Matt 236

Today, myself and others made our way to the park to check out the new area. Here’s just some of my thoughts. 
 
Tornado Springs is a lovely area and really adds another dimension to an already great park. It’s must be amongst the best areas I’ve seen in recent years. 
 
Storm Chaser is a lovely fun coaster with a very reasonable throughput, Cyclonator is surprisingly thrilling, the drop towers are fun and the tractor ride pleasant. Rest of the area further compliments this. 
 
Rest of the park still great and surprisingly busy. The comparison of newer areas to the likes of where Cobra and the Flume are located is remarkable. Hopefully they’ll sort those next. 
 
All in all great park to see if you can. And worth the longer drive compared to say Chessington.
 
A few photos. 

**David Attenborough has entered the thread**

**David Attenborough has entered the thread**

Well when two boats love each other very much.. Okay maybe not now, it is a family forum.

@Matt Creek I cannot believe that Forbidden Tomb has returned!! I am delighted in fact ecstatic.I told you all to believe me and that Abdab would resurrect. From now on can you ALL take my word. Roll on the 17th of May when hopefully someone will vlog from inside Forbidden Tomb and we’ll see Abdab again.

Right. So Wisey & myself took a little trip to Chessington today, which would be our first trip and park visit of the year. 
 
To Sum Up:
Park is the best it’s looked in years, from areas such as Mexicana and Land Of The Dragons receiving noticeable touch ups  Park Audio was rather messy and untidy in several places, maybe there’s issue  All key eating places were open, although the surprise lack of outdoor seating was a little disappointing  Majority of staff were friendly enough, although there were some issues with one or two  Blue Barnacle is alright, least they replaced Buccaneer Zufari has interesting amendments   
Park operations left room for improvement, with rides stacking and breaking down often. Maybe these are start of season glitches but they still need addressing. RAP needs sorting because it’s getting a bit out of hand now! The park definitely warrants 7pm close, was very busy today!

Finally tried Croc Drop too. It’s a nice enough addition and looks visually pleasing (from the front). Nothing ground breaking but fun all round.
 

Maybe Forbidden Tomb will be the name of the top-spin going in Tomb Blaster's building?

2021 Edition Part two.
 
The other day, someone said Steel Vengeance was over-rated. I'm going to stand out here, shout to the world that if you decide to refer to something as over-rated then you have no critical discourse whatsoever and you need to pick up a thesaurus and learn some new descriptive language. Saying something is over-rated is the laziest critique anyone can possibly muster up because it requires no explanation and only looks to disregard peoples opinion. It says to others, 'sure you like a ride but thats only because you're following the crowd. No, I am the only true oracle, the only one that can see past the rose tinted glasses of hype and I stand before you now to tell you that you're a blind sheeple. Follow me, I declare that Steel vengeance/Taron/Nemesis/anything people quite like isn't as good as you think it is'.
 
Under-rated is different. There are so many attractions out there (Alpina Blitz at Nigloland for example) that fall completely under the radar and deserve to be spoken about more. The term under-rated is actually quite nice because it can be used to inspire people to try something or go somewhere they wouldn't necessarily go to without the recommendation. 
 
Over-rated is an awful awful phrase and looks to just belittle others viewpoints and enjoyment. 

We will get Bouncezilla and Gamefx back if we are lucky
 
If Loggers came back, I'd be a dutchman's uncle. They are probably waiting for it to just collapse to save on the good old demolition costs knowing them.

Sourced via Theme Park Guide's Facebook...

 
A freshly painted monkey
 

I hear Efteling has this entrances pictures all over the guest services!!

Narrator: it will

Basically. 

It really is a shame the amount of issues Lightning Rod has had and looks set to continue to have going forward.
 
The coaster is quite clearly a massive hit in the community and I can not wait for the day I get the chance to ride it, but there is simply no denying that it has been an absolute nightmare for Dollywood AND RMC in regards to maintenance and upkeep.
 
Very doubtful we are going to see RMC touch launches anytime soon given that it very much looks like the launch is the issue with Lightning Rod as made apparent by the scaling back of its speed near immediately after it opened.

Short answer: No
Long answer: Nope.

Stealth turns 15 years old today! Almost hard to believe it is actually that old..!
 
If you feel like reminiscing a bit, or simply haven't seen construction photos of Stealth, we have a nice selection of photos on the TPM Stealth page for your viewing pleasure...

Sure.
 
1/ Life centre point 
 I have visited this place most years of my life. 1996 was roughly when I first went with family and fondly remember the charm and now defunct attractions such as Carousel Kingdom, Tropical Travels and Wicked Witches Haunt.
 
After a six year hiatus I finally returned to the park in 2006 (which by then felt almost unrecognisable). Countless trips  with school, family and friends took place. Before an even bigger influence commenced. 
 
The park certainly had much influence into who I am today. I even worked there a number of seasons ago. 
 
 
2/ Friends and Social Aspect
Thorpe has been something of a social hotspot for me. I’ve been here with friends and bumped into friends. I’ve even made new friends there (some on this forum). Some of my favourite trips to the park have been during TPM meet ups. As others have said, this lead to visiting further parks in Europe and beyond.
 
