the gardens are. THEY HAVE TREES!!! Thorpe Park could definitely do with a bit of greenery! Having visited Towers it really does make TP look like a concrete jungle - BUT in Thorpes defence, they have a better selection of flat rides IMO.
I thought the staff at Alton Towers were really friendly which definitely makes the day that little bit better when they seem happy and chatty. Though I feel sorry for the guys working on the Smiler - I still have the song stuck in my head - it is like "It's a small world" all over again but the tune is rather catchy even if it does make me feel like I am going insane®
Really glad that I got the opportunity to ride The Smiler - it is a good ride but not something which I would count as world class (but then the only other theme park I have been to outside the UK was DLP over 10 years ago) - it certainly attracts the crowds but for me Nemesis was far superior although I did enjoy the Smiler (first time more so).
So I shall leave my wafflage here and sign off by saying.....SMILE.....ALWAYS!

Tornado at Bakken is one of the worst rollercoasters I have ever had the misfortune of riding. It is so atrociously bad that it made me wonder what 25 things are better then it. Here is what I came up with and I hope you enjoy reading.
1. Being kicked in the testicles
2. Going to the Dentist
3. Riding Furius Baco none stop for an hour
4. Crashing your car into a wall
5. Being mugged
6. Having to endure a queueline at PortAventura
7. Driving in Italy
8. Being sick after a heavy night out drinking
9. Getting the Victoria line during rush hour
10. Sitting next to someone with body odour on a packed out London bus
11. Watching Holby City
12. Enduring homophobic abuse
13. Going all the way to Towers and finding out the Smiler is closed
14. Reading Theme Park Review
15. Being insulted by Robb Alvey
16. Shopping at Asda
17. Shopping at Primark
18. Eating Brocolli
19. Eating Brussel Sprouts
20. Flying with Ryanair
21. Being stuck in a lift with someone who has just farted
22. Queuing for Colossus on one train operation
23. Living next to very loud neighbours
24. Riding Saw. At all.
25. Visiting Chessington during the 2013 season

This Halloween! Spixworth Fields Theme Park has been celebrating "Spixworth Horror Fields" running from 13th-31st October, hosting an event of horror attractions, fun family games and fantastic theming!
Here is Spixworth Fields Mania review of 2012 SHF:
The Park
The park themed top to bottom with Halloween objects, right at the end of Farm Lane is the mighty haunted windmill, below it is objects of the previous visitors of SHF...




When reaching the end of Field lane, you reach the first Horror Maze Attraction
The Pavilion

The Pavilion is set in 1943, in a unused pavilion previously used for all the guest seeing the beautiful gardens & house but after a freak unknown accident its been left to rot until recently the theme park open and they re-discovered the pavilion, now its your choice to become detectives and find out what really happened!
The Pavilion maze is stupidly placed but as this was the only major available land, I guess they had no choice... The Pavilion is right at the start of the park, the entrance is directly across from Farm Lane so the queues get very big

The queue line is set in the plaza to the pavilion the maze is set on you start your journey in a cobwebbed room before travelling deeper and deeper into the Pavilions past, beware as you get deeper as you may uncover something horrible!
The Pavilion 6/10
Forbidden Factory
Forbidden Factory is the second horror maze attraction this year, and by far the best...
Set in abandoned factory, the disaster that closed this factory happened in the boiler room yet the rest tools inside the factory have gone, the boiler room remains the same!

There is no blank bits in this horror maze, each room has a story to tell and scares alike, the maze also runs alot faster than The Pavilion and lets shorter queues as it is furthest away in the park! This is one of the highlights of the events

Forbidden Factory 8/10
Finally the 2013 construction site!


Here is an video of the event and a picture of the overview of the park took by the Spixworth Mania Helicopter!


And more photos at:
http://s1270.beta.photobucket.com/user/Liam_New_Tolson/library/RCT3/Spixworth%20Horror%20Fields

Thank you for viewing this blog! See you in 2013!

