TPJames

The theming looks stunning so far, let's just hope the attraction itself is equally as good! I just hope low throughputs and a windy cattle pen queue aren't the factors which bring the attraction down. If we see an immersing, well themed queue line followed by a highly themed and fun experience, it could shape up to be a really nice addition to the park. It's only a month to go now so I guess we just need to wait and see!

What will the park do if the swarm and stealth suffer fairly major breakdowns simultaneously? If swarm and stealth' winter maintenance hasn't been carried out to the full, and rides both suffer technical difficulties; whether it's for 1,2 or 3 days. What will the park do then? With no back ups it appears they only have the option to answer: "Rides and attractions are subject to avaliblity". However, I can imagine the few hundred people on park will be extremely angry paying a fee to get in and finding the top 2 rides closed, and only 4 kiddy rides to do. Rides are subject to avalibility may be an excuse when the full park is open, however in this case if they use that excuse they will be receiving a battering from park guests who have exclusively paid to ride the swarm and stealth and finding they are broken with no substitutions open. I imagine thorpe are going through this week praying nothing breaks down, as they will not have any solutions to the problems if the major rides are broken for a few days.

Do we actually know why the carousel was removed...? As far as I can see the attraction was in perfectly good shape; it was a very reliable attraction, which attracted several visitors especially during the summer season when the park was targeted towards the family market. It was an unique ride, which featured several memorabilia to commemorate thorpe park in previous years. With a fresh lick of paint it could have looked brilliant and it certainly fitted in with its surroundings. The only conclusion I could really think of as to why it was removed is to make way for the I'm A Celebrity attraction coming this year. Yes, we have heard several rumours that it was removed to make way for the 2016 dark ride however it didn't appear to be in the way in anyway possible. Does the real reason the carousel is getting removed appear to be that a new last minute addition needs room for a windy cattlepen queue? I hope not. If so, not only will a classic family ride be removed, a memorabilia to thorpe's park history will be gone for the sake of a decision which was only made a couple of weeks ago. If the carousel was genuinely removed to make way for the 2016 dark ride, I fully respect the decision. It makes business sense to replace a fairly popular family ride with something which will really wow the crowds. However, if the carousel was really removed to make space for the I'm a celebrity attraction, I will be thoroughly disappointed as there really will have been no need for it to have been removed in this case. I really hope the carousel is going for a new improvement to the park, not a scrappy last minute addition. (Please note, in no way I am saying I'm a celebrity will be bad, I am just extremely frustrated it may be a contributing factor to why the carousel has been removed. I think I'm a celebrity as the potential to be a fun experience and a real crowd puller, however will be really disappointed if it is the real reason for the removal of the carousel!)

I think the way the event has been set up and advertised has had a massive impact on the amount of people turning up this week. -The annual pass fee; not only is there a fee to visit the park, there is a reduced line up once inside. The extra £5 fee is bound to be pushing several annual pass holders away as they know they can experience a whole park for free weeks later. -The Lack Of Advertisment; Judging by social media, not many people even realised the park was open this week until around today due to thorpe's endless posts on facebook because of low numbers. However, those visiting also don't seem to realise that it's only reduced rides open, maybe this is due to the pretty hefty £20 fee for 6 rides and a show. -The lack of things to do; yes the park is open from 10am-4pm, however after completing all of the brainiac elements, there is still 4-5hours left of your day. Yes, re-rides are avalible due to short queues, however 6 rides just isn't enough to fill up the time slot and people would much rather visit when they can make the most of their day with a full ride line up. It's all very well saying that thorpe doesn't have enough open as there aren't enough people, however I think the way it is being run and advertised is resulting in low numbers. The only way to see if the event will work with more rides open is by trying it out with more rides. I certainly think that X, Detonator and possibly a flat could have assisted the current line up as maintenance could have been completed towards the beginning of the closed season instead of at this point. Alton Towers has a February event which works and pleases people, so does chessington, so it's just thorpe now who need to follow suit. I'm not saying it's not an enjoyable day out, I'm just saying it seems like there isn't enough open to make the trip worthwhile. The maintenance this year seems to be very last minute, as most rides have just started to be taken apart and done up from pictures I have seen. Not to mention, the carousel hasn't been removed either, as this will need to be done before the opening of I'm a Celebrity. Thorpe park seems very last minute this year, and all of their decisions have been at the very last minute they possibly could have been made, and with the ideas of gaining/saving as much money as possible and bringing the most guests in. Yes, an ideal business plan, however it needs to be executed in the right way and things need to be taken care of instead of rushed at the last minute in the future.

