Flipper

I love how inventive this layout is, and I'd love to know if it's a B&M self-designed layout or a park designed layout... Because it's just a mirror-image of the Vekoma Family Inverted Rollercoaster! Woo!

Oh, that's where it's going? I thought it was going to be themed into the actual containers very quickly, you know, when the rest of it actually arrives.

I have to admit that the second train's of rides should have been available wherever possible; as surely the park would have had some kind of indication there was a teacher strike, or even that it'd be busier based on online bookings... Unless of course a majority of people on park were season pass holders; and the attitude was 'It's a one-off day, they can come again' which is still technically wrong (although having said that kids are spoilt little brats these days and frequently wander out of school and into Thorpe in their uniform with their premium annual passes and such like).

All the marketing is doing at the moment is confusing me. "Yes we want families to come here" and then they make concept art, all be it very nice, that shows it as an island with thrill rides on it. The sharks are obviously a reference to Shark Hotel, but I can't help but think it isn't overly obvious for somebody who isn't an enthusiast; and there isn't any presence of Angry Birds, or some of the highly advertised family rides. I mean, would it have hurt to stick a couple of Rumba boats in the water?

So do I; I'm more than happy for Alton Towers to keep investing into 'prototype' rides that can then be built far better by other parks in the world, it's serving everybody brilliantly. I find it very uninventive this coaster; and if anything reminds me loosely of X-Flight. It's as if Merlin went "If you're going to copy our 'inverted drop' idea, we're going to copy half of your layout" kind of thing. But then, I think Wingrider's are being overdone now. They're not particularly thrilling due to their 'sluggish' speed from the air resistance. I'd much rather have an interesting layout flying coaster like Tatsu over a wingrider to be honest.

I agree with Ricky regarding the paint scenario. I know it's not any oil painting, by in comparison SAW, heck, even Rage at Adventure Island and Cobra at Paultons are in a much more appealing state than Smiler. I'd say SAW is probably the closest for it's "worn appearance" but in places the Smiler does have a large amount of paint ran away; and like Ricky said for a ride which is less than a year of operating, it isn't that great. And before people say "Oh but it's used more" I would say SAW looks marginally better, and given their age; Rage and Paultons have probably had at least equal wear if not slightly more than Smiler in their lifetime. So how anyone can say Smiler isn't wearing down its paint rapidly, I'd like to know what makes you believe that. Equally, that queue extension does seem completely daft. I'll wait to see it in person to judge it, but give it a year or two and I think it'll just become another unused extension for the majority of time much like the one at the top of the hill on AIR, or a few of the TH13TEEN extensions.

I'm all for a woodie like Apocalypse at Magic Mountain! Seriously, it kicks ass over any of Blackpool's woodies; Stampida; or even Colossus at Magic Mountain - Apocalypse is just, something else especially with that station fly through Equally though, if they do go and add a family roller coaster I would be very pro seeing something like one of these new B&M Family Inverted roller coasters like we see being built in Shanghai, going next to Inferno. So we have like a big Inferno and a little Inferno. That little B&M is so adorable.

I think Dean hit it on the head; for little more than a one-off admission they can entice people to get the pass, and guarantee a return; even if it's just a second visit. And by doing so it guarantees some kind of spend on park in the form of food and drink, a likelihood of a car park charge; and potentially a retail spend. So it's a clever way to encourage people to return; and when people have a season pass, they're likely to visit more than twice. It's the same concept as the rainy day guarantee. It's also worth noting it's a limited time offer; and not advertised as being for the whole season.

I would put it more likely to be site two as a coaster is planned; which may look similar to a Wingrider but probably is something completely different as it was planned for at the same time as the Swarm, and also given the fact the island is there and ready to go with no tree removal or such being needed. I do hear what you're saying around near SAW but it'd be a bit of a bottlekneck, as they'd have no choice but to turn the railway into the path; thus meaning you'd just walk through SAW to get to it.

Yes, thats the one. Don't see myself fore-mentioning it was solely an Inferno problem though. But if the rain continues it'll become more than a few drips like it did back in 2012; and rain macs were having to be supplied due to the vast amount of it leaking down during the ride.

