Cal

The only way the Spring Clean idea could work is if Thorpe Park made an investment in capital gaining events such as Concerts, Clubbing Nights, and so on...to a higher marketed level that is. 
 
I.e. promote Late Nights as THE thing for 2015, as well as all sorts of artists performing...if that makes any sense. And to be honest it would be nice to have something like that rather than just a small ride. 
 
I think if they made the Events new for 2015, it could attract a substantial crowd, especially if they were on far more regularly next year. 
 
Personally I think Thorpe miss tricks on like Pool Parties, Foam Parties, etc in the summer during the day. 
 
As well as perhaps a totally new stunt show for the summer, or water jet/speed boat show. I did even think about this a while back, but if Thorpe Park were trying to attract the family market, perhaps an air show during the summer would be an excellent idea...(yes I know certain rides, and heights, etc) but imagine, the views around Thorpe Park to watch an air show would be fantastic, a lake and an island, and this would certainly draw in the family market. Perhaps a little premature here but you could go as far as to get competitions, although the Red Bull Air Race is unlikely, similar smaller competitions would be fantastic. 
 
 
Furthermore there are areas that Thorpe Park could have Pleasure Rides on Speed Boats, a cost effective thrill...obviously Health and Safety would have to be assessed. But it does surprise me there is no Ski place, Bannana Boat, Ringo, etc, etc. Not least for Hotel Guests now! (Whether this be a paid extra or included is debatable). Personally it is very frustrating to have a beautiful lake, and it is not capitalised by the park...lets get some Ski competitions, Pleasure Rides and anything else!
 
However these are all suggestions, that could potentially boost capital and popularity...making the park not just about rides...it would be excellent for the long haul as well, to promote the multi functional Thorpe Park Resort! So there you go that's what I think should be in Thorpe Parks Resort 2015! 

Up to 10 people is ridiculous, thought it was only 3 people? Defiantly won't be trying this out in the summer then.

I know it's not a YouTube video, but it's a video and I had no idea where to post this. I have no idea what Thorpe was thinking when they posted this been in 2009, but it's rather disturbing
 
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1200189566592&set=vb.27217550866&type=2&theater

Zodiac was only open because the beach was closed and it's in the same team so they just switch to another ride

Dun dun dunnnnn 
 

(From TPG)

I think the reason it was removed as the gas tanks were in Stealths area, so they needed to remove them for Stealth. Not 100percent sure though, someone correct me if that's wrong

I think the reason it was removed as the gas tanks were in Stealths area, so they needed to remove them for Stealth. Not 100percent sure though, someone correct me if that's wrong

I have been on the Dodgems plenty of times on two different days, and every time I've queued. I've never seen anyone be forced to go in a two before so I don't understand why they were doing this? 

It really is painfully slow to load, however lets be honest the queue is never very long no matter what - no more than about 20 - 30 minuets, so either way its not a long ride to wait for.
I think the main reason is something to do with the air compression, even in its early days it took forever to actually do a full cycle and round again...they are clearly waiting for something...its not a case of staff being lazy, clearly they are waiting for something...and thus makes the need to batch during the ride defunct as guests will still be waiting. 
In reality however I wish I knew the actual reason...I totally love Slammer, my complete Flat Ride, the best in the Business, in my opinion...it is just so imposing, great feeling of free fall when going the right way...also it has a lovely sound of a ride with the air compression and wind as it spins, and the whirls...it really is a hidden gem in my opinion...I know many people hate it with a passion for all sorts of reasons, and I can totally understand that too! 
 
The thing I feel most sad about this ride is its clear neglect firstly as it has been out of action for a year and was clearly showing its age mixed with a long closed season, but secondly as a ride itself, you see the queue that is never used anymore, and you look at the ride and think...this really should be one of THE rides in the park...but its not...such a shame. 

Saw the 4D experience today.  Was quite impressed overall, and all the water sprays were refreshing considering the weather!

Note: For some reason I am unable to post photos or even past in links to my photos...I'll try and work it out.
 
I rode Ratatouille twice last week and I have to say I was very impressed. I loved the way that the ride vehicles move, it really makes you feel like you're on a rat when they move in different directions and reform in another order.
 
The 1st scene is the only one where you really notice the floor, but it is kind of worth it because of the way the effect on entering the room is great. Lots of sights and smells too throughout the ride. You also end up with a view of the restaurant which looks very nicely themed!
 
Queues were long for both days I was there. (It only opened at 1pm on the first day, perhaps for filming because they had planters blocking the way.) On the 2nd day the queue on arrival at the park at 9:30am was all the way back to the entrance of the park from the initial 'studio' building. (Along the back path and then down the centre of the park). However there was a cast member giving out fast passes if you showed your park tickets! That meant we didn't have to queue at ALL. When we returned for our fastpass slot (10:40) the queue was basically covering the whole area and up out towards Tower.
 
