Chessiekid

We did run it with 5 trains a few times back in 2014. Our rides manager at the time was really pushing for it, but the ride kept going down daily with various issues. Because of that, he decided to scale it back to 4 trains permanently, or 3 on off-peak days. After that, it never operated with 5 trains again during the time I worked there.

I made this to fit on the island behind swarm and stealth, its based on the idea that a monster lives in the the lakes around the island and has a loose pirate theme, sort of a throw back to the old treasure island. I also added a log flume to replace logger that could also be expanded upon theme wise. Anyway I think something like could be really fun and fill the airtime sized hole in Thorpes line up.

I made this to fit on the island behind swarm and stealth, its based on the idea that a monster lives in the the lakes around the island and has a loose pirate theme, sort of a throw back to the old treasure island. I also added a log flume to replace logger that could also be expanded upon theme wise. Anyway I think something like could be really fun and fill the airtime sized hole in Thorpes line up.

Nothings more patronising then your sarcastic comments on everything though

Not true, plenty of rides have snappy turns and utilize lap bars. Just take a look at Iron Shark or Dare Devil Dive, both Eurofighters both use lap bars
Don't belittle me with a completely unfounded comment and then proceed to patronize me with a question like that. Especially as you seem to have no idea what your talking about.

I was operating there back in 2013/14 so left before The Smiler incident so I would imagine things have probably changed a bit. I remember having to do like 12 hour practical hours before being able to operate Tomb Blaster and Rattlesnake then on top of that it was 2 hours reading a COSWP. There was also a theory test and practical test. The emphasis still then was massively on H&S and interactivity, getting high throughput's was never really encouraged at all. We were always told (much to my annoyance) "Make sure you are taking your time with your checks and showing guests safety is the number one priority." At rides like Rattlesnake we would only have 6 cars running yet it seemed like there was constantly 2 cars stacking (Again this infatuated me) because attendants were moving as slow as snails, constantly worried that they had got the slightest of things wrong. In my second season especially the environment seemed to be one of fear over disciplinary action for using your incentive instead of sticking to the book.

Oh, you're JakeC?
 
Yeah you make the best PC projects I've seen. Keep up with the brilliant coaster work!

From a company which spends significant money opening attractions to be staffed from a huge centrally funded promo budget for a set period, and then dumps the the resulting white elephant which is so expensive to run it is inoperable on the park a season or two later, I wouldn't be massively sure they did.
 
It does appear that for both this and Galactica the kit isn't really up to the job.

I did read the comments on one of Thorpe's Facebook posts about the Ghost Train, and there were two types of comments. A majority of posts were people who hadn't enjoyed the ride at all and thought it was a waste of time, the rest were people who hadn't yet ridden who were looking forward to it due to the marketing hype 

If anyone is  interested I try to build realistic/detailed parks in Planet Coaster.
 

Saw is one of the most iconic and we'll known (horror) film franchises of the 21st century.  Might not have been in the limelight so much over the last couple of years, but it's still is well recognised.  Of all of Merlin's IP investments, I'd argue it's the one with the most meaning. 

I disagree, alot of the sound effects were removed when Terror Tomb became Tomb Blaster.  The audio at this time was edited by an external contractor and has been used ever since. I agree that there has been a lot of miss opputuneties this time, but again the wrong people were involved in managing the project. It seems it was more of a H&S exerise are a ride refurbishment. This seems to be a common thing with all merlin projects at chessington. There are people in the park that really do care about making things right, but are always ignored by management that havent a clue about running a theme park.

So yesterday I took my first trip to Thorpe Park since April 2010, it was a last minute thing and booked the night before as me and my pals had decided whilst in the pub it was something we should do as we all had a day off.
 
Drove down to the park for about 9.50, once we arrived I saw the entrance area was pretty busy. I was expecting a busy day having known college kids had just finished there exams and school trips. waited around outside the entrance for a about 10 minutes, noticed the massive screen, that was cool, defiantly an improvement over what was there before. I also like the new branding, much better then those big head guys and the promotion of pissing and having sex behind bushes.
 
Headed straight through the dome noticed the queue board, nice to see they want to bring the themed areas back and its a great start actually made me really excited about the day if I'm honest.
 
Because none of us had been in so long and had hadn't been on The Swarm we decided that heading there first was probably best. Took a brisk walk down by Depth Charge and followed the path up to the entrance of the ride. Was really impressed by the scale of everything and was really nice to see so many effects working, made a massive contrast to the last times I had visited where on other rides with effects were just left off or hadn't been maintained. We walked through the queue, which was pretty standard, some nice videos and such but wouldn't want to be stuck in it. At the bag section the fella at the front directed us to the right hand side. On a side note I noticed the same staff throughout the day manning every position, when I was working at Chessington we were constantly changing positions and rides. Is this common practice at Thorpe, seems a bit unfair on staff if I'm honest.
Anyway headed past the control box and took up a row at the back, this decision was made as I had heard from various places this would be the best place to sit. Was also surprised to see 4 attendants on the platform and later in the day operations defiantly benefited from this. The ride itself was great really enjoyed the first drop after the lift and easily my favourite UK ride.
 
