Dodge2002

I think tidal wave was quite a clever idea. Pirates/Boats/Fish etc would've been so obvious. They obviously made quite an investment into the creative process (this is of course before Tussaud's/Merlin developed their fetish for themes involving destruction). Its easy to see why they picked tidal wave though. If you asked a focus group which theme they found more interesting, I know which one I'd have picked. I hate that the pirate theme is always done so lazily. Mutiny bay has to be quite possibly one of the most uninspired areas at the Towers. Its so bland and predictable. I'd love to see what actual research they did in to Pirates, because the answer is probably none.

Well looking at Alton Towers aging lineup, its really not going to take much to impress me. The more I think about, the more I think perhaps FN's really is a big money maker for the park. Their mazes all get gleaming reviews, and they refresh them frequently. It only makes sense that Merlin would willingly give them money to invest in to it. Also bearing in mind we didn't really get a real investment this year. My only doubt is, what large scale project could possibly be introduced, that can be hidden/relatively inconspicuous during the weekdays when the event isn't on.

They seem to be putting all their eggs in one non-characteristicly British weather based basket this summer. Sure we're having hot weather now, but I shouldn't imagine there'll be much more sun over August, despite what the forecast may think. You can't advertise the beach as a key attraction when it'll probably end up completely abandoned 6 times out of 10 over the holidays. That said, I really think this is just all a ruse to make people aware of the fact that the dome is open way after the rides shut. Chucking a few rides in the mix will certainly pique peoples curiosity.

Maybe we'll get an annual pass preview weekend?

Pizza Huts restaurant's have started dishing out 2-4-1's now.

You don't actually enter / exit the park via the dome during the club nights, you enter through the left hand gate passing a security checkpoint. They could quite easily close the dome and still have an exit past 11pm. We asked and the club night had sold 1500 tickets, and that was REALLY dead. They could probably release I'd say around 3000-4000 tickets and have no queues to be honest.

I'm surprised they're not branding the park as a resort yet. I figured they'd jump on the chance as soon as they could. I suppose they probably just don't have enough hotel rooms to be advertising the crash pad on TV nationally...

I like the sound of this being an ERT for crash pad guests. I'd much prefer this over an extra hour in the morning.

I don't see how delaying a coaster is any indication of how bad the park is doing. Alton Towers went 8 whole years without a new "thrill" rollercoaster. (it's safe to say TH13TEEN is nothing more than a family attraction.) If anything, this affirms what we already know, the next few years will be about bringing back the families. My thoughts on the matter are next year it'll be a flat, then followed by a smaller family coaster. From what I've been told the park is smashing their year on year growth hugely too. The hotel is almost always at full occupancy, their MoS club nights have been a massive success and the buzz about the park is generally positive (I.e they didn't manage to open a coaster 2 months late, which then breaks down every other day *cough* smiler *cough*) As for the extension I think this really does all link in to a huge shift of marketing. Merlin want to see Thorpe make it happen and make it a success before they fork over a penny.

The thing about the CCR circuit, is that with a few modifications, the area it uses in itself would make an excellent scare maze in itself, without even running the trains on it. Just look at what they did with the CoS at Alton Towers behind the goal striker building. And it would be easily feasible to theme the maze around an old haunted railway track. You'd just have to close Loggers leap after 4pm, I can't see it being that busy anyway as it is.

I do love the placement of the camera (although it clearly wasn't planned). Its great seeing peoples reactions to the billboard head chopper.

I think it would fit right in if they squeezed it next to Vengeance in the old 4D cinema.

To be honest, they were on the ball with batching, so only let around 4-5 cycles worth of people in at a time, so it was quite organized. But as I said this increased queue times, since with the cards it would've been a 20 front/40 back wait, instead it was a 50 minute wait. However I heard multiple people mention that they weren't going in the back row because they didn't have the pass (which didn't exist) It just makes you wonder, why bother with all this signage etc...? I have a really bad feeling this ride is going to deteriorate quite rapidly. Water effects are already hit and miss, the fire ball rarely goes off, there was no smoke, the TV above the bag drop looks like its been dropped on the floor or something with a huge black spot, the groundwork around the billboard is really shoddy (it still has an old queueline sign just sat in the footer for no reason). Its just not looking too good if I'm honest.

I don't think its a case of parks like Merlin ignoring Mack, I think I read somewhere its a case of them having a long waiting list, right up until 2016. They're a small company compared to the other available manufacturers out there.