See, I was under the same influence as Pluk, that it only applied to new-builds; but it would make sense as to why some Rumba effects are no longer in use, if it was using lake water or just general water out of the trough. But who knows (who really cares, it's a dirty rapids ride at the end of the day).

Yeah I completely overlooked things like that, not gonna lie. In my head I was thinking more along the lines of things like Crush's Coaster which is a cheap ride which is predominantly in pitch black. I tend to forget about the mainstream Disney park at California and Paris alike due to never spending much time in them. Having visited DLP back in January though, whilst I agree that the overall cost of the park is more (now I've thought about it) I'd have to say in places the park is in much despair. Space Mountain at DLP being a prime example with chunks of it's pyramid missing and the cannon having been broken for well over a year.

It also appears that the liquid rust (or oil, I've always been told rust but some argue its oil) issue has started again, right on cue.

Ah okay, then my argument for not using it is invalid; but there is the water restriction which I thought. Cheers for clearing that up.

I believe they did. But, admittedly I can't remember the exact date; a new legislation has come into force stating that anything that 'wets' a rider more than a spray and is added after a certain has to be chlorinated water. Rumba and Loggers get used to it due to their age, but for example if a new water feature was added, or a new water ride for that matter it would have to use chlorinated water, or so I've been told.

Sorry Dan, I don't mean it personally but I disagree with your statement. Merlin strive to be 'as good as Disney' but Disney is popular on the basis of it being Disney with it's rides and shows etc. From a rides point of view, if you compare it to Disney we're talking about theme parks that feature numerous rides that cost a fair bit to build, and in return cost a fair bit in maintenance costs for wheels and things (referring to things like the B&Ms which will have expensive wheels) - unlike Disney where most of what they have are budget rides, made either in-house or by Vekoma. Granted they now have a few Intamin's but nothing on the same kind of cost and maintenance levels that Merlin have to comprehend with. The only thing I personally see as comparable to Merlin at present would be Six Flags; and I think they have a pretty level playing field for maintenance and such like. So, maybe their budgets are not huge and maybe not invested in the right way; but ride maintenance will cost a fortune for the rides places like Thorpe have; in comparison to Disney.

I guess you're referring to this? Like Pluk said back last year, it probably isn't used due to the fact Rumba uses the dirty lake water just like Loggers does; and thats a hell of a lot of dirty water to throw on people... It also hurts. I remember last year it was on, and then turned off when we went under it, which just gave a massive thump of water on our heads.

Can't help but wonder still why they felt the need to add backwards rows on Swarm, and yet not on any other of their wing riders Anyway I like the backwards rows, and prefer it to forwards because it doesn't do anything for me forwards I'm sad to say. But I have to agree about the queue system. My issue is, if you go in a group; and some people choose forwards, and some choose backwards it can create an issue; so I agree it should be one queue, then pick at the bag room. It's probably worth noting though that lately Thorpe have cut a lot of staffing on rides that was once made out to be essential, such as station batching staff on rides like Swarm; so, without a batcher on Swarm present the back row queue will be a free-for-all anyway. It's the same with so far this year the only time I've seen a station batcher on SAW, was on Thursday afternoon; creating endless mini-queues for front rows and nobody wanting to fill the back of the cars. So I think the system will return to normality once the batching staff return into operation. Personally the other alternative is to use that Book and Ride system they created for Swarm, and use specifically for the back rows?

Never noticed that SAW plan before; not that I've ever looked. I scrolled past it at first and didn't even notice the difference I think given the way it operates, aka the midcourse acts as a 'Yes you can go' for the main lift hill; having two midcourse would have been pretty pointless, if you assume it was going to run a similar speed around the track to now; with the same operation. Would have been quite nice though to have a bit extra to it, as I've always felt the outdoor section was very, well short and back-and-forth; but I'm equally happy with what we have. With regards to a woodie, I too don't think the idea is dead. Considering before B&M Wingriders came about, Swarm was suggested in initial plans years ago to be a flying rollercoaster. But I do think it is maybe a ride that would be left on the shelf until the right idea for it emerges. Having said that, lap bars carry lower height restrictions than OTSR's; so with this new move towards family, a woodie or any lap bar coaster wouldn't go a miss; especially one without inversions. Personally I would love to see something like Apocalypse: The Ride at Thorpe, from Six Flags Magic Mountain as it's an incredible woodie, with some great speed and thrill to it. But we can dream.