Next up was Stealth, I had ridden Kingda Ka  few summers ago so was really excited to back onto another Intamin Accelerator. Queue was short and we queued about 5/10 minutes. Again operations seemed really slick, I was impressed. Although I had just recently left working In a park where getting 400 PPH on major coasters was seen as good  so my expectations might be quite low. Had a great ride on Stealth, I had forgot how much of a punch that ride leaves.
 
We wanted to get the coasters done because we could notice the park was starting to fill up, we hit Nemesis Inferno. Queue board said 15 minutes was more like 25, I know how hard it is to keep accurate queue times though so I wont criticise that. The ride itself was good, nothing amazing was good to get back on it though. Again it was good to see effects working, stealth also had all its effects working other then one launch light that was out.
 
We made the walk up to the Saw and Colossus area of the park, we noticed Colossus was on 45 minutes and was on one train. Could only see that the queue was going to get bigger during the day so we took the decision to get it done. Once we entered the queue we walked up the first part and saw the rest of the queue which was at the bridge. at which point we agreed that being the weakest coaster in the park that waiting that long on one train was not worth it. We exited the queue and saw the queue sign had been changed to 75 minutes, a much more accurate representation of the queue I imagine.
 
Next on our list was Saw. A ride I actually rated quite highly last I had rode it. Queue was advertised at 40 and was probably what we waited. Again great to see all the indoor effects working properly makes for such a great ride. That first drop into the spikes is amazing! Rest of the ride was okay, defiantly getting rougher as it ages and that jolt at the bottom of the main drop is disgusting.    
 
having done all the big coasters but Colossus by about 11.15 we went to check on the Ghost Train. had a little look round the shop and the ride area. Looks interesting will obviously have to reserve my judgement till its open. Not thrilled by the VR stuff though. I'm a Celebrity was close to this area and had a 30 minute queue, the through put was awful on this, who decides that 200 or so people an hour is acceptable? The ride itself was pretty terrible if I'm honest. The actors try hard and it looks pretty but fails miserably at doing what its supposed to do, entertain. The challenges are just rushed and just seem pointless. That wind tunnel bit is a joke.
 
Had lunch at Burger King, not really much to comment on there. Headed to Rumba Rapids next, waited 10 minutes for this. Was exactly how I remembered it, not the most impressive of rides and could really do with some touch ups. I did find it quite entertaining albeit not that wet. After Rumba we went and cycled the flats, Detonator, Samurai, Rush and Vortex. Got them done in about an hour an a half. Detonator and Rush were good. Vortex and Samurai however are showing their age and could probably do with replacing, as long as they are actually replaced.
 
After flats we took a ride on X, again something a little new for us. Was an interesting idea, I was almost expecting ID scanners and some bouncers as we walked into the platform area. The 2 per row rule was strange, must be annoying for attendants to enforce. Having operated Black Bucaneer I know how annoying rules like that can be. Still X was actually quite good the lasers and stuff were pretty good and the ride itself now makes for a great family ride.
 
After X we took a look at the queue board to see what we wanted to do next, must say I really do like the branding on these. saw Stealth was 15 minutes so headed to it. Same again really, I really enjoy the launch its great and operations seemed good. After our re ride on stealth we headed over to Colossus which was still posted as 75 minutes, we had a look over the bridge anf noticed the queue came up to the queueline kiosk. We assumed this would be like 45 minutes or so, which it was. Got into the station and the ride got stuck on the lift . initially I assumed someone had got their phone out or something, then I saw the engineers had arrived so expected the worse. Wasn't to bad we got a priority pass for something else and worked to our benefit I also got a geeky look at the transfer track area  
 
We used our priority pass at The Swarm avoided a 60 minute queue and got on near the front. Although it was frustrating to see rows going empty because of improper batching and a large bag queue to reclaim property, glad we didn't have any. After The Swarm it was about 4.20 so we decided Saw should be our last ride as Colossus was still down at this point. Headed to saw and it started to rain quite badly, it made what was probably a 40 minute queue about 20 minutes as a lot of people gave up and left. Whilst heading up the lift of Saw I noticed Colossus was cycling, I clocked my watch and noticed it was 4.50 so after saw we made a quick exit and was able to get into a 10 minute queue for Colossus. Colossus was average we got on near the front which if I remember correctly always made for the better ride. Still really rough and if Thorpe Park ever do decide to remove one of the big coaster I can see this one being the first to go.
 
