Glitch

Is SAW the best IP Merlin have got? Who would have thought we'd still be here releasing Saw Movies..... Whoever decided to pick this IP should be held at the same level of respect as John Wardley.
 

Is SAW the best IP Merlin have got? Who would have thought we'd still be here releasing Saw Movies..... Whoever decided to pick this IP should be held at the same level of respect as John Wardley.
 

https://www.container-xchange.com/blog/shipping-container-investment/ - Invest in your shipping containers now, Thorpe may have a large order coming soon.
 
*Not financial advice*

https://www.container-xchange.com/blog/shipping-container-investment/ - Invest in your shipping containers now, Thorpe may have a large order coming soon.
 
*Not financial advice*

Is SAW the best IP Merlin have got? Who would have thought we'd still be here releasing Saw Movies..... Whoever decided to pick this IP should be held at the same level of respect as John Wardley.
 

Yep, this is the key point:
 
Jack, and Kieran, are not - to the best of my knowledge - directly employed by the park / Merlin. They effectively operate as contractors. This isn't too dissimilar to how Thorpe work with other companies, such as Unique Concepts. In short, by hiring them as contractors, Thorpe get their expertise, whilst the contractors (in Jack's case, himself) can get more money than if they worked solely for Thorpe, and are free to work for other companies too. If anything, Thorpe are the ones who lose out slightly, but that's the way they go about things.
 
 
Access will in part be restricted for H&S reasons. I think it's notable that during Jack's on-site construction updates, it is only him (and not him and Kieran) on-site. There's a reason why we rarely see such in-depth coverage of coaster construction. I expect that the signing off and training process that Jack had to go through to be allowed on site is a lot.
 
When Coasterstudios did their update, I noted that they were only ever on the viewing platform above the offices. So they likely went through a different H&S sign off to be allowed on site. I'm certain that their presence was pre-approved by Thorpe, and not Jack just having a jolly with mates and letting who he wanted on site.
 
As for why them and no one else. Ultimately, Coasterstudios is huge across the pond, so will get a little more enthusiast buzz created in America, for very little cost. 
Now here's the thing, with the more Thorpe / UK centric sites. Who do you choose outside of Jack?
Do you choose DG95, who is clearly very passionate, but has a limited fanbase and who's videos are more rough the edges?
Do you choose Attraction Source, a large fansite who work with Merlin for paid extra events and produce higher quality videos?
What about ECC, with their broad reach?
Or CoasterForce; again somewhere with broad reach, one of the longest-running fansites about and who produce quality content? 
 
And what about TPM? We're the only sole-Thorpe-focused fansite around now; our reach on social media is very big (and our Facebook, in particular, attracts people far beyond the usual enthusiast circles).
 
So yeah, how do you choose? Why should any of them get access?
Maybe it's just a case of asking - I don't know if anyone else has, but I know TPM hasn't. Ultimately, as awesome as it would be to go onto a coaster construction site, I don't know what TPM (or anyone else) can offer that's different to the content that's already been produced by someone else. So why should anyone else get access...

Did you get RAP discount? 

Very important announcement - I'm going on a M E G A T R I P to the ISLAND LIKE NO OTHER on Thursday May 18th (2023).
 
Looking forward to trying out the new spa and getting on The Collosos. 

Industrial action is occurring see more information here: https://www.chessington.com/industrial-action/
·       Friday April 28 to Monday May 1
·       Friday May 5 to Monday May 8
·       Friday May 12 to Monday May 15*
·       Friday May 26 to Monday May 29*
 
Remember to support the engineers, perhaps even join the picket line,  and visit guest services for some free fasttrack after you have talked politely to an underpaid member of staff who has been shouted at all day by RAP holders.....

Can I just say, on record, if all this wittering actually means something legitimate with regards to Exodus in the end, then I salute you.
 
If it doesn't, may your Freestyle cup forever need to be taken to Guest Services to reactivate.

Good to see the initial Stealth marketing making an entrance!

Clearly that's how locked in my order is at Five guys just a burger and a hotdog for me, no fries or drink but thanks for pointing out, I will fact check in future to prevent mistakes from happening again... 

By queue you mean walking round the empty queueline and maybe stopping to merge with 50 RAP users?

That new "Quiet space" spa that's free is going to become a (pop) badge of honour on the MAP group isn't it? Will be more abused than the RAP passes.
 
I eagerly await the first "Loving the Thorpe Spa" picture followed by "were is this plz" and before you know it, it'll need it's own RAP queue.

The merch design this year is horribly camp..... 

The merch design this year is horribly camp..... 

I'm really disappointed with The Curse at Alton Manor (I can already hear the horde chasing after me), let me explain myself. Is it a bad quality experience? Good lord no, the area and the queue is fantastic, and the characters that walk around are hilarious!! It has good lighting and some nice effects. I just think it's tone is very unnecessarily dark and grim, especially for being marketed as a family attraction.
 
 
Personally I can only see people aged 12 and above really enjoying this ride and most below that age being more scared than actually having fun. They removed most of my favourite elements from duel/HH for either screens or dolls on sticks, which was a bad move Personally and removes a lot of the rides character. Most of the praise so far has came from mostly die hard UK enthusiats and nearly no reviews from the GP so far as it's only been open for one weekend, which is pretty ideal for most families to visit the park.
 
Let the hype die down and see if the attraction can still stand on its own legs in terms of what it's target audience thinks of it, and ignoring the Easter eggs, since most of the praise so far has came from nods to past attractions in the ride. Sure the ride can be scary, but I think it needs some good humour to go with it (but good lord is the story way too dark and serious, and that's coming from me, a ghost train lover.) The park already has enough gritty themes and wacky cuddly themes, I think this could've been the chance to refurb this ride as a nice balance of both, offering something for everyone of all ages.

Why does John Burton get so much credit / praise for everything. Yes he has creative direction but surely he's spread over so many projects at this point that there's teams of great people doing all the work but not getting any credit?
 
Is he the next John Wardley, seems like he's trying to fill those boots? 

Yes.
 
It's probably also helped that he's also a goon (he's come a long way from his heady days in the RCT3 community). But as the new face of Merlin's attraction team he will get the main flood of praise (much like Wardley did). Also seems fairly active online and knows how to get the interest of goons.
 
Always weird when people revere those in any industry mind. Can always backfire and lead to issues as we've seen before. But that's some weird trait of the modern world where because we can interact (directly and indirectly) with people many develop relationships that are completely non-existent. Hence how influencers and social media stars get an array of fans ready to throw hands if anything negative happens.
 
I'm sure JohnB is lovely, though I feel he and others on the team went overboard with Easter eggs on Alty Mans. Which is a definite goon thing to do.

It's funny how the park have managed to convince people that the return of paper maps is a new thing, and that this is some new style map. 
 
The map has been around for a few years around the park. Paper maps returned last year, with event overlays also happening too. People have short memories. 
 
The map focusing on direction and ease of use is weird. The park have said they're not focusing on themed areas because the park is small, yet they're using a highly accurate, bordering on bland, map so people can direct themselves. It's like the park hear feedback and seesaw from one extreme to the other, even if it creates contradiction. 
 
The BK modernisation is a good thing for practicality. However, to completely lose the theming is a real shame, especially when they seemed to be focusing on smaller details again. 

I love how the park are running a competition to be the first rider, however I highly doubt the winner will be the first, I'd bet all the enthusiast press days will be first and Silkstone will already have ridden 100 times

Why though?

Need to get to atleast rank 10 first

You might want to avoid supermarkets for the next couple of months m8
 

They really are cracking through things, and good to see Rocky being kept safe for it's retheme to fit in with Exodus.