This Halloween! Spixworth Fields Theme Park has been celebrating "Spixworth Horror Fields" running from 13th-31st October, hosting an event of horror attractions, fun family games and fantastic theming!
Here is Spixworth Fields Mania review of 2012 SHF:
The Park
The park themed top to bottom with Halloween objects, right at the end of Farm Lane is the mighty haunted windmill, below it is objects of the previous visitors of SHF...




When reaching the end of Field lane, you reach the first Horror Maze Attraction
The Pavilion

The Pavilion is set in 1943, in a unused pavilion previously used for all the guest seeing the beautiful gardens & house but after a freak unknown accident its been left to rot until recently the theme park open and they re-discovered the pavilion, now its your choice to become detectives and find out what really happened!
The Pavilion maze is stupidly placed but as this was the only major available land, I guess they had no choice... The Pavilion is right at the start of the park, the entrance is directly across from Farm Lane so the queues get very big

The queue line is set in the plaza to the pavilion the maze is set on you start your journey in a cobwebbed room before travelling deeper and deeper into the Pavilions past, beware as you get deeper as you may uncover something horrible!
The Pavilion 6/10
Forbidden Factory
Forbidden Factory is the second horror maze attraction this year, and by far the best...
Set in abandoned factory, the disaster that closed this factory happened in the boiler room yet the rest tools inside the factory have gone, the boiler room remains the same!

There is no blank bits in this horror maze, each room has a story to tell and scares alike, the maze also runs alot faster than The Pavilion and lets shorter queues as it is furthest away in the park! This is one of the highlights of the events

Forbidden Factory 8/10
Finally the 2013 construction site!


Here is an video of the event and a picture of the overview of the park took by the Spixworth Mania Helicopter!


And more photos at:
http://s1270.beta.photobucket.com/user/Liam_New_Tolson/library/RCT3/Spixworth%20Horror%20Fields

Thank you for viewing this blog! See you in 2013!

This Halloween! Spixworth Fields Theme Park has been celebrating "Spixworth Horror Fields" running from 13th-31st October, hosting an event of horror attractions, fun family games and fantastic theming!
Here is Spixworth Fields Mania review of 2012 SHF:
The Park
The park themed top to bottom with Halloween objects, right at the end of Farm Lane is the mighty haunted windmill, below it is objects of the previous visitors of SHF...




When reaching the end of Field lane, you reach the first Horror Maze Attraction
The Pavilion

The Pavilion is set in 1943, in a unused pavilion previously used for all the guest seeing the beautiful gardens & house but after a freak unknown accident its been left to rot until recently the theme park open and they re-discovered the pavilion, now its your choice to become detectives and find out what really happened!
The Pavilion maze is stupidly placed but as this was the only major available land, I guess they had no choice... The Pavilion is right at the start of the park, the entrance is directly across from Farm Lane so the queues get very big

The queue line is set in the plaza to the pavilion the maze is set on you start your journey in a cobwebbed room before travelling deeper and deeper into the Pavilions past, beware as you get deeper as you may uncover something horrible!
The Pavilion 6/10
Forbidden Factory
Forbidden Factory is the second horror maze attraction this year, and by far the best...
Set in abandoned factory, the disaster that closed this factory happened in the boiler room yet the rest tools inside the factory have gone, the boiler room remains the same!

There is no blank bits in this horror maze, each room has a story to tell and scares alike, the maze also runs alot faster than The Pavilion and lets shorter queues as it is furthest away in the park! This is one of the highlights of the events

Forbidden Factory 8/10
Finally the 2013 construction site!


Here is an video of the event and a picture of the overview of the park took by the Spixworth Mania Helicopter!


And more photos at:
http://s1270.beta.photobucket.com/user/Liam_New_Tolson/library/RCT3/Spixworth%20Horror%20Fields

Thank you for viewing this blog! See you in 2013!

