SteveJ

I love how this "easter egg grabbing machine" alone sums up how self indulgent and out of touch Thorpe Park are with the public, fans, their own park's history and the theme park business

In general the Swarm is a badly themed area I think, just not entertaining. I really have no idea why enthusiasts loved it so so much, maybe because it was an attempt at a 'big' theme when we'd gone so long without something new like that in 2012. The queueline TVs were annoying and boring, I'm quite glad theyre gone. The area looked like a mash of old vehicles on a pavement. The water skims etc just added on randomly. The name "The Swarm" was never particularly catchy or conjured up anything exciting, neither did the grey, bleak colours and the boxy church. It's whole identity just doesnt work for me. It's perfect opportunity for a redesign with the same theme, but that means a big redesign rather than an afterthought 'lets get the guy from Theme Park Fan The Musical to put some voice tracks on'. I hope it's an improvement, rather than even more of a mish mash?

Exactly, I dont think it's being a grumpy git to think that. It seems to be Thorpe's thing at the moment, thinking theyre creative geniuses for tacking on added explanations and backstory (see DBGT as well) Swarm's audio needed improving only because it was boring and miserable feeling. Will this improve it? Let's see

This isnt a sabotage or a business decision, it's just a planning procedure, they want to be able to register as interested parties on a major planning development in their sector, because they are one. There's literally nothing negative about this, it's just trying to hold London Resort to account for the planning process. This should have never hit the fan news, it's been totally misunderstood, mundane procedural stuff like this happens all the time in planning

I'm sure they can think of many other animal species for beige rockwork animal heads plonked around the park. Tiger, croc, cobra, errr lion, oh they did that at the safari hotel already.

The park looks better, in a 'better than nothing' sort of way, some parts of Mexicana and Blue Barnacle look great refreshed but other parts so cheap and tacky. Why the heck they bought all those naff cheap pirates and cowboy props you see in game arcades and small tacky seafronts??

All of that is completely inaccurate. Also the change in legislation happened before Tidal Wave opened and wasn't retrospective which is why the older rides have been allowed to operate all this time. Removing/chaning scenery at Dragon Falls, Pirate Falls etc has nothing to do with water treatment. Both those are closed systems anyway unlike Loggers Leap. There is no specific reason why Loggers Leap closed, other than Merlin not wanting to fund the increasing cost to maintain it and modify it further.

As yes on its own it is very energetic and cool looking coaster. Dark Forest definitely the worst area of the park

really? I think X Sector is extremely shabby and tacky these days. I used to like the 'idea' of it but it never really came to reality. Same for Smiler, other than the ride itself which is fun.

But notice how now to collect your bags you'll have to cross back to the onload platform, squeezing past the old bag room to get into a far worse bottleneck on your way out, then U turn back towards the exit stairs. Looks a total nightmare!! Definitely the only reason this being done is to save staffing costs in the wake of covid.

Do you think the 2021 Tomb Blaster refurbishment will be as good as the rumoured 2022 one? I dont want to see them break the tradition

Very sure it wouldnt have continued being Derren Brown's Ghost Train regardless of covid, no way did DB want to extend and the contract was for 5 years (apparently) Covid just stole its final year but also made any revamp more complicated, replacing the VR poses a bigger problem

I'm not sure what you mean, nobody was complaining about the musical before they saw it or how successful Nick Hutson (or whoever else) is, dont think that has anything to do with it Anyway I watched some of it, I was excited to see what strange creation it could be and enjoy it as a bit of lockdown fun. But to be honest it just felt like a drawn out in-joke /self promo for a small group of Twitter fans, I didn't find it very entertaining or anything to do with theme parks. Props to putting it together but whats the point if it's not for anyone.

I didnt see any of the posts after mine if they were more negative, but I personally wasn't berating anyone or the project, just poking fun at the phrase "notable UK enthusiasts including myself" Me and my family seriously struggle with mental health and although I appreciate the fundraising cause, I somehow doubt supporting mental health was their reason for the same Twitter clique putting their face in something again, but I know I'm being cynical I don't think anyone should be discouraged from doing it, and great that it has raised money eh!

