pluk

...and more importantly, it wouldn't be profitable! No idea if you will be alone throughout or not, but clearly you wouldn't be the only one in there for 15 mins. I think what people mean is it would be more likely you set off on your own at say one a minute / 30 second intervals and get passed along the actos/scenes, like a conveyer belt of terror. I doubt it lasts 15 mins either, this would merely be your time slot to manage queues (like all fast track should be!).

This one gives me a sense of how husge this thing is. Look how far away Oblivion is, and SW7 goes from here all the way passed it. Exciting!

Never heard of them, but then my finger is so far from the pulse these days I'm not sure even I'm alive. Great blog and a great introduction in to something new for me. Conquest is the best new thing I've heard for a good while. I'm not a massive fan of putting things in genre boxes and comparing to other bands, but I get quite an MGMT (but softer) vibe from it, and there's not much higher praise than that. I like.

Because this person/site appears to be rather abrasive, posts like they are the font of all knowledge but seems actually quite clueless, has spammed up the forums with toot and taken stuff without crediting. I'm all for encouraging newcomers and of course it is none of my business if they set up a facebook group, but common courtesy in real life and here would be to come in with a bit of civility, get to know the people and the place, how it all works and slowly integrate themselves. Not repeatedly hit me in the face with a facebook group shaped brick. I don't mean to be harsh, but plenty of subtler things have been said but they don't seem to be taken in by the user, although I would have rather TPW had chance to answer the question before this conversation happened. My question is worded politely and for all I know he has some fantastic ideas and connections that I want to know about and follow on facebook.

As the other pointless topic was locked you'll be unable to answer there, so I'll ask again here........

Thanks, it was kind of fun to write, I didn't know where I was going when I started so it was quite interesting for myself to see where I went. It actually feels quite personal even though I've not put anything about why these have meaning to me. I guess people put more thought and effort into these than in the forum and that's the difference, I'll try and do that myself in future and I look forward to reading your one. I know they are not exactly obscure or ground breaking but I wonder if people are actually listening to the tracks and if any of it is new to them? Would be interested to know...

Out of genuine interest, what do you hope to achieve with this site that does not already exist elsewhere?

It might be because you seem to have started something called 'Theme Park World', which is the name of a very well known E.A. game and therefore copyrighted and not yours to use? Just a thought. The last thing facebook needs is another theme park group with no point or purpose anyway.

First off, I don't really get this bloging thing. In case I haven't mentioned it, I'm old. Well, older than most here and so I haven't grown up with computers and internet and forums and now blogs, so some times it takes me a while to 'get' it. I had to grow up the hard way when if I wanted to see one of my friends I had to get on my bike, cycle to their house and ask their Mum if they could come out and play, not send them a text or Skype them or comment on their latest blog about Thundercats and Jubbly lollies. Sometimes it was raining and I actually got wet. And then there was all that awkward social interaction to bumble my way through. Oh the hardships. I don't understand why, when there's a lovely little forum a couple of tabs along, there's now another place for people to write down their ramblings? I'll guess it is because people have something to say which they don't want disappearing on to a previous page a couple of days later never to be seen again, because what they have to say is so important and insightful it should not be damned to an eternity of obscurity on page 5 of 6 and instead needs a topic of it's own in the form of a blog entry for all to admire. Well I have nothing of such importance or insight to say that it deserves it's own little corner of the internet all to itself, but I'll say it anyway as it doesn't seem to have stopped anyone else. Just have to think of something to write first. I'm going to guess people don't want to read about Thundercats and Jubbly lollies, so what will be my 'thing'? I am passionate about my work so I'm sure I'll touch on policing, crime and the current disturbing destruction of the police by our government that everyone should be worried about, but that won't be much fun. I enjoy TV, radio, film and skiing but am nothing of an expert in any of them. My real love is music, so there I shall start. It is a god awful song and an annoying and overused phrase, but rather apt here, that life is like a rollercoaster. Most of it may turn out to be dull flat bits but everyone goes through their ups and downs, which is nice and exciting until you realise your riding an intermin, your restraint has failed and it is so bloody terrifying you don't know if you can hang on. I've had a fair few of these periods in my life, which will be much worse than anything that has ever happened to other people because it happened to me instead. But now, my theme tune. Since I was tiny right up until today one thing has been there for me and really has got me through some of those tough times. Music has helped me so much when I've been in some bad places, the right song at the right time can do so much. Music really has been the answer to my problems and has shaped who I am and how I think. It is strange that a melody or lyric created by someone I don't know, not for me or about my life, can resonate so strongly and fit my situation so perfectly it's as if I am the only person it was ever intended for. For some of these songs the moment will pass and the meaning will fade, but others I'm sure will stay with me forever. Here are a few of the latter, any of which can make me weep quite unexpectedly if my head is in the right (or wrong) place. They are probably no revelation, they are fairly mainstream and you'll probably know most or all of them. Of course it is entirely personal to me and a lot of it will be down to what was going on in my life at the time rather than the track itself, so they are likely to do nothing for you on any emotional level, but maybe try and detach them from the film, tv show or advert they've whored themselves out to and listen to the original feeling. I won't go in to why these in particular came to mean so much now, maybe another time, but each one has helped shape who I am today, I would be a different person had I never had them. They are me. (about four Badly Drawn Boy tracks could be here. He is special) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OezUkQZx9rw (and on the whole I really dislike Sting. But this? ) Laters.