This Halloween! Spixworth Fields Theme Park has been celebrating "Spixworth Horror Fields" running from 13th-31st October, hosting an event of horror attractions, fun family games and fantastic theming!
Here is Spixworth Fields Mania review of 2012 SHF:
The Park
The park themed top to bottom with Halloween objects, right at the end of Farm Lane is the mighty haunted windmill, below it is objects of the previous visitors of SHF...




When reaching the end of Field lane, you reach the first Horror Maze Attraction
The Pavilion

The Pavilion is set in 1943, in a unused pavilion previously used for all the guest seeing the beautiful gardens & house but after a freak unknown accident its been left to rot until recently the theme park open and they re-discovered the pavilion, now its your choice to become detectives and find out what really happened!
The Pavilion maze is stupidly placed but as this was the only major available land, I guess they had no choice... The Pavilion is right at the start of the park, the entrance is directly across from Farm Lane so the queues get very big

The queue line is set in the plaza to the pavilion the maze is set on you start your journey in a cobwebbed room before travelling deeper and deeper into the Pavilions past, beware as you get deeper as you may uncover something horrible!
The Pavilion 6/10
Forbidden Factory
Forbidden Factory is the second horror maze attraction this year, and by far the best...
Set in abandoned factory, the disaster that closed this factory happened in the boiler room yet the rest tools inside the factory have gone, the boiler room remains the same!

There is no blank bits in this horror maze, each room has a story to tell and scares alike, the maze also runs alot faster than The Pavilion and lets shorter queues as it is furthest away in the park! This is one of the highlights of the events

Forbidden Factory 8/10
Finally the 2013 construction site!


Here is an video of the event and a picture of the overview of the park took by the Spixworth Mania Helicopter!


And more photos at:
http://s1270.beta.photobucket.com/user/Liam_New_Tolson/library/RCT3/Spixworth%20Horror%20Fields

Thank you for viewing this blog! See you in 2013!

Hi there! And welcome to another (late) Spixworth Fields Mania update!
My o my don't we have some great news for you today!
In todays update we will be looking at
2013 vertical construction
Spixworth Horror Fields construction
Adventure Mountain's bridge closure

1.
Vertical construction has began on the 2013 site
Metal structures for the north side animals enclosure are being put into place, here is a overview of the site from last week:



2.
Now only 19 days till Spixworth Horror Fields things are in full set to get it all ready
Although no construction pictures of the horror mazes are allowed, here is some of the plaza:


3.
Now you may of noticed in the images of the construction site, Adventure Mountain bridge as not only been closed, but removed.
On the 2013 plans it still shows the bridge will be their for 2013 but rumours have it that Spixworth is deciding to remove the bridge fully not only for construction but for ease of access in 2013...


Rumours also say there will be another bridge constructed for 2013 but so far, it looks like you will have to take the long way round to get into Adventure Mountain, which can be abit of a pain, but Spixworth have fully signed post the new route so with the heavy guest flow this halloween, it won't affect your trip greatly
Thank you for taking your time to read this! Feel free to comment below and I'll see you next sunday for more Spixworth Fields Mania!

Alton Towers - Where the magic never ends!


Well, according to multiple enthusiasts, the magic had indeed ended, people say it like its happened only recently, but really "The Magic" everyone talks about died long ago, I'd say in around 2005, the image of manufactured magic went out the window. In 2011 the new, Seuss like , quirky marketing style started, its fine and it fits the park well in my opinion, but many long for the manufactured magic to return, but the truth is, although the manufactured magic is gone, there is still A magic in the park
And it lies within the Towers themselves
The majestic, Gothic masterpiece of the Towers possesses a bewitching magic unmatched by any other Theme Park, the surrounding Gardens and local lore creates a unique backdrop for a fantastic Theme Park, without the Towers themselves, the park would be an empty, hollow place.
Thing is though, Towers need to step up their game, some people dont notice the real magic when multiple areas of the park are looking tired and worn out, no number of new rides is going hide an often cracked and broken park, I love the place, But it is in dire need of a spruce up.
Although new investments will bring people in, lasting impressions will bring people back.




