SteveJ

If they didn't flood it then it would just be a massive ugly quarry. The lake has characterised Thorpe Park since it opened. Crossing the bridge to get to the park is a good way of introducing the park, and is still quite effective to this day.

No, I did that myself. Of course it was meant to be pointless, that was the point. [/paradox] :PAnyway, I personally like the change in direction of Thorpe Park's marketing, away from wild claims and a few posters. And this time, it seems like the ride is really going to live up to its expectations. Next year will be awesome for everybody.And by 2015, with all the islands connecting fluently, the park would have gained much more room to breathe. Expansion is exactly what Thorpe Park needs, I think, and it has the unique factor of being able to create new land pretty much from scratch (for a few more years anyway). There is a lot of creative freedom, so I am interested to see what they do with it.

It's a fence. [/pointless post]

Chessington have people paid to create proper 5 year plans; they are probably only asking people on Facebook to measure the online response, or get a vague idea of who these visitors are and what they think in general.And it has proven to be a very good way of getting attention. A lot more comments than Chessington usually get on Facebook!

Thanks! The whole place was completely unrecognisable when the big change happened. It was like a whole area of Thorpe Park that I knew quite well simply no longer existed. Now I know whereabouts the old attractions used to be in comparison to Stealth.It was a lovely little area; it made the park feel much less compact, especially with the Farm still open. There was a lot to explore.

They are just a few little nods to the past or easter eggs. Nice to see, but they don't really mean anything (except the Flume hint perhaps). If they were trying to add a real backstory to the area, they would not do it through a small sign on an information point, it's just a bit of fun.

I love the creativity going into it, it looks sure to be more fulfilling than other recent projects.However, touches such as the traffic lights seem akin to Amity Cove and some aspects are similar to Saw, just judging from the concept art. If they put effort and imagination into making this a clearly defined area with its own distinct theme then this doesn't matter. I am sure Swarm will be an exciting chapter in Thorpe's history whatever it turns out to be.

Does anybody know why the queueline video was removed?Was it just rubbish or something? I remember it was rather amateur but one year is still a surprisingly short life.

No. Hence I never make any implication in my post that I want a retheme. I would rather a secret weapon/2012 ride in that location than a mouldy log flume (albiet a fun one). Those are just my immediate thoughts. [/smiling face]Come on, give me something good to argue with here! This is Mania Hub, is it not?

Well, it isn't amazing... It looks bad, has no purpose or theme, is not worth the often hours-long queue and the whole "Share a bath tub... MMMMMMM COSEY!" is just annoying.It isn't memorable (excluding duck surprise) or unique. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I don't feel like it is continuous with the rest of Alton Towers in terms of theme and experience. It does not need to go for another few years, but I doubt it will be missed.

I always went in Action Man when I visited. It was quite popular and large, I remember, but very randomly designed. The area where it used to be is totally unrecognisable now.It began in a small building with images of tough looking guys on the walls (Action Man's enemies?). Most of the lighting was broken. Then you went outside on to a standard playground plank-walk thing. Then a bigger obstacle course with chain bridges and climbing frames. There was also a strange device on the wall that would play sound effects when you pressed buttons at this point. It broke not too long before the attraction was removed, however.Then you turned a corner into a slightly wooded area (I think?) and had the choice of going up a little hill or carry on straight. On top of this mound was a snake pit, in which you walked over a rope bridge which had rubber snakes underneath that occasionally squirted water up at you. Sometimes this section was closed off, I remember, hence the alternative route, probably because the ropes had broken. Then came a short tunnel that you had to crawl through, and then it was pretty much the end.

Ahhh... So that was the fate of Peg Leg Pete. Nice to know that he was not removed for extra seating space or "juzt for lolz" like so many other of Chessington's old features. He was in a rather lonely position, though, so nobody used him as much as, for example, Frazzle. You had to shake his leg to make him "wake up", I recall.Here be a photo for the sake of nostalgia.

I really want the Flume to get trashed. It's extremely dated now and I don't think any kind of retheme can save it from being a boring ride. Also, there is so much land available (even more if you cross over Haunted Hollow) that it seems a much better decision to design an exciting replacement than invest in a decaying ride.Either way, the Flume at current really needs to go rather soon. Who wants to take a 5 minute tour of some Indian balsam weeds in a boat anyway?