Overall actually had a really good day. IMO has come on leaps and bounds from what I remember, was nice to see full capacity on all the rides other then Colossus (which I assume was because the other train was having issues), I guess that should be expected though. Was also really great to see almost every effect turned on and working. Wasn't too disappointed with not being able to get on Ghost Train, it was however a little annoying Slammer was closed, I really like that ride. One thing I do want to mention is the clientele at Thorpe is awful isn't it? I know there headed in a more family direction the sooner they can get to this the better. The amount of disrespect I saw for staff and property was awful and in no way justified.
 
So yeah top marks Thorpe Park really enjoyed my day, defiantly better then visits I had back in 2009/09 when it wasn't uncommon to expect half the coasters to be closed and 2 hour queues on major rides.
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I've heard many a tale told of those 30 second dispatches, consider me jealous.

Denied. I can lay legitimate claim as I've worked on Vampire with three trains. 

So yesterday I took my first trip to Thorpe Park since April 2010, it was a last minute thing and booked the night before as me and my pals had decided whilst in the pub it was something we should do as we all had a day off.
 
Drove down to the park for about 9.50, once we arrived I saw the entrance area was pretty busy. I was expecting a busy day having known college kids had just finished there exams and school trips. waited around outside the entrance for a about 10 minutes, noticed the massive screen, that was cool, defiantly an improvement over what was there before. I also like the new branding, much better then those big head guys and the promotion of pissing and having sex behind bushes.
 
Headed straight through the dome noticed the queue board, nice to see they want to bring the themed areas back and its a great start actually made me really excited about the day if I'm honest.
 
Because none of us had been in so long and had hadn't been on The Swarm we decided that heading there first was probably best. Took a brisk walk down by Depth Charge and followed the path up to the entrance of the ride. Was really impressed by the scale of everything and was really nice to see so many effects working, made a massive contrast to the last times I had visited where on other rides with effects were just left off or hadn't been maintained. We walked through the queue, which was pretty standard, some nice videos and such but wouldn't want to be stuck in it. At the bag section the fella at the front directed us to the right hand side. On a side note I noticed the same staff throughout the day manning every position, when I was working at Chessington we were constantly changing positions and rides. Is this common practice at Thorpe, seems a bit unfair on staff if I'm honest.
Anyway headed past the control box and took up a row at the back, this decision was made as I had heard from various places this would be the best place to sit. Was also surprised to see 4 attendants on the platform and later in the day operations defiantly benefited from this. The ride itself was great really enjoyed the first drop after the lift and easily my favourite UK ride.
 
Next up was Stealth, I had ridden Kingda Ka  few summers ago so was really excited to back onto another Intamin Accelerator. Queue was short and we queued about 5/10 minutes. Again operations seemed really slick, I was impressed. Although I had just recently left working In a park where getting 400 PPH on major coasters was seen as good  so my expectations might be quite low. Had a great ride on Stealth, I had forgot how much of a punch that ride leaves.
 
We wanted to get the coasters done because we could notice the park was starting to fill up, we hit Nemesis Inferno. Queue board said 15 minutes was more like 25, I know how hard it is to keep accurate queue times though so I wont criticise that. The ride itself was good, nothing amazing was good to get back on it though. Again it was good to see effects working, stealth also had all its effects working other then one launch light that was out.
 
We made the walk up to the Saw and Colossus area of the park, we noticed Colossus was on 45 minutes and was on one train. Could only see that the queue was going to get bigger during the day so we took the decision to get it done. Once we entered the queue we walked up the first part and saw the rest of the queue which was at the bridge. at which point we agreed that being the weakest coaster in the park that waiting that long on one train was not worth it. We exited the queue and saw the queue sign had been changed to 75 minutes, a much more accurate representation of the queue I imagine.
 
Next on our list was Saw. A ride I actually rated quite highly last I had rode it. Queue was advertised at 40 and was probably what we waited. Again great to see all the indoor effects working properly makes for such a great ride. That first drop into the spikes is amazing! Rest of the ride was okay, defiantly getting rougher as it ages and that jolt at the bottom of the main drop is disgusting.    
 
having done all the big coasters but Colossus by about 11.15 we went to check on the Ghost Train. had a little look round the shop and the ride area. Looks interesting will obviously have to reserve my judgement till its open. Not thrilled by the VR stuff though. I'm a Celebrity was close to this area and had a 30 minute queue, the through put was awful on this, who decides that 200 or so people an hour is acceptable? The ride itself was pretty terrible if I'm honest. The actors try hard and it looks pretty but fails miserably at doing what its supposed to do, entertain. The challenges are just rushed and just seem pointless. That wind tunnel bit is a joke.
 
Had lunch at Burger King, not really much to comment on there. Headed to Rumba Rapids next, waited 10 minutes for this. Was exactly how I remembered it, not the most impressive of rides and could really do with some touch ups. I did find it quite entertaining albeit not that wet. After Rumba we went and cycled the flats, Detonator, Samurai, Rush and Vortex. Got them done in about an hour an a half. Detonator and Rush were good. Vortex and Samurai however are showing their age and could probably do with replacing, as long as they are actually replaced.
 