Photo stolen taken from ThemeParkReview, Not used with permission, please dont shout at me.

Hello! And welcome to Spixworth Fields Mania, I will be updating this weekly with updates from my RCT3 park "Spixworth Fields", I hope you enjoy and feel free to comment!
What is "Spixworth Fields Theme Park"
Spixworth Fields is a theme park down the road from Spixworth Village, taken from their Facebook page:
Opened in 1953 to visit the beautiful hall and gardens many visitors alike untill it had to close in 1982 due to visitor decline and Spixworth Hall's roof falling through
20 years later, combined with the Uk's biggest attraction owners & alot of will, Spixworth re-opened its grounds but this time full of rides and attractions
Now boasting an B&M flyer, Intamin mine train & more, its quickly become one of the Uk's best theme parks
In todays update we will be looking at
Spixworth 2013 ride plans
Spixworth Horror Fields announcement
Spixworth 2013 construction update

1.
Spixworth have applied planning permission for their new ride for 2013
Spixworth plan to add a new flat ride in Adventure Mountain for next year while it also looks like they will be adding animals with viewing areas & an shop for 2013 as well
Here is some of the images from the plans:



So it looks like for 2013, an fantastic disk-o flat ride will join the lineup!
2.
Last week Spixworth Fields revealed "Spixworth Horror Fields" the new halloween event that is set to be the best in the Uk!
Quote from there facebook
And construction has already started on theming and the mazes

3.
And finally the contruction update for this week over at Adventure Mountain
On mountain mine trains queue:

On Adventure Mountains bridge:

So its all coming along nicely! Join us next sunday for more Spixworth news, reviews and pictures!

Back in 2009, we were graced with arrival of a new coaster at Thorpe, yet again breaking the overall investment the park had spent on one attraction - £13.5 million, beating Stealth's £12 million (which, as we know, has now been beating again by The Swarm's overall investment).
Before Saw - The Ride opened, fans were buzzing from excitement, and were hoping that the ride would perhaps be the park's best themed attraction, or at least the best since Tidal Wave opened in 2000. After all, Euro-Fighters are relatively cheap ride systems, and £13.5 million is a lot of money to spend. To top it off, the ride featured a dark section, and although many would've known about the surprises inside from the ride's plans and construction, everyone was hoping for something 'special'.
Now, many people don't like Saw, for one reason or another. I am not one of those people; from my first ride, I loved it. It's by no means perfect, and it's not going to win any awards for the best roller coaster in the world - heck, it wouldn't win best coaster in the country. However, that doesn't mean it's not good; in fact, it's really good. But why do I think that?
Firstly, the layout. The UK is often criticised for having short coasters, and whilst Saw isn't exactly long, it has a decent length and ride time. Not only that, but it is well paced - it's not a ride where everything happens at one point in the ride, then the rest of the ride is a bit of a filler. There's something interesting and exciting during the whole of the course.
The indoor section is very good; for many, it's their favourite part of the ride. The hidden drop catches everyone off guard - even when I knew it was coming on my first ride, it still surprised me; the steepness of it! It's an element which really does pack a punch. After a quick MCBR, the barrel roll is highly enjoyable. Going through it rather slowly is a key to it's success; not only does it give you a chance to see the theming (talked about later..), but you really do 'feel' the inversion; you are lifted out of your seat, and put against the restraints, only to be plonked back on your seat. My trouble with many inversions is that they aren't always memorable, or that you don't realise you've been inverted. This is really one of those inversions which I do like.
As for the outdoor section, it is completely different. Euro Fighters (and Gerstlauer in general) are known for quick, brash and intense ride experiences; this is exactly what you get. The trademark vertical lift is something I like, and can discomfort those who have never experienced one before. My least favourite part of the ride is actually the drop; the beyond vertical gimmick doesn't do it for me; every ride I feel as though I'm experiencing a 90 degree drop, followed by a 10 degree drop, followed by a curved drop in a matter of a second or two. It just doesn't feel worth it, especially for the roughness and head banging that occurs from it. The Immelmann loop and following turn are good elements which demonstrate the effective use of the 2x4 cars which work so well. The air time hill is my favourite one I've been on thus far; you really do feel the forces and the air time on it; much more than any of the other (few) coasters I've been on. Following the next MCBR comes my favourite part of the ride. The drop of the MCBR is amazing; gets me every time! Even though you can see it coming, it catches me off guard; which is why I enjoy it much more than the indoor drop. The dive loop is completely insane as well.
Then you've also got the theming and effects. The station building is meant to be a derelict warehouse, and that's exactly what it looks like. Sure, it's the typical 'We're going to build a derelict, ruining theme so we don't have to maintain it', but it does work in this case. The outdoor queue section is okay, though the traps themselves are pretty uninspiring if I'm honest. The overgrown plants, however, are a touch which works well with the theme. The indoor queue wreaks of missed opportunities in my opinion; there's chance for much more than a couple of messages from Jigsaw. The station building is nicely styled I would say; but the major trouble with it is there's too much natural light. From where the cars come in after the ride to the slits between the panelling; too much natural daylight comes through. It ruins the effect and theme, which I think is a shame.
The effects during the ride are good as well, when working. An effect which is probably not intentional, and possibly the same on many Euro Fighters is the 'safety lights' going out when the cars leave the station. If you're in the second row, for front row of the second car, you see the 3 green lights, which show that the restraints have locked, go off. If I'm honest, it worried me a bit - I was not expecting it to happen and thought there was a fault for a split second... The Billy puppet is good and scares people who recognise him, and the swinging axes and needle pit are brilliant. The shooting arrows feel like a bit of a wasted opportunity in my opinion; they're boring, and distract people who could be listening to Billy's pre-talk. I do love Jigsaw's dead body squirting warm water; first time riders are always shocked by that! One thing which I think lets the ride down is the audio, or lack of. Thorpe normally get audio for rides right, but I think they did fail a bit on both this and Saw Alive.
So, why is Saw disliked by so many?