So, Thorpe add a dodgems and re-open a cinema; advertise itself as 'Family Fun' and now it's suddenly "OMG too much family approach" from some people. Sorry to break it to you; but Mark9 and JoshC are completely right. It still advertises (heavily) Swarm and Stealth on it's advert, something for older children. And upon reflection, like I said all they're doing is reopening and cinema and adding some dodgems. It's a far step from the days of Ranger County and Octopus Gardens. The thrill rides will still be there, in their mass in comparison; but rightly so; Thorpe are toying on the fact they do have family thrill rides, which have been overlooked for a few years. Zodiac, Quantum, and Tidal are rides that suit all for example; so good on them for hyping up that there is stuff for older families. I think some people are completely missing what they're trying to get at. They're not trying to appeal (in my opinion) to families with five and six year olds; but moreso appealing to those who are families with kids around the eight and nine year age, who are just under 1.4m but can still enjoy themselves because they're maybe 1.3m or whatever. At the end of the day the advert isn't families holding hands with their kids, it shows a family who have a girl who's clearly under 1.4m, a lad that is 1.4m and a couple of adults - and in that sense it does it's purpose well; showing a mix of everything on offer, and how everyone can enjoy something. That was a ramble, it makes sense in my head.

When I saw it I took in the 'exaggerated' advertising. But I think what stuck out the most for me is the way they've attempted to make Scorpion Express look like a huge, Big Thunder Mountain style ride - which if I'm honest, visiting Chessington without knowing what it really was, it would disappoint me just on the concept it's actually a small coaster and completely the opposite of the expectation the advert sets.

I think a major point to highlight here is that it is within the track spine, not jammed in the track where the train is literally going over it. If a bird was to fly out of it, from where it is positioned; it would need to fly upward through the track to be an issue, and it would be killed by the train before it hit a person. And finally, it doesn't even have a bird living in it from what anybody seems to have seen...

Clearly people have different opinions of what should and shouldn't be played on X. I personally, would prefer it not to be a stereotype ride for the clientele Thorpe is plauged with - chavy. And that is all X appears to me as. It is no Rock 'n' Rollercoaster; it's a cheaply done re-theme that was done to loosely look like RNRC but with dance music that chav's lash up like there's no tomorrow. If anything I'd say Avicii might actually help... charting music like Avicii and David Guetta would be more appealing to all; instead of some irritable banging noise which is all it appears to me to be. #MaybeImGettingOld

When it comes to reliability, I'd have to say Chessington is possibly one of the best. I've never visited and found rides closed for the whole day; I know Zufari has it's days but I've always struck lucky. Equally though, I don't think I've visited Thorpe with anything other than the usual suspects (Samurai, Slammer, and/or Stealth) closed for prolonged or full days. And then there's Towers; which seems to have a lot of on-and-offs but again seems pretty reliable. So I kind of disagree with everybody's points. If it comes to reflecting similar rides, yes, Smiler seems more unreliable than SAW; but then Rita seems to be more reliable than Stealth. It's tit for tat. But comparing the world's only S&S Sky Swat which got discontinued for being a maintenance issue, and to which the park has to have parts custom made for the ride now, against Rameses or Spinball - obviously it's going to make Thorpe look worse off. This topic has completely gone off now. How's Rameses doing?

SAW having downtime is a misconception. It has a fair few 'essential cleaning' shutdowns which usually takes a fair amount of time as people often splatter their lunch all over the car and down most of the exit stairs which takes time to clean. But from personal experience, I'd go as far as saying maybe every two in three if not more, are cleaning over technical on SAW. But then, maybe I got lucky in that sense. I have to second this. I've had a really rough ride on Annual Pass day in the evening, and three really smooth rides on opening day. But this has always been notable with vehicle wear and tear; it's most likely just because they've ran car (based on your numbers) 1 and 7, more than say 2 and 8 or whatever. They don't obviously instantly run the ride with eight cars as soon as testing commences; so there are going to be cars on that track that could have easily done a good twenty runs or more than other cars have. However, even as a SAW fanboy; I have to say that the jolt seems (to be) more notable than normal. Not brain rattling, but I used to not notice it; and now I feel it on every car.