Matt 236

My next Thorpe visit isn't until July 18/19th (3 weeks time) I'm not expecting Saw to be open by then anytime soon and it's likely during the MOS section of the trip the ride will be substituted for something like Rush.

There's finally a silver lining to Storm Surge's existence, at least for now!

This is very sad news, and apparently she was also a dancer too which this incident without doubt has shred that in tatters. I hope she has a speedy recovery. Apparently Vicky & Leah were both in the front middle seats when the car collided. I can see Smiler having a mid season reopening now with the way things have gone.

This'll look fantastic at night, I can't wait for the day I set foot here

*blows all the dust and cob webs away, OMG A GIANT SPIDER!* It's been two years, might as well update my plans and see what's been achieved so far. 1/ Graduate from university in 2016 with a 2.1 or more 2/ get a summer internship 3/ learn to drive 4/ get a car 5/ reach grade 8 on oboe 6/ do a diploma in music 7/ reach over 1000 subscribers on YouTube 8/ get a girlfriend 9/ find a decent job after I graduate 10/ Get married and have 2 kids 11/ Learn all theme park tunes 12 attend a music festival 13 visit Florida 14/ Visit Europa Park 15/ Visit Efteling 16/ exceed 200 coaster credits (somehow) 17/ visit phantasialand 18/ visit Liseberg 19/ Shambhala Port Aventura 20/ win every reward on tpm's forum rewards From my last list, I've finished grade 8, entered my uni of choice, found another music job, gone abroad at least once somewhere that's not south Spain and generally become more travel independent. Theme park wise, 1&2 have been achieved, 3 has been half achieved as I've 'still' not done Drayton & paultons (one will be hotly on radar next year),4 without doubt has been achieved as I've done 6 woodies now, 6 has been half achieved as I've done Paris but definitely not America. Unsurprisingly the rest of the list has not been achieved. LETS BRING THIS TOPIC BACK TO LIFE!

I might be one of those who spends much time talking to a camera, but I'm generally glad and not surprised Disney have decided to ban them completely from all their parks as I've only heard bad things about them. Not to mention making watching shows such as dreams and other shows noticeably harder when a giant stick is in your face. Never planned to get one, don't plan to get one and I'm sure the phase of selfie sticks will be dead very soon (I hope no one gets me one for my birthday).

Finally watched the theory of everything last night, Absolutely fantastic film that portrays the story and life of Stephen Hawking excellently. Eddie Redmayne did an absolutely fantastic job of portraying him. 5/5

It looks so beautiful. I envy anyone who's riding this in the coming weeks (you know who you are). That attention to detail is superb and those nice fences do add a great finishing touch to the attraction. Why does that facade remind me of Europa Park? This is like an extreme opposite equivalent of Saw (awaits bashing or criticism quoting)

Well, this makes those backsides to Disney's heavily themed rides a lot more forgivable, at least they are in areas outside of the park where only few will see it. That though sticks out more than Storm Surge ever could.

That was excluding the dodgems, teacups & rocky and emphasising on the rest. Given the way things are going in the industry with Merlin and the facts that: 1/ the themepaek industry is turning more towards immersive experiences where outside of Disney & Universal's additions we have seen the likes of Baron1898, Helix, Chiapas and even Merlin's in brand rides such as Smiler,Swarm, Thirteen and to a lesser extent Saw & Sub-Terra 2/ merlin haven't installed a 'thrilling' flat ride with the possible exception of Kobra 3/ two of Thorpe's flats are very much dying (one hasn't made the end of season for years and the other either opens late or closes early each year), whilst the other few arent running as fluently as they used to 4/ Thorpe isn't a massive place and once WC16 is done we will only only have the island next Swarm, what's left empty of fungle and the shark hotel (if it ever leaves) and once that's built on, the park will likely be out of land and on the assumption further I filling isn't possible will mean old rides will have to be replaced. Judging by the large footprint lost city's flats take and that they will be 21-24 years old, their area could come home to a big new ride/coaster in the future. Kudos to thorpe for keeping slammer and samurai going for so long (towers would've culled them years ago), but it's a matter of time, ok 10 years might be too soon but quite possibly 15.

Unfortunately, flats by generally all main parks at the moment are being ignored or even culled, give thorpe 10 years and it'll probably be just quantum & detonator left. At the moment Towers ride strategy seems to be to build roller coasters, kids rides, roller coasters, kids rides and the odd dark ride.

Ripsaw is closed and currently covered in scaffolding, random essential maintenance or beginning of the end? So many ride problems at towers at the moment. Aside from Smiler sbno, enterprise, thi3teen,Rita and sub-terra are all having technical difficulties apparently. Source-Towers Street

This just ruined one of the best Disney rides for me. On the other hand, as long as the bare naked walls are hidden out of 'crucial' public areas or there are trees, terming etc. failing that, then I won't have a major problem with the ride's exterior. At the end of the day, Storm surge is worse!

Whilst staggered openings are something no one wants to see, I don't think it'll make too much on an impact on the rides mentioned as most people tend to do coasters first, very few do water rides in the mornings, Slammer & Samurai are dying plus most weekdays are pretty quiet bar school holidays and anything between late June and early September.

Wow, interesting video, it's amazing how much creativity and quirky gimmicks were made during the park's early (magical) days. Such a shame the ride closed long before I could've ever ridden it.

I'm a maybe for everything as I'm not sure what's happening this summer for me, but if anything happens and I am available, I'll try and make whatever happens.

Poor show from the park, I know they had problems last year but I don't know what's happening this year. 2013 showed so much hope and potential for the park and now it's reached an epitome. If they can't built it, they need give it up and build something else instead.

Great to hear you had a better visit, Happy they've touched up some of the run down areas of the park but still sounds as though there's a long way to go. Very concerned and disappointed Sleepy Hollow is still derelict, to think the park was moving on up and now it's in the worst state it's been for a long time, wonder why it's not happened. Concerned on hearing speeds getting worse, this is currently my favourite gerst (Rage 2nd, Saw 3rd) and depending on summer, I may be returning again. One train ops don't surprise me at all, Speeds to an extent is justifiable but is probably unrelated to Smiler's accident and Megafobia with one op, that is poor especially to think that is their star ride. With some investment, this park could be great.

On the positive note, anyone who visits during the time when Scenic is closed gets a free return at anytime. Wait! That's another Chessington lead.

Gutted I could t join you guys but sounds like a great time was had. How was towers? How does Drayton compare to other parks? I'll be creaking back in for MOS (professor drunk might even make a brief appearance)

3, just because it's the only one not chosen

Hydro, New Texas Giant, Big One and others say hello

Three

These last two weeks at Towers have depressed me [bar food loop getting green light] and there was only thing I wanted to do, learn and create a piano arrangement on one of the best ride themes ever created