The 'roughness'. The most common complaint of Saw I hear from both enthusiasts and the public is that the ride is 'rough'. Now, I personally have no trouble with it; I don't even think it's rough - Colossus is MUCH rougher.. I would call Saw intense, but is that an issue? Some coasters are smooth and elegant, some are intense; it just depends. I would say that the bottom of the main drop certainly does cause head-banging, but from someone who has had neck issues in the past, in all the rides I've had, I can safely say that only once have I had an issue with it. People have different thresholds for intense-rough, and have different likes in what they want their coaster to have, but I would never be able to call the ride 'rough'.
The hype. At the time, everyone was expecting an epicly themed roller coaster and a truly immersive experience. We unfortunately did not get this, but instead got a 'ride of two halves', with a themed indoor section, and a pretty much unthemed outdoor section, which both offer different coaster experiences. People don't seem to like that for one reason or another, and therefore don't actually concentrate on what they've got..
The IP. There are many different views on IPs, from not liking them outright, to thinking they do wonders. The trouble is, the Saw IP is dying, perhaps already dead, and there's not that much Saw stuff directly linked in - they couldn't even get Tobin Bell to voice Jigsaw for goodness sake! I think many people who were also disappointed because they thought having an IP will inject loads of extra theming and such into the ride, when in fact it was a rushed idea which basically allowed the use of a name.