3/ Certain Rides
Thorpe’s selection is arguably a mixed bag. Some are great, others can’t hold a candle and the rest might just be adequate. 
 
Those that are great are simply something. Inferno gets better with age, Swarm is a decent wing rider and Stealth might just be only second to TTD when it comes to first launches. The flat rides range from ok to great, but with rides like Detonator and Quantum it is probably the best in the U.K.

So a fair few updates here to rattle through:
 
Track was completed end of January:
https://www.facebook.com/MovieParkGermany/posts/3849561588422400
 
The park also shared images of the trains, which arrived a couple of weeks back:

 
The trains are in fact heavily inspired by the vehicle used from the old Tram Tour experience the park had, which closed in 2007:

(credit to @Eftelflags on Twitter)
 
IMA Score recently recorded the soundtrack:
A 63 piece orchestra and 40 person choir were involved.
 
The ride will include onboard audio, and will also feature a new character which the park hope to utilise beyond the ride from what I understand.
 
Assuming local restrictions allow it, the ride should be open by the beginning of June (which is the park's standard opening period for larger new investments).
 
Personally, I very much expect this to be more akin to a dark ride with coaster sections, rather than a coaster with dark ride sections. Not that that's a problem (if anything, I think that's what the park needs)
 
I'm not sure when I'll get out to try this, but I'm really looking forward to seeing to final product!

Things be like.

An Enterprise was bought in in 2000 shortly after the fire to compensate for the rides which were closed. Not sure if it was the same one which was then used for Zodiac from 2001 until it was replaced in 2006.
 
Detonator is a funny story. The short version: It was bought by the park and installed in the 2001 season too, but the park only applied for temporary planning permission (1 year). It ended up being really popular though, and the park decided to keep it and got permanent permission
 
 
The long version, for those interested: After the fire in 2000, Thorpe wanted to use the space affected to get a coaster to open in 2001. Their choices were either a Vekoma SLC, or a Rock n Roller Coaster clone, both of which could have been ready by summer 2001. Plans were actually submitted and approved (I can't remember for which one though), but the park then encountered some issues and ultimately had to shelf the project.
 
The project was shelved around October 2000, but the park still wanted something in that location (and by that point, plans for Vortex and Zodiac were well under way). A drop tower had been discussed in the past (for the Lost City area), so that's what they went for. Quick and easy to buy and build, easy to get approval, but always intended to be a quick fix until the park put a coaster on that site. That's why they applied for it to only be there a year.
 
2001 came and it ended up being one of the most popular rides on park. It was unexpectedly popular, and the park felt that had to keep it. They applied for permission again, but only for another temporary term, this time 5 years. The logic there was that because it is effectively a fairground ride that they rushed in, they weren't sure how popular it would be long term, or how it would fair from a maintenance perspective. 5 years passed and they realised it was fine on all fronts, so they sought, and got, permanent permission.
 
(Let's just take a second to pause here, and be very very grateful for the fact we have Nemesis Inferno over a Vekoma SLC)
 
Fair to say that it is, seemingly, a different story to Towers' situation.
 
 
----
 
 
As for Towers getting fairground rides temporarily... Yeah, they need flat rides, and that's been a glaring problem for years now. If they only way they can get them is to bring in temporary additions to show there's demand for them, it speaks volumes about the situation the park, and Merlin, are in high up...

I can list what was a sketchy plan and as a bonus I'll even update it for you as to why its cancelled. Lucky for all.
 
April
Californias Great America
Disneyland California
 
Cancelled as we can't leave the country
 
Alternative plan is to visit Paultons for Tornado Springs and a trip to Chessington as the fiancé hasn't been for 12 years. 
 
August
Tivoli Gardens - Denmark
Wonder Island - Russia
Linnanmaki - Finland
Grona Lund - Sweden
 
Probably all will be cancelled because even if we got on the cruise ship, the chances of the respective ports being open for the ship to disembark from is miniscule. Annoying as we booked it a year ago, just before all this kicked off. 
 
September
 
Walt Disney World
Univesal Studios
Busch Gardens Tampa
 
All completely dependant on if we can leave the country and if we can get into the USA. 
 
The usual suspects will probably appear such as Alton Towers, Disneyland Paris and maybe even Thorpe Park after a two year absence. All completely dependant on so many factors. 
 

It's a Sin is an essential watch. I would say the most important drama for at least a decade. There's very little drama featuring the AIDS epidemic and its eye opening and heartbreaking.

It’s quite ambitious I know and I’m hoping to cram it all into this time frame.
 
So far I’ve only managed a trip to the Post Office and my local takeaway.

Right given the state of the ongoing pandemic, I’ve had a bit of a rethink.
 
The kitchen
The Living Room
The Field
A long trip to Iceland
B&M (Bargains)
M&S Car Park
 
Maybe a trip to Thorpe Park!

I’d rather have the coaster called Monster and have those “old school” restraints than being Blue Harvest with those horrible new vests.
 
Excellent move by Grona and B&M.