Overall though I think this is a great addition to the park.

This will always be brilliant. http://youtu.be/JPfCQVmzxsg

I know it's not a YouTube video, but it's a video and I had no idea where to post this. I have no idea what Thorpe was thinking when they posted this been in 2009, but it's rather disturbing
 
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1200189566592&set=vb.27217550866&type=2&theater

Noticed this on both days that I went this year, the queue was about half an hour. Most people were in 2's, the queue would of been so much quicker if they were filling them up. At Thorpe we got put with people at about a 5-10 minute queue, which I think is a good thing. Same with the Flume, but by the time it was our turn we had to go with people, after it breaking down a few times making the queue massive.

lol just saw this on YouTube and thought it was too good brilliant reaction

No idea where to put this, but it needs posting...
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea5F7VfjN8A
(first 3 minutes)

I hope Thorpe hear this and start playing it in the queue line  

I understand how you feel! I hate blood tests! It always make me even more nervous if the nurse doing it is not that friendly :/

So this weekend its the river festival in bedford and there is always a funfair for it! Before I get into my report I shall do a ride count
Danter's Superstar - 2x
Parrish's Extreme- 1x (it was having technical problems and me and luke waited about 3 minutes before the safety bars opened so we could get on the ride!)
Stokes's Dream's Live - 1x
Ghost Train - 1x
Matthew's Tango - 1x
Miami -1x
Wallis's Vertigo Booster - 1x
So onto the rides! Danter's superstar is probably the best superstar travelling in the country and it was my first ever superstar! Very intense yet relaxing! It also had air gates for the exit and entrance which is really neat! It was along the same quality in presentation as one of germanys travelling rides! Had a brilliant backflash and brilliant sound system
Tango was a ride I was not too keen on doing but I thought well at least go on it its worth a try! It was horrible! The straps on the shoulders rubbed on my shoulders and it hurt! And my neck was forced into the safety bar as it flipped over I gripped on for dear life haha but I would ride it again!
Parrish's extreme is always a brilliant ride but it was having a few technial issues! Me and luke payed to get onto the ride and we went to sit down but the safety bars were locked and would not lift up and we eventually got onto the ride but halfway through the cycle it just stopped but luckily the operator sent us around again!
Dreams live is a new ride to the uk (it came to the uk from france this year now owned by spencer stokes) its a wonderful ride! Its VERY VERY forceful when the ride goes at full speed which is luckily only for about 30 seconds at the end of the ride cycle which is good as it makes the ride not too sickly the safety bars hold you only at the hip and legs like mondial restraints do (dreams life is a technical park ride!)
Ghost train and miami - not much to say they are just the standard miami and ghost train you find on a uk fair!
Vertigo - now this was my first ever upside down flat ride which I first rode back in 2012 at milton keynes! This time it seemed to be very extreme as it was holding us upside down and then flipped as it came to the station! It was a brilliant ride which lasted about 5 minutes! When we were at the top waiting for the other car to load it seemed to shake a bit violently this could be due to the speakers as they were loud! But it did end up having technical issues at the end of the day!
Hope you enjoy my report and here's a video of tango!

I too visted yesterday evening, after doing the 1st one last Friday which was a blast. Thought I try another one, god it was dead.

After arriving about 6:30, picking up wristband at Annual Pass hut, started from Saw (Open dead on 7) and then did-Colossus (did't open dead on 7) then X - Swarm - Stealth then ended the night on Inferno in that order.

Park was virtually deserted, most of the time when arriving into the ride station didnt have to move seats much at on Swarm & Inferno.

By the time I got to Inferno it was getting dark and flying. While riding got welcome to fantastic electrical lighting storm in the distance, about 5miles away (near these red towers) everytime going up the lift "FLASH" was mental

Ride Count
Saw 1
Colossus 3
X 6
Swarm 10
Stealth 4
Inferno 27
Total: 51

For 3hrs on park, think thats the best I done for awhile.

Friday 18th July 2014 - Trip Report
 
RIDES CLOSED ALL DAY: Slammer (sadly D: ) Tidal Wave ( Although it apparently resumed operation about an hour after I left)
RIDES THAT OPENED LATE: Loggers Leap ( opened around 1pm) SAW - The Ride ( opened around 20 mins late)
 
Went with some of my friends on a school trip, was expecting the pack to be packed but somehow the queues were very short, most rides were 5 - 15 mins for the first hour of the day. We went to depth charge's office and attempted to buy a Full Throttle fast track but they were sold out so the kind lady gave us a alternative and to pay £20 for 4 major coasters instead of 5 so we had Stealth, Saw-The Ride, Swarm and Nemesis Inferno. ( We didn't pick Colossus due to the roughness and it was a good job as it was breaking down a lot today!) These didn't start till 1pm so we raided the flats.
 