So, I'm actually cutting this a little short if I'm honest. Maybe a part 2 or some sort on continuation will arise in the near future. Basically, long entry short, Saw is actually a really good coaster, despite the fan-hatred. It's only this season that I've realised just how much I like it, and it sits as my second favourite coaster, only behind Swarm. That's right, I prefer Saw to Nemesis Inferno, and just why that is is probably for another entry.
Saw - The Ride: 7.5/10

I think they should bring back Flaming Hot Wotsits. It would be amazeballs.
Ah, Wotsits, t'are the food of my legendary Punjabi forefathers. One day I can only hope that I, Maximillian Wellingtonboots, will be able to, like my legendary Punjabi forefathers, become a Wotsit myself. I make it my divine purpose to satisfy one person's need for a slightly depressing, cheese-flavoured puff of wheat and MSG.
I'm coming for you, moistened tongue muscles. Release my flavour!

Thorpe Park's fiery B&M inverted Coaster débuted at the park in 2003, setting alight Thorpe Park's reputation as a haven for thrill-seekers around the country, alerting anyone who'd listen that Alton Towers had a new rival in the world of boundary-bulging thrill ride technologies. First came the record-breaking Colossus, but the year after saw a far darker, more ominous figure emerge out of the tropical undergrowth of Calypso Quay... Of course, with the ten year mark creeping it's way into view of the horizon, Nemesis Inferno has, if nothing else, rightfully earned it's place amongst Thorpe's line-up of rides, as well as a little reflective blog here on ManiaHub, where I'll talk about why I think it's one of Thorpe's top attractions.
Nemesis Inferno gets a lot of stick simply for being Nemesis Inferno. Quick to slam it as another fine example of mediocrity from a long line of poorly-augmented sequels, it's often over-looked for the coaster it is by many of the enthusiast community. Whether that's A) the blinded ignorance of newly-ordained enthusiasts conforming with the general consensus or B] a result of some enthusiasts venturing out to season their palates with the bigger, badder, and better-themed inverted coasters that've been built in the nine intervening years since Inferno's début is all up for debate. But it's here I call to question the validity of comments that suggest Inferno is a poor man's imitation of arguably the greatest inverted rollercoaster in the world; a coaster that supposedly sponged off the brand name to become advertising dynamite by utilising the success of Alton Towers' original creation nine years earlier. Yes, Inferno (as we'll call it henceforth to spare confusion) does draw many comparisons with it's old sister. They're both inverted; they're both built by Swiss ride manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard; they both have four inversions; they even have the same four inversions, but there's a plethora of ways to separate them, and separate them we shall, as it's hard to shine if your standing in the shadow of a mighty oak tree and you've had your voice - your trademark thunderous growl - muted by those that built you.
By considering what raw tools Thorpe had when planning Inferno, you begin to see that to compare Inferno to it's original is a complete fallacy; there's no way this hot-tempered fiend is going to sit idly by and get filed under "imitation". Alton Towers had an enormous, chasmic pit to eat up the ride height and provide riders with many close encounters with the rocky terrain, but Thorpe couldn't do this - the closest object to your feet during Inferno's course is a fake alligator. Thorpe categorically cannot build down, as the entire park is situated upon reclaimed land and as a result the water table sits mere metres below the surface. Inferno was never going to be a terrain coaster, not even to the extent of Colossus was, which had had years of planning and numerous rejected landscaping applications before the blue monolith we know today wove itself in and out of the Lost City walkways. Thorpe had one choice for Inferno and that was to build upwards. Of course, they couldn't go too far that way either, and so Inferno sits at a modest 95ft: the third shortest B&M coaster ever built, and the shortest inverting coaster at Thorpe Park. Looking beyond cold statistics and to the rest of the layout, you might be dismayed to see a conventional inverted coaster post-drop sequence featuring a standard vertical loop and a Zero-G roll. But chief designer John Wardley re-invigorated the once-hackneyed concept with a ground-hugging turn which snaps you out of the second inversion with perhaps just an ounce of the same winking authenticity of Alton Towers' 1994 creation. Following what can only be described as a very graceful corkscrew and a careful-not-to-harm-you hammerhead turn, the ride completes a second corkscrew and a minor breathe-spot is provided by a wonderfully lazy upwards helix, before the pyroclastic vigour catches first-time riders off guard as a last helix provides an intensely dizzying and suitably forceful finale to the fiery coaster.
However, it all sounds great when you say it like that, but the comparatively simplistic layout has long been criticised for being predictable, conventional, repetitive and forceless. Whilst it's hard to argue, Inferno's assets like far beyond it's ride hardware (unless you're lucky enough to get the back-right seat). The theme is often overlooked, the detail dissolved down to a petty argument about an unfinished volcano. Sure, a shed is the last thing you'll expect to see while escaping a volcano in the tropics of Calypso Quay, but stop to admire the smaller details for a moment:
The queueline and surrounding areas: built at the peak of Tussauds's reign over Thorpe - the queue cleverly weaves its way through the tropical shrubbery, offering close encounters with the ride in action. Areas such as the pathway underneath the Zero-G offers priceless views of rider expressions as they exit the loop, soon to be followed by an enormous thrust of air as they shoot over your head. Or how about when you stand in front of the queue entrance for a brief moment, only to see the train erupt out of nowhere and soar over head with twenty-eight screaming riders? Surely there was some careful planning in the positioning of the entrance so the first corkscrew could make a statement like that, right?
The shrubbery, which, nine years on, has now grown to an impressive plumage, helping further to recreate some of Alton's terrain enhancement. Sometimes you may even catch one of the leaves while soaring through the coarse. And whilst in it's earlier years the ride ran tamely and no real speed was felt, the closer contact to the surroundings only ever enhances this sensation.
The pre-lift section, a small and often overlooked part of the ride whose effects are unreliable at best, but it nicely introduces the ride; it makes a small but promising statement and provides a unique feeling of speed without the added intensity - what inverted coaster introduction requires more?
The soundtrack, arguably one of the best and most accurately-encapsulating in the park despite it's absence in recent seasons. No more need be said.
Or even, if you really look out for it, the small part of the queue during the volcano climb where you stand directly above the train as it rumbles through the heart of the volcano beneath you, shaking your footing in the wake of the subterranean seisma. Makes me giddy every single time... and really gears me up for every one of my rides.