Tickets have lowered to £12.50 online, thorpe ovbiously are trying to get more heads through the door as queues aren't reaching over 5-10mins even on one train operation!

I completely realise that I have contradicted myself however I have changed my opinion of the event taking place since December. People change, opinions change; thats just the way it goes and the week is shaping up to be a lot emptier than I originally expected it to be, thus making it a much more enjoyable day out.

Benin, I believe you have hit the nail on the head here. The only reason I am considering visiting this week is because of the lack of queues, if the event was busy I doubt annual pass holders would be forking out £5 when they can experience the whole park for free weeks later. £15-£20 is pretty hefty for only 6 rides open and a show, and £5 is on the urge of being ridiculous for annual pass holders. HOWEVER, due to the good show, relaxed atmosphere and no queues it seems to shape up to be a good day out from what I've heard.

Despite my original negative attitude to this event, it seems to be getting good reviews and if it continues to be empty throughout the week I will definitely consider visiting. The Brainiac show sounds good and loads of rides on swarm and stealth would be great. If queue times keep to a minimum I may pop down for a nice trip Only negative so far is that Detonator was apparently originally advertised however isn't open. However, that doesn't bother me too much and it will be interesting to see if they add an extra ride to the line up if there is one ready or enough demand throughout the week.

Jungle run still airs on CITV from time to time, I have found myself watching it recently at is a great game show! Ovbiously they are airing old episodes, but it would be great to start it up again.

Art scholarship right there.

I imagine this won't attract much attention on this forum, however I think this is a particularly exciting development to Europe arriving in June this year! Adventure World Warsaw will contain several major features including a massive entertainment village, a theme park, a water park and two hotels. The theme park will be the first ever theme park to set foot in Poland and the water park will be the largest water park in the whole of Poland. The total cost of this project before opening is to be set around €620million and the resort plans to expand in the future. The theme park itself will contain 6 themed lands with over 50 guest experiences including 24 themed rides. It is said to include high adrenaline coasters, water rides, carousels and speciality themed performances and shows. As it's something I'm likely to visit in the near future, I am particularly excited about this project! Have a look below: http://www.adventureworldwarsaw.com/park-en/

Looking over the comments on facebook they are all completely against the idea. Think it would have gone down better if they didn't have a new attraction this year after all. I guess we will just have to see how it goes, I'm looking forward to giving it a try but it better be a good quality attraction.

What I don't get is the whole "family friendly" approach. I'm a celebrity is NOT a family TV show and I'm sure families wouldn't like to be experiencing it themselves together. It will either be decent or an absolute fail, I'm also worried about the throughput as I doubt it can be a high throughput attraction. Another potential problem is it ending up the way saw alive did, high running costs and not popular enough to justify running. PS if it includes celebrity cyclone, do you think this could just be the flowrider placed indoors incorporated in some way possible?

This is an interesting proposition, the park seems to be getting more involved with IP's lately so I'm a Celebrity definitely isn't a ruled out option. The clues do seem to point towards this direction, however I wouldn't be surprised if it was completely different as the clues seem quite unrelated. A brand new attraction seemed particularly out of the question, as this year is a small investment year and no planning permission was submitted prior to these clues being revealed. However, if an attraction takes place on exisiting grounds and doesn't require any major building, then I presume it doesn't require the permission from the council? I don't know how they would incorporate an I'm a Celebrity attraction however would placing it within the Studio 13 building be a suitable option? It could possibly be located partly outside and partly inside and the removal of the carousel could be potentially linked to this in some way possible? I understand studio 13 is a new attraction for fright nights, however relocating it and using the building wouldn't be the end of the world due to the building being fairly spacious. I really hope it's something exciting, the carousel was in perfectly good shape so I don't see why it would have been removed unless thorpe had an idea of placing something around the area in the future. I think my idea seems perfectly liable, however likely or unlikely it is to happen!

Thank you so much! I really think the Charlie Clouser themes really set the atmosphere around the lost city on fright nights. I just wish they had more atmospheric music playing across the whole park.I don't remember the music from 2013, however some more atmospheric and creepy music park aide would be nice. I would also like to change the ride themes back to what they were a couple of years ago for fright nights, as the current ones seem more uplifting than anything and the director's voice ruins the themes on some of the rides.

Does anyone know the name of the soundtrack played over the lost city during fright nights? It gives me the creeps and I would like to find out what it is! It's the soundtrack playing in this video, if anyone could let me know it would be really appreciated!