Anyways after that we decided to head for Rush, 3 of my friends went on this and me and my other friend queued up for Colossus as it was only a 5 minute queue, however when we got into the station it had to be evacuated due to technical difficulties so we joined our friends on Rush. I have to say it was running perfectly today, both swings in operation and perfectly in Sync I think it was really Rush's day today it also stayed open all day with not a single breakdown =D
 
After this we went to Vortex which yet again was a 5 minute queue, like Rush this was running very well, just very juddery at start up. We stayed on 2 more times as the queue line was empty. We then rode Quantum, zodiac which were both good. After this we went to slammer to find 2 members of staff saying it is closed for essential maintenance and two engineers were at the top all day trying to fix it, it did test a few times but failed to open while I was there. We then went on Samurai which was on a very good cycle and parked perfectly. Before we stopped off at Pizza Hut for lunch we did detty which was amazing.
 
After Lunch it was time to use the fast tracks on the coasters it went fine for 2 out of 4 coasters. Our first one was Saw but we were at the front and they stated that it had a running breakdown, luckily the staff were very informative and just stated that the running breakdown was just to add the 8th car as engineers had finished working on it. Next was Inferno and all went smoothly there except the slow loading, we had to wait around 3 mins outside the station waiting for the other train to be dispatched. Next was Stealth, again we were near the front of the queue and it ceased operation due to a fail launch, most likely due to the heat. After 10 minutes the engineer had fixed it and it was all running smoothly again, it was my first ever time on Stealth it was just breathtaking. Lastly, we did Swarm which was also quite good but I preferred Stealth.
 
After the coasters we went on Rumba Rapids and Vortex again, sadly after this it was time to leave
 
RIDE COUNT: 
 
Rush x 4
Vortex x 6
Zodiac x 2
Quantum x 5 ( More intense than I remember it )
Mr Monkeys Banana Ride x 1
Detty x 1
Samurai x 2
Swarm x 1
Saw The Ride x 1
Nemesis Inferno x 1
Stealth x 1
Loggers Leap x 1
Dodgems x 2
Rumba Rapids x 2
Storm In A Teacup x 3
 
Total: 31 ( I believe I went on a few more than this but I can't remember them all)
 
Pros:
Rush, Samurai and Vortex running amazingly
Friendly Staff ( especially on Saw)
Short Queue Times
A lovely atmosphere in the park
Amazing and helpful staff at the depth charge fast track office place
 
Cons:
Slammer and Tidal wave closed all day
Some rides opened late (  mainly Loggers)
Quite a bit of queue jumping
Hot Weather
Colossus breaking down lots of times during the day.
Lack of vending machines working
 
Overall, quite a good day out, had fun with my friends and the rides that were open were quite reliable. Sadly I came off with a headache after Saw due to it being quite rough we had car 1 which wasn't exactly smooth. I also had to applaud how quick the engineers come once called about a ride breaking down, they were the in seconds to fix stealth!
 
Thanks for reading my trip report sorry its a bit long

Summer Nights was so good today!
The park was virtually dead meaning that we didn't have to wait longer than one train, usually walking straight on the coasters.
 
RIDECOUNT:
Stealth x6
Nemesis Inferno x6
The Swarm x5
Saw x4
Colossus x2
X x2
Tidal Wave x2
Storm Surge x1
 
TOTAL:  28
For three hours in the park I consider that a very impressive ride count!

This image was taken off the Thorpe park instagram. That said it will be open for tomorrow  

Thorpe Park have now  snapchat. Follow 'thorpe-park' for pictures and videos live from the park. Interesting move, I wonder how many people will add them.

BOSTON
Day 1
After a nice and early waking up at 6:30 AM, I left my house soon after 7.
Barging my way through the busy streets of a working London.
Here... My journey begins.
To begin with, I'd never been on an airbus before, or over the atlantic. Infact, I'd never been out of Mainland Europe or UK timezones!
The trip just getting to the airport was all rather exciting. Shoving my way through busy communting crouds, getting on the heathrow express where the ticket masters were dressed like tall oompa loompas... It was all surreal.
It's all fine and dandy me rambling on, but lets add some pictures to keep your interest up.
Because of my Dad's work, I'm gonna get alot of privaliges on the trip... to begin with, first class baggage and the concord lounge.