The logistical prowess of Inferno is also what makes it so special for me. In a park currently obsessed with try-hard World's First, snatching every possible world record their rides can obtain - "World's first ten-looping", "Steepest freefall drop", "Scariest", "Fastest and tallest in Europe", "World's first head first inverting drop" - Inferno, quite plaintively and contently, sits at the back of the park making no haughtily big-headed comments about it's own greatness. It technically does hold a world record and a world's first/only, though thankfully Thorpe saw sense and decided not to publicise these due to the GP potentially not fully understanding the terms. And rightly so, as it rids the ride of the silly pretensions that shroud rides like Saw. Right from the first time it's advert was shown on TV to the current day, Inferno's not really shouted about anything, expect that's it's a mighty hot ride. It is what it is and it makes no apologies for anyone who has problems with it as it smoulders at the far reaches of the park, dwarfed by it's top thrill neighbours.
It's not all in the detail - some benefits of Inferno are glaring right at the nay-sayers - but a lot of it's individuality and simplicity does lie beneath it's imperfect exterior. Perhaps it's part doe-eyed optimism of the enthusiast I am, part simplistic naivete that I appreciate these details while others don't and the reason that I still consider Inferno to be one of the UK's greatest thrill rides. But to me it's those things - the type of things that you just have to smile to - that are the real identity of Nemesis Inferno. And it's a crying shame that they're so often overlooked in light of the far more dramatic, far more noticeable, and far more easily targeted failures of the ride. Where it's expected to be good it's mediocre, yes, but given the time to find it's strengths - and what better time to find them than ten years on, when it's running more intensely than ever? - it's clear it no longer needs the Nemesis brand. Even in it's own right it can still provide you with feelings that only a UK theme park and - more specifically - only Inferno, can give. In spite of all it's faults, be it maintenance issues, ride issues, etc. it's still, by far, one of the most reliable rides at the Thorpe Park, in so many more ways than simply it's swift evasion of downtime.