You mentioned food. Like everything else it's personal choice depending what you're looking for but if you are there for riding not eating I recommend something quick rather than sitting around for ages in pizza hut buffet or the dome bar. My favourite is Relish and Roast by Swarm - quick, delicious and pretty good value.

Relocation within the park? Well yes they could stick it anywhere that is close to flat and it would work, but they probably wouldn't do that as the cost of building queue lines and hooking up the power isn't insignificant and what would be the gain?

As far as I know, yes. The overall experience is even worse than it looks. And it looks baaaaaaad.

Now, I'm going to go the other way on this. I don't think there is any lack of creativity in the world, and not any less than there used to be. But what there is is too much stuff, too much of everything and too many people wanting to make money off of this everything. Everyone wants more an more and nearly everything that is produced is based solely on its commercial success. That of course breeds copying and repetition. Take television. For years and years there were a few channels, all the creative television minds in the country pushing all their efforts at a few channels. Then Sky happened and there were still a few good channels and loads of cheap crap spread over hundreds of channels. The pool of talent remains the same, as the viewers per channel spread out causing each drop and so do the revenues. There's hundreds of channels, the same amount of quality and a lot of rubbish padding it out, your chances of hitting crap is much greater so the perception of quality falls. Money men control nearly everything, and the future is harder to predict than the past. What do you do then? Repeat what has been popular before, it's the safest bet for making a buck. But the talent and creativity is still out there, it's just having a harder time getting their ideas to you. How do you fix it? You can't, without everyone everywhere rejecting all the substandard easy offerings thrown at us. But people fall for for the promotion promises, the uncreative is successful and the ever decreasing spiral of mainstream quality continues. So as an individual you have to wade through it all and find the quality and originality you crave. It is out there so find it, support it and make it a success.

Wow, I didn't even know that's where they had squeezed it in. That area of the park felt fairly cramped anyway, where as the observation tower / xcelerator / plunge / boomerang area feels fairly empty with the rides just plonked on concrete. Maybe they are saving that whole area for proper redevelopment with the death of plunge? *maybe these things are known, I don't follow American parks so much.

FOUR hours! I think they need to rethink whatever procedures they have for getting that thing down when it breaks.

Well, I just looked at the first page of emails in my hotmail account for something else and found this little gem received on 26/04/2005 from 'theme park mania' So TPM Theme Park Mania being created by the joining of TPM Thorpe Park Mania and Theme Park Overload? Was that this Thorpe Park Mania? I don't remember having an account at any 'TPM' back then, but did have a Southparks one. If it is this place could a mod tell me what my old user name was? Or does it have nothing to do with what current TPM is? Just curious.

I believe it is jacked up so the tyres are not load bearing though.

At the time of Hellgates closing it was rumoured not to be because they wanted to replace it with a tent but because the inside was falling apart to the extent it was not safe. If that was the case a fairly substantial rebuild would be required anyway.

A quick translate of the word across the top finds it to be Hungarian meaning appropriate, adequate or suitable. I'm going to guess this part was manufactured in Hungry and this is its quality control sticker which has remained in place, which is odd as I though all B+M steel work was manufactured in either Switzerland, Germany or Utah? Where is it located on the ride?

In summery, she's an absolute tw'I't with an 'a' producing bellow average pop music. Someone who wants to be famous for their controversy or 'style' over their music deserves no success, long may she rest in relative obscurity.

Roughness. The only part of the ride with an actual problem is the bottom of the main drop, that jolt with some of the cars is far to strong and not acceptable. On rare occasions it actually hurts and clearly shouldn't happen. The rest of it might not be perfect and the restraints don't help at all but it is not rough to the extent it seriously detracts from the enjoyment of the ride. The layout is another matter, the outside is quite uninteresting which is a shame as I love the inside section. Rage is so much shorter and unthemed but so much more fun. I think Saw is too open and sweeping, the eurofighter suits a compact layout. It's far from an unenjoyable experience though.

If they choose to do something inside the old pirates building there could potentially be no application at all I guess, so the first we'd know would be when promotion starts. Although even with that I'm sure they'd like to start the 'come back next year for xxxx' on park promotion by now, so probably nothing but the shoe boxes.

It has run like a dog for far too long, these days it wouldn't be out of place going back to Chessington, it is like a kids ride. If it can't be bought up to a decent standard it must be time to send it to the great theme park in the sky. There is no point referbing it to run it like it has been pretty much the whole time it has been at Thorpe.

I'm normally well against additional charges for attractions in 'one price' theme parks, but in this case it seems well justified for something unusual and what sounds like will be quite a personal experience. If I were going to fright nights I would happily hand over a few quid for a try, but I'm probably not going due to the reduced hours and days. I'm an off peaker, I'm not going on a busier day with less hours, that sounds like hell.

I would exclude DLA from that system, but literally everything else should be paid in a way where it is spent on its intended 'need'. To quote a modern poet, 'She was supposed to buy you shorty Tyco with your money She went to the doctor, got lipo with your money', what is wrong with putting in place safeguards to stop that happening? If you don't intend on abusing it it would not affect you in the slightest and would be the same for everyone. I suppose 'voucher' is the wrong word, more a debit card that knows what it can be spent on.