Looks a bit like the flow rider from last year at an above angle. Unsure how the first clue relates to this though. If it turns out the new attraction is a paid extra inside the park, I will not be a happy man.

Thorpe reach out to what the GP want every year; a new investment to the park year upon year and thorpe have fulfilled this request for a long time now. I said I would be particularly suprised if thorpe didn't advertise something new for 2015, as it is a fundamental factor in their business plan to expand the park and advertise new attractions every season. I don't have the foggiest of what it is going to be yet, however I am already excited. Whatever it is, it's more than most people were expecting so I'm likely to be happy with it whatever scale it's on. Roll on 2015.

Benin, whilst I agree it is a fantastic investment for the park to add, whether it really is generating that much attention is unknown to me. Tayto park as a whole is very small, and doesn't contain many attractions in the park. A trip to Ireland just for one rollercoaster in the general publics eyes is going out of their way for nothing. There are many alternatives for the GP which contain as good or even better attractions. Whilst I have no doubt this is causing immense excitement in the enthusiast community and in Ireland, stating everyone in the UK will be there at some point is a very broad assumption to make.

CCR is an interesting one, the track still remains so if the physical train still remains connected to the track could it be possible to return? With the carousel closing up this year, it may be worthwhile to have a filler attraction and CCR fits the family market and could be closed to make way for BWP during fright nights. I wonder what will be in the carousel's place this year, or if there is just a widened path to fill the void, will be interesting to see either way.

No one said it was a new ride, there are plenty of things the park could do and advertise as new without planning permission requested.

Peckish, Amity Fish N Chips, Amity Kebabs, Roast and Relish and the Coffee Shack will be avalible during half term.

For the last few years, thorpe haven't gone by without advertising something new for the year, as this can potentially bring a lot of new guests in. It would be particularly strange to see no new investment. I don't think it will be anything big, however I reckon thorpe will be advertising something new of sorts for the 2015 season.

Advertising an Angry Birds 4D experience by itself wouldn't have gained nearly as much attention as the whole of Angry birds Land did last year.I just feel ABL is wrong on so many levels. It is far, far, far better than storm surge but it feels so out of place. Thorpe really did try and advertise a whole new land so they could to bring in as many guests as possible but I feel like the result as a whole really makes the park look tackier than it ever has before: -Firstly, the May opening. Angry Birds Land could have easily been opened earlier, I'm not sure what's up with Merlin's late openings but they need to be changed, closing detonator off and a walkway which is good space in the middle of season does not make the park look good. -Secondly, the land itself. Thorpe have gone completely off dividing the park into lands over the recent years so why plonk a land in the middle of the park randomly? It doesn't make much sense. -Thirdly, the location. As I've said before it feels out of place, the land has no atmosphere to it and feels like a walkway to stealth, not a land with attractions in it. -Fourthly, the theming. The land itself has barely any theming to it, and in no way feels like Angry Birds except for the couple of bird models placed here and there. It seems like a poor effort, and on fright nights the land really stood out as this "removable theming" was never removed meaning the land stuck out like an eyesore during the evenings. -Finally, the IP. I don't know whether thorpe are trying to prepare themselves for paramount opening and trying to match them, or they are just going down the IP route in general, however I don't feel it's a good choice to take. The theming in films and games are much better than thorpe are likely to create, resulting in a disappointing experience, and that's what angry birds feels like. HOWEVER, I do actually enjoy the attractions within the "land". The Dodgems run really well except for the distinctive smell, detonator really does pack a punch and the 4D experience is great fun even if it is a little repetitive at times. If only they had incorporated the attractions into the park better than they did as the way they've done it really seems like an awfully lazy effort.

£5 for two minor rides seems pretty expensive considering it won't actually be that busy during the half term period. I believe last year it wasn't that busy, however in 2012 the event really did prove quite popular. I remember visiting to be greeted with 60minute queues for buccaneer and bubbleworks, which was really quite extraordinary as I've never seen them that long before. I completely understand the decision to add fastrack, my guess is there will be demand for it and therefore they will sell it. I reckon it could yet again be fairly busy this year during half term and I expect there will be at least 30minute queues on the rides open due to low throughputs and high volumes. It's an unfortunate move for the park to take as fastrack lowers throughput dramatically however I completely respect it from a business point of view. I would imagine thorpe will follow suit with their half term event and sell fastrack on the day if not advertising it online before hand.