Was that the Hulk style steel coaster originally planned for Colossus that you mean? I think Rita was literally such a last minute project, I remember watching a Q&A with one of the project people saying it was unusually fast to go from being told to open a new ride to building it. I think gives an idea of the different expectations DIC had on Tussauds at that time which probably played a big part in Stealth too. Then again it's on the 2003 development plan so not the same rush, and Stealth suited Thorpe so much better than Rita suited Ug land/ Alton Towers.

As far as I know Rita was a pre-existing Intamin design that Alton Towers just bought, that had been planned for another park and was pretty much able to go anywhere flat. No application went through for the Alton wooden coaster (or was it withdrawn by the park?) after an initial survey found it wasn't possible. Rita wasn't so much a replacement for that coaster but a badly rushed addition to boost numbers directed by Tussauds new owners DIC Presumably they then wanted the same for Thorpe Park. So I wouldnt be surprised if there just wasn't the time and money for anything other than the top hat and launch. Which is a shame really, even just that indicative plan suggests a much nicer area and ride

Might be off topic but what were those things you mention Glitch? Just curious, I hadnt heard of either those

I personally never understood the obsession with Shawn both ways, some people seem to absolutely have a big vendetta and try jump on every small thing he does to cancel him. But other (probably more) fans absolutely worship him. Sometimes he gets brought up in conversation as if his video or his opinion on a certain thing is the benchmark for all theme park enthusiasts. Why do people care so much about him either way? I dont get how he got so famous. He doesnt seem to do anything more than most vloggers ever did, even in the old days when he was just reading things in his bedroom. He doesnt exactly have any special charisma either, so I dont understand the appeal even if I was interested in vloggers. It's nothing personal against him, I just dont understand everything surrounding him

I like the picturebook look, the original boat looked pretty generic. It's a bit primary coloured but has a nice style, I hope the new ride actually improves on the original (for the first time ever in Chessington's history?) and keeps the really nice landscaped queue

This is very true of course and I hope my worry to be proven wrong with the finished thing! Although best thing since Transylvania might be a push, Forbidden Kingdom with Terror Tomb and Rameses when new was brilliant. Beanoland new was also a really fun kids area even though it was small. Can't imagine how this giant croc head will suit the area as good as Rameses did when it was new but I hope it turns out well anyway.

I hate to sound negative, the park are at least going further than their usual standard for flat rides, but I think it looks potentially awful. A giant, beige blocky croc head awkwadly sticking out of a temple, a hamfisted idea of "crocodile themed" like something an enthusiast would make. Even the colouring and carved details look really flat so far, I just hope this isn't the finished look. You can never tell until something's finished, so let's hope it looks great in the end. But the whole concept is a bit weird. What will it actually add to the area and the ride experience? Instead of all the money on one big ugly block, why not spread it on more scenery and the temple? It could look brilliant.

I think it would be kept pretty simple, and just be a case of paying a lump sum for a licence with an expiry date, with the option to renew if both parties agree when the contract expires. No royalties or specified running hours probably. Although I imagine it would be a stipulated part of the contract to maintain the ride correctly, to protect the integrity of the brand being licenced. Whether this is an actual measurable on going thing that gets regualrly inspected by the brand, probably not. And there's a difference between that and actually cutting something major for a technical reason requiring the park's investment, like the tunnel crash, rather than just bad maintenance. Although neither will make Derren Brown very happy!

As someone who absolutely loved the original attraction, I couldnt agree more with this sentence. I would much prefer to see it removed and a great new ride just as good as Terror Tomb was, than yet another horrid nostalgia/fanboy rehash of a once good ride

I would love for Chessington to remove Nick Hutson's awful voice and script (I would say get some real voice talent in with a better script, but really it doesnt need any 'narration' at all) Relight it properly, like an adventure through an Egyptian tomb, not this tacky scare maze look grabbing your attention (I mean it's better than the 2016 UV, how can you get this ride wrong so many times!) Put back the 2002 Tomb Blaster theme which was much more memorable, at least on the outside and finale. But above all, maybe stop rehashing the memory of a great ride to excuse the current mess? It's long time for something new!

Yeah, it's unprofessional and sucks the fun out of the real reveal. Especially they just big up something so minor to get a reaction, we all know Forbidden Tomb is not really "returning".