The best bit about being in the T5 terminal lounge was that you got a view of thorpe park...

(Probably really hard to see but you can glimpse stealth in the middle left side)

After going through customs looking really dodgey with my older brother all wired up to oxygen tanks (he suffered from bad sleep the night before and couldn't walk properly in the morning) we had a quick look in the shops. I spotted these (Incase you don't know, theres a special place in my sweet book for hershey cookies 'n' creme):

Yeah yeah, all great having American candy in an airport. Fly for six hours and you can get 2 packs of the same thing for half the price! (I KNOW FOR SURE COS I DID IT INNIT BRUV).

Next, we got a little underground train to our gate. SINCE WHEN DID AIRPORTS HAVE UNDERGROUND TRAINS WAT OMG?!?!?!?!

After some security freaking out about the compressed cylinders stuck to the back of me for my bro, we finally entered to the gate, and for the first time I saw our plane.

Believe it or not but I have a horrid fear of flying. Being 27,000 ft up in the air scares me, aswell as knowing that the wings are full of compressed explosive stuff and fuel, and that the plane is essentially braking simple scientific laws in staying afloat. Also, during the descent of the flight, I get terrible migraine like head aches. This flight however was very pleasant. The food was great, they had a good selection of movies... and it wasn't very noisy, so I slept for a couple hours too.

After a 6 and a half hour flight (double my longest flight before) we finally arrived... 30 seconds after spotting land, turning on my iPod and yelling at my little brother to get out of the way I took this... the border islands of Boston.

tbh I didn't find the view that stunning. The oly other places I've flown are Iceland and South spain, flying over volcanoes, glaciers, mountains and cities glowing like fire flies stuck on a black tarpaulin. It was still nice (for me atleast) to finally see land.

Now this... This is the bad ass bugger off view from our hotel. Again because of my Dad's work we're getting all these fancy things, including the hotels (essentially) penthouse, complete with 3 bathrooms, 3 bed rooms and a sitting room. The price of these rooms for 3 days (the duration of our stay) is double the price of our whole trip. I spose if you had a good bit of money you'd probably want this more for the fantasmical, superblical view.

We unpacked our bags, yelled at each other a bit, and then went down stairs and had dinner. The restuarant we went to was called the salty pig, and they did great pork pizza's:

(That's my older brother with the heart condition opposite, looking at his phone, alot more energetic then earlier after getting some good food in him )

And that was the end of our first few hours in America


Day 2

After waking up at 6AM (11am British time) by my little brother jumping on my bed and turning on the TV, I got up and went to the pool with him. We stayed there for an hour, before coming back up to our room and then getting dressed to go out for breakfast. My mother had planned for us to meet up with some of her old school friends, who happened to both be history teachers, and took us on a detailed tour of Boston's 'Freedom trail'. Overall I wouldn't rate it very highly, the path was very repetitive and had lots of gaps between attractions. I did like the parks and architecture though:

This is one of the original state houses where the decleration of independance was signed. You can tell by the domed roof rapped in gold 'colored' tin foil.

Just outside our hotel was the trinity church. It's architecture is stunning, it just stands out in the modern city scape. Sort of reminds me of a french castle mixed with a middle eastern styled shape. In the first '10 most important buildings in America' list, of 1885, this featured. It is the only building that still features in the list today:

In the foreground of this picture you can see a baseball cap. That evening, we got free box tickets to a derby baseball game... Boston Red Sox VS Chicago White Sox.

To begin with, the game was just like I predicted. Dull and boring. Nothing really happened until the 7th of 8th inning, where the atmosphere of the stadium lifted, and finally things started happening. The home team (Red Sox, who we were supporting) fell behind, but soon gained it back with a huge double by 34, Ortiz. After that, everything was intense and wild. I really enjoyed the second half of the game, as it was so close and you could tell the game was something significant. And we had amaing seats.
The game ended in a 10th inning win by the Red Sox ending the game 4-3. I never realised how technical baseball was, or how much batters missed the ball haha.

Finally, on our walk back to the hotel (everything was so close) we walked past the Bombing area from the marathon last year. There were some flowers and flags hanging from the lamp post nearest the spot of the bomb, and the fire station had buckets out collecting funds. The presence in this particular area was dark, and sad. May the families effected sleep in peace.

But the fire trucks sure looked good. The sirens fascinate me in America, they sound like Skrillex is sitting in the back making a new track.
http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/10698-toofs-american-road-trip/#entry186719
After saying good bye to our pals who kindly gave us the baseball tickets, we got up to our room and it was very dark outside. The view again was breath taking... So I took this:

Beautiful, isn't it?


