pluk

Yes, it's the comparison to the likes of Alton and Thorpe which is a bit pointless.

That's what I thought, but the more recent terms make it sound more like a family ticket to use whenever. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Have you won tickets too then?

It's just an advantage of the work I do, and I didn't do anything that anyone else in the same situation wouldn't have done, but I got to properly save a life tonight. I would guess that seconds later I wouldn't have been able to. It's a pretty good feeling when it happens like that. The only down side is I should be going to sleep about now, but it's left me a bit too buzzing. EDIT I hope this doesn't sound a bit show offy or big headed, that's not how it's intended, but I rarely talk about work to people outside of work for that very reason, so it feels kind of nice to share in a slightly anonymous way here. It's not the first time it's happened and it won't be the last, but occasionally it hits me how unusual some of the situations I find myself in are to most people. Oh, and go and do first aid if you don't know it already. You never know when you could find yourself able to help someone.

The only Sat I could do in April is the 9th, which is not on the list. Just my luck! If it stays as 17th I'm on a night shift the night before but off on the day, I'll see if I can get an earlier shift. Would love to be able to go and see all that shiny new paint.

I saw The Revenant a couple of days back as part of Screen Unseen. This is a film to be seen in the cinema when it comes out in a couple of weeks; it's properly stunning. Sometimes slipping into overly surreal arty places taking pace out of the film and looking like some sort of Bjork video, and at one point seemed to be channeling Monty Python, but the two and half hours flew by so I must have been enjoying it. All the talk of DiCaprio being up for an Oscar for this, but the real star is Tom Hardy who would really deserve a supporting nomination. Next Screen Unseen is at Odeon on the Jan 18th, I don't think anyone expected The Revenant this time and I'm already excited to find out what it is next time. Thoroughly recommend it.

Great topic, I've entered the last one and will keep my eyes open for other comps to share. I think the Paultons Lost Kingdom competition has finished now, I won tickets in that one and am awaiting their arrival. I'm not too sure if it is tickets to use whenever I want, or for some sort of preview event. I did once win tickets to Alton Towers Scarefest on a facebook comp a few years back, which was nice, but unfortunately Scarefest was canceled on that day when they reduced the hours late on. Took the shine off of it!

It's quite 'actual Shrek' light is all.

Air retains its USP in the UK even now, so it seems a very very strange choice for such a big change.

In space no one can here you scream "STOP IT....ARRGH... STOP THIS ****ING RIDE"

Advertised as £89 standard on the facebooks?

I imagine they've bought the food delivery system from Europa, not the menu! I don't think we have a single jot of info to pass comment on the quality of this yet. Was wondering, as this is more of a sit down place than any other on park eatery I can think of, will it be available to hotel guests in the evenings too. Certainly very easy to make it accessible due to its location.

... and a happy new year!

Like they did with Black Hole, right up until the legislation changed, knowing all wasn't what it needed to be to comply with the new safety regulations? And everyone else's whole point is you don't know what it does and doesn't need to be closed for (as you point out here), so your relentless criticism about this is meaningless.

But, for the general public, probably true. Name me a current UK dark ride that is actually good? Valhalla is about as good as it gets, and will have been riden by a tiny amount of people in the scheme of things, especially from the south. People hear they're not getting a coaster, they then naturally expect a Charlie, a Blaster variant, a IACGMOOH-a-like even, because that is what they have been given previously. It's a public perception problem largely of Merlins own doing; instead of being actually good to get people to visit they rely on heavy marketing of sub-standard attractions to 'trick' them there, disappoint them with averageness, and have to spend more on the marketing again next time. It's that never ending cycle again... sometime soon hopefully they'll break that cycle. Maybe this will be the one to do so, maybe not, but some peoples lack of faith in this project, regardless what the park or anyone claiming to be in the know say, is understandable when you look at the past,

We've made the decision to get a rescue dog. Saw a lovely Cockapoo at my local dogs trust, but we were second in line for him, and the first in line have gone for him. Gutted,

The Smiler incident, and the desperately poor year overall for our parks, can go one of two ways. - It could give them the shot in the arm they clearly need to strive to actually provide a good day out, giving people a reason to go to (and more importantly, return to) their parks. - Or they could retract, pull away and let themselves meet the low expectations people now have. Not invest for the future, but live in the bad times of now. The expected closures, of rides and for days, do not make me think they are going to go about the coming season with any positivity, and it'll just become harder and harder for themselves.

Cheers all! Had to work a night last night into today, first time I've ever done a moments work on my birthday and quite frankly I didn't much like it. Off tonight though...casino here I come!

04:30 wake up, open a couple of pressies with bleary eyed wife. 5:15 go to work, wife goes back to sleep. 14:00 finish work if I'm lucky. To the inlaws for dinner. 19:00 home for a couple of hours of me and wife time before bed early to do the same again tomorrow. Humbug!

And a very Merry Christmas to you too!

Spares for RR will be in abundance for a while then. No great loss on it's own, but overall more flats and fillers are really really required at Towers.

I don't really know off the top of my head, but then I probably would't have come up with Nemesis or Oblivion either. I just find 'The Smiler' to sound wrong; it's weak and childish. It's what a 5 year old would call a ride. It's what you'd expect to see written in colourful bulbs on a travelling Jumping Frog. People say I the name is 'in theme', as if The Smiller actually has a theme or narrative conveyed in any meaningful way, but it doesn't so it's not. If you walked into that queue line knowing nothing of where the 'theme' comes from (like most people do), I don't think you'd get even much of a hint of what we understand the story to be. It doesn't really have a theme, it just has a style and a (now very tainted) brand. I quite liked the 'marmalisation' word from The Sanctuary backstory, something around that. Maybe something either obviously or more obscurely referring to inversions, or the number of them, as those things are clearly the actual point of the ride. Or, preferably, have an actual theme that is conveyed to riders and base the name on that, whatever that theme may be.

Panda's? A temple? I presume this is a Kung Fu Panda show then? It is made by the same people as Madagascar.

What, nothing like as good as it was before?!

Shame. Not because they should have changed it due to the incident, just because it's a crap name.

So the park hours have been released, with lots of midweek closures off peak. Oh dear. with ride closures to boot! Oh dear, oh dear. Etc...