pluk

Chile - Vekoma Boomerang injures 22 - Minor injuries like whiplash, it seems. Looks like the train has separated leaving the rear cars in the station, so an estop has occurred. Which is a damn good thing because on a Boomerang that would go bad real quick! Shortest Boomerang train ever. Google translate says...

Also from this months ParkWorld magazine, Warwick Castle have had their plans for bungalow and treehouse accommodation development refused by the council, who pointed out to Merlin 'This is not LegoLand'. Lols.

It doesn't matter if you can or do make it any good, the IP and marketing will make it a success?

Going in the Dinosaur walk through area then?

If you can arrange a trip for when 'it's a small world' is closed you should consider that a bonus!

Fined £150,000 for the Tomb incident. Got of lightly I think, I imagine the kids injuries were thankfully not life changing, otherwise surely the amount would be higher for ongoing care. Read the article properly, life changing injuries, ongoing care. What the hell? The offending fence post... which pretty clearly shows the kid / parents wouldn't have to have been acting in any way inappropriately for her to go through it. And also shows that the prison bars/climbing frame are a bloody stupid solution for that problem.

Weren't there even photos knocking about of the supposed new trains in storage a year or so ago? Will be interesting to see how this changes, overall I was quite underwhelmed by mission II, there's obviously close to unlimited potential with an indoor ride that size.

That's fantastic, great to see them bringing something new for the slightly bigger kids (like me!) again. Such a good park.

AKA 'Hearts and Diamonds' round my way. Love them, especially when you find one that doesn't make you stand behind the chain and let you sit on it, run around as it starts up and generally mess about. Not been on one like that for a good few years now though. The 'Barrel of Laughs' at Winter Wonderland was a similar thing with the dropping floor. Such fun!

I just struck me, seeing this topic, that I still think 'The Smiler' is an absolutely god awful rubbish name for this ride. Some things get named and strike me as unusual, or quirky, or not to my taste, but when the ride comes about it makes sense, or over time it just fells right, but not this. It's just crap.

Looks like someone is mixing up their feet and inches!

It is now, it has been adjusted into something I quite enjoy too, but to have experienced the first incarnation is to know how not to present a ride. That evolution is all very well with a filler ride but something on the scale we are hoping for at Thorpe will be too big to fix like that I'd imagine, so they better get it right!

They are just melting that bit down to make some more queue line prison bars. I'm surprised the usually sensible people a Chessington Buzz put up that daft 'the end' post. Really, this is just normal maintenance.

USA - 'Brain Injury' - Dollywood visitor falls from Chair-O-Plane, apparently because her seat was wet.

There's not really a fuss kicking up and I'm desperate for nothing. I just think it would be generally better for the parks and for guests. It's not anything radical either, I'm old enough to have had these things before they have been taken away. I live a couple of hours from the park in good traffic, I've known a lot of my friends to say things like 'I'm not going all that way for a few hours', the longer the day the greater the customer reach I'm sure. Add to that that both legs of the journey are in rush hour on what is known to be the worst road in Europe and I can assure you it really does put people off. It's easy to forget when you live close to the park and have an AP that a trip to Thorpe for most is an annual treat at best, what's wrong with wanting people to be able to get the most out of that visit with a decent amount of time to get everything done at a nice relaxed pace on a moderately busy day?

Haven't read into it loads, but that doesn't read like the kid was climbing the fence, more that they went through it as it was rotten? Obviously the sensible response to this is PRISON BARS EVERYWHERE, rather than reasonable maintainance of a perfectly acceptable existing structure which hadn't hurt anyone over the many years it was properly looked after. It says that staff had to walk the route every day, I wonder if they even knew they were supposed to be looking for structural integrity and not just picking up crisp packets?

Now confirmed, Gwazi closes on 1st Feb.

I'm surprised the council even allow any pre 18.00hrs closing, surly the last thing the locals want is the park traffic tipping out into rush hour? I understand the later closings have been tried and not worked out but I still think it is doable, especially with the right offering. Back in the 90's they used to make it work (well, Chessington did, I don't recall if Thorpe did too) by selling a discounted late ticket from about 16.00hrs until the 21.00hrs close. Some of they day people cleared off but they were replaced by the evening only guests, with the amount of hotel rooms between the three local-ish parks I can imagine that option being taken up by quite a few. And the opportunity for getting more money out of people must be tempting selling an evening meal to guests as well as a lunch would be rake it in. The other thing is how quite the park often is for the first hour, if the total hours can't change I'd much rather see a later opening and later closing than we ave now.

You didn't know a video titled 'Spider-Man ride POV' would contain spoilers...? You... Didn't... Know...

Spiderman vehicles are enclosed and in reality barely move, the same can't be said of the coasters, so the reasoning is pretty obvious. This will clearly have an element that necessitates a bag drop; either sudden movements, ride carriage design or the need to squeeze through tight spaces. The more I look at those plans the more I think a Nemesis-Sub-Terror-a-like drop element could be included. That separate show building just looks to fit. Hopefully followed by something better than a bolted on maze if it is!

Yeah, thanks for this turtle. I had more idea this time! I somehow misunderstood the relevance of how my power was blocked, somehow thinking that as I was blocked from saving Paige meant she must be good. Looking at it now I have no idea how I came to that conclusion! That's what through me right off the scent. Damn you Paige.

You are either in the mafia or incompetent. Either way...

Nothing guilty about that. Unless you like the film it's from too, coz that is awful.

... I think I've worked out that Paige is a townie. So if I'm right about Tommy and Alpengeist has just voted for Tommy he must be a good guy too. I'm good, which means once tommy is out of the way I think mattcreek is the other mafia to go for. My thoughts, jjust incase I don't make it through the night...