I don't know if its been bought up before, but it looks like they've all but abandoned the back row queue system, which really doesn't come as a surprise. Its rather annoying because it artificially inflates the main queuline since you all queue together.

That press release doesn't sound like good news to me if I'm honest. It seems like a roundabout way of saying "There isn't anything new this year, but we'll be going back and 'improving' our old mazes" It feels like they've spent far too much time choosing their words.

Why do they have to pinpoint an exact market? I think Thorpe really is our best chance at a true well rounded resort. The Towers try and try but the locals and restrictions just keep knocking them back. Could you imagine them trying to open up a 3am nightclub at the Towers? It'd be denied instantly. I'm not denying that they'd nailed the "Family theme park" part, but their entertainment out of hours is abysmal, and there's little else outside the park itself. There's a lot of blank space at Thorpe that would be perfect for smaller developments. Disney Village-esque areas, entertainment complexes, bars, clubs etc. but before they do that, they really need to establish a family oriented section of the park first.

They sound very much like free public domain songs. Unfortunately that makes them very hard to track down since no track ID software will pick them up. If that is the case though, there shouldn't be any copyright issues if you were to ask them where they got them from so you could download them.

I'm just going by what I remember reading on this very forum. It all seems logical to me, its the only ride on park that has ran almost 5 consecutive years and still runs like it did on opening day. I find it hard to believe things like the queueline shotgun effect, the dead body water spray or the rotating wheel on the outside drop would have even been looked at if it ever broke down without some sort of outside intervention for Merlin. In regards to Lionsgate, its a tricky business. Some companies take IP protection incredibly serious (just look at the Olympics, do a quick search!). Anything that could be brand damaging is a major concern for them.

I think the reason Saws effects have been so reliable is because its in their IP contract, where Lions gate are basically forcing them to upkeep something like 95% of effects at all times. Saw has often had issues with its effects but they're usually fixed within a matter of days/weeks

This is good. Really good. Its not just about a fun event to me. Its about creating a broad appeal to hotel guests. Its about proving they know how to provide evening entertainment and making overnight stays worthwhile. They're already doing a better job than AT and they haven't even got a real hotel yet. The future looks bright if they end up with their full hotel a few years down the line.

Although this seems contradictory to my first point, Disney are capable of managing their shift patterns for late openings, why exactly can't Merlin do it? You can't make out that theme park staff are hard done by compared to other industries. Try working in a late opening shopping center in the month of December. Oh but it doesn't stop there, of course there's the January sales too. That's 2 months flat out packed full of customers right up until closing. And in the case of restaurant that's a ridiculous amount of physical effort required too. I've done it, and its brutal, but I don't moan, because I knew that's what to expect when I started the job. I'm not saying Ride hosts and Ops don't do their fair share of work, but I can't sit back and see someone say they're entitled to work less hours than most other jobs. Its this type of mentality that holds us back as a nation in the field of hospitality.

After doing a full circuit of every ride in the park within 3 hours today, to me it just seems like the park is too small to warrant it. In most scenario's anyway. Disneyland Paris is open late most nights, yes, but the park is absolutely HUGE. Its not just a case of how many rides, its about transport, fitting in the parades and shows, the general amount of time spent soaking in the atmosphere. From a cost controlled perspective, its in Thorpe's best interest to invest money into getting ride queues down as short as possible, even on the busiest days. Not extend the amount of time customers get to spend in queulines. Secondly they desperately need to look in to reintroducing a range of season wide shows. To me this is the difference between "We've done everything, lets go home" or "Well we can go see that show at 3pm, meanwhile lets do a bit of shopping/eating/drinking". Going back to Disneyland, why do you think most people decide to stay around until closing rather then go home a few hours earlier if they manages to zoom round the park before close? The huge show they put on, of course. And what to the majority of spectators go and buy when they stood out in the cold waiting? Drinks! Snacks! Toys to shut their little kids up! Eventually when the park has built up a large arsenal of different entertainment options, then they should look at the possibility of opening later and longer. As for Fright Nights, I would say the cut to 9pm was completely unjustified. You can now ONLY visit during peak, if this weren't the case then yes I'd agree, but nowadays the park is still heaving at 9pm, and you've only actually gotten a whole 1 hour of pure ride time in the dark.

So....is X back up and running yet?

As much as I hate to use a tired metaphor, if Alton Towers told their staff to jump off a cliff, would that make it okay for Thorpe to do the same?