Day 3


For a second day, we ate breakfast at Au Bon Pain, which do nice sausage burgers, and chocolate muffins. to be honest by the time I ate breakfast I already felt fat.

Because my older brother is considering university options (or was), we had a look at Harvard today. As a whole, the campus bored me. I'm not particularly interested in going to university, and there was nothing exciting or different at harvard besides the fact that some major braniacs were walking all round you. I did pick up a couple interesting facts about the statue of John Harvard.
1. John went to St. Olaves in Orpington, England. It's a 15 minute drive from my house and my older brother goes there because his brain is too big for good.
2. The statue of John Harvard is the third most photographed in America, after the Lincoln memorial and the statue of liberty.
3. The statue of John Harvard isn't actually John Harvard. The statue was made in memorial of a library fire, in which all books, portrtaits and descriptions of John were burned, and the statue is actually one of an earlier president.
Aaaanyyyywaaayyyy, we soon left due to my little brother and I bleeting for food, and my older brother looking for a uni Shop.
We found this crazy little burger place where lovely gran's serve and cook for you, whilst yelling at each other loads. The menu is full of stupidly hilarious and offensive jokes about people too. (Please look over the jokes if you don't agree with them. I'm simply the person showing you this, not writing them).

Can I just point out that root beer, is disgusting. It's one of the first drinks I don't like, but I think due to it's similarity to coke (another drink I can't stand) I didn't much like it. My family described it as coke with caramel in it.

After ordering, my Dad was the only one brave enough to order one of the oddly named burgers... He went for the Justin Bieber. He said;
'I 8, woz gr8, no h8 8/8'
To be honest, it looked pretty crap. But my Dad thought it tasted okay. ^

Later on that day, we went to the Boston tea party museum. The experience was actually really good, and matched a theme park attraction in the quality of indulgence in the theme. However, if you are a Loyal Patriot, I'd suggest against going. Some of the tour includes some short movies which very much demonise the British, and some of the more Patriotic americans blurt out potentially offensive slurs.
I'd never thought I'd witness it, but after the tour and everyone was cheering for the tour guide, one of the guys yelled out 'GOD BLESS 'MURICAAAAHHHRRR!!!!' which was followed by a load of whooping. I can't work out if it's pationate culture or just sheer dumbness. Probably a mix seeing as the man also blurted several over stupid comments.

After going through the shop (and disputing if I should buy a shot glass for Josh here, or at Universal*) we headed over to quincy hall, which used to be the fishing trade hall back when Boston was a major fishing port. It's now a huge, 200m long food court with over 50 different stalls offering you a variety of food.
In the end, we didn't get anything from here, but headed over to the end of the freedom trail where it goes through an italian part of town. The architecture changed and reminded me of the streets you see in West Side Story, and places like Chicago. And then, we came across the supposed 'Best Pizza in America!!'... Regina's. The restuarant was really popular, and there was a queue to enter. Again it was kind of like a diner, and was really crammed full. The waitors seemed crazy, and were really cheerful and up beat. I certainly wouldn't suggest going there if you get head aches easily. The noise is great if you want to get immersed in the diner, but otherwise, it's a real headache, but the service is quick and you can take away at any time.

Look at the length of that queue.... LOOK AT ITTTTTTT. You know a place is good if it's got a queue. That's only half of it aswell, someone walked past me as I took the picture and his head blocks the rest of it.
anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the pizza and it had a good punch of flavour. The toppings were great and the base and crust were really well cooked. Great meal, would highly recommend if you're getting sick of typical American food.

Here's our pizza. It's 16 (well actually around 18) inches big, and we got 2 of em. A margharita and a pollo, and we still have 3 slices left over. It was delicious, huge and filling.

So now I'm sitting at the desk in the hotel, looking at this beautiful view with a full moon, and next to me is my little brother nagging me to use the computer. Tomorrow I head to Connecticut to meet my uncle, mess about on his lake, go shopping and hopefully go to at least one theme park if my parent's mood improves!

COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS WELCOME.

I managed to recover most photo's that my mother deleted, but all my videos are gone. * Josh C and I struck a deal and I agreed to buy him a shot glass in America. I have not bought it yet.
Due to the fact I was rude to my parent's after they deleted my videos I've been supposedly banned from visitng theme parks, but the amount of vouchers Dunkin' Donuts, the hotel and coke cans have been giving us, I'm fairly sure I'll at least get to go there.
Finally, restuarant count! (That we've seen but not necessarily gone into)
Dunkin' donuts = 11 - Iced cookies and Creme drink is amazing!
Starbucks = 10
Mcdonalds = 3
Burger King = 2
Wendy's = 1
KFC = 0