After flats we took a ride on X, again something a little new for us. Was an interesting idea, I was almost expecting ID scanners and some bouncers as we walked into the platform area. The 2 per row rule was strange, must be annoying for attendants to enforce. Having operated Black Bucaneer I know how annoying rules like that can be. Still X was actually quite good the lasers and stuff were pretty good and the ride itself now makes for a great family ride.
 
After X we took a look at the queue board to see what we wanted to do next, must say I really do like the branding on these. saw Stealth was 15 minutes so headed to it. Same again really, I really enjoy the launch its great and operations seemed good. After our re ride on stealth we headed over to Colossus which was still posted as 75 minutes, we had a look over the bridge anf noticed the queue came up to the queueline kiosk. We assumed this would be like 45 minutes or so, which it was. Got into the station and the ride got stuck on the lift . initially I assumed someone had got their phone out or something, then I saw the engineers had arrived so expected the worse. Wasn't to bad we got a priority pass for something else and worked to our benefit I also got a geeky look at the transfer track area  
 
We used our priority pass at The Swarm avoided a 60 minute queue and got on near the front. Although it was frustrating to see rows going empty because of improper batching and a large bag queue to reclaim property, glad we didn't have any. After The Swarm it was about 4.20 so we decided Saw should be our last ride as Colossus was still down at this point. Headed to saw and it started to rain quite badly, it made what was probably a 40 minute queue about 20 minutes as a lot of people gave up and left. Whilst heading up the lift of Saw I noticed Colossus was cycling, I clocked my watch and noticed it was 4.50 so after saw we made a quick exit and was able to get into a 10 minute queue for Colossus. Colossus was average we got on near the front which if I remember correctly always made for the better ride. Still really rough and if Thorpe Park ever do decide to remove one of the big coaster I can see this one being the first to go.
 
Overall actually had a really good day. IMO has come on leaps and bounds from what I remember, was nice to see full capacity on all the rides other then Colossus (which I assume was because the other train was having issues), I guess that should be expected though. Was also really great to see almost every effect turned on and working. Wasn't too disappointed with not being able to get on Ghost Train, it was however a little annoying Slammer was closed, I really like that ride. One thing I do want to mention is the clientele at Thorpe is awful isn't it? I know there headed in a more family direction the sooner they can get to this the better. The amount of disrespect I saw for staff and property was awful and in no way justified.
 
So yeah top marks Thorpe Park really enjoyed my day, defiantly better then visits I had back in 2009/09 when it wasn't uncommon to expect half the coasters to be closed and 2 hour queues on major rides.
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

So yesterday I took my first trip to Thorpe Park since April 2010, it was a last minute thing and booked the night before as me and my pals had decided whilst in the pub it was something we should do as we all had a day off.
 
Drove down to the park for about 9.50, once we arrived I saw the entrance area was pretty busy. I was expecting a busy day having known college kids had just finished there exams and school trips. waited around outside the entrance for a about 10 minutes, noticed the massive screen, that was cool, defiantly an improvement over what was there before. I also like the new branding, much better then those big head guys and the promotion of pissing and having sex behind bushes.
 
Headed straight through the dome noticed the queue board, nice to see they want to bring the themed areas back and its a great start actually made me really excited about the day if I'm honest.
 
Because none of us had been in so long and had hadn't been on The Swarm we decided that heading there first was probably best. Took a brisk walk down by Depth Charge and followed the path up to the entrance of the ride. Was really impressed by the scale of everything and was really nice to see so many effects working, made a massive contrast to the last times I had visited where on other rides with effects were just left off or hadn't been maintained. We walked through the queue, which was pretty standard, some nice videos and such but wouldn't want to be stuck in it. At the bag section the fella at the front directed us to the right hand side. On a side note I noticed the same staff throughout the day manning every position, when I was working at Chessington we were constantly changing positions and rides. Is this common practice at Thorpe, seems a bit unfair on staff if I'm honest.
Anyway headed past the control box and took up a row at the back, this decision was made as I had heard from various places this would be the best place to sit. Was also surprised to see 4 attendants on the platform and later in the day operations defiantly benefited from this. The ride itself was great really enjoyed the first drop after the lift and easily my favourite UK ride.
 
Next up was Stealth, I had ridden Kingda Ka  few summers ago so was really excited to back onto another Intamin Accelerator. Queue was short and we queued about 5/10 minutes. Again operations seemed really slick, I was impressed. Although I had just recently left working In a park where getting 400 PPH on major coasters was seen as good  so my expectations might be quite low. Had a great ride on Stealth, I had forgot how much of a punch that ride leaves.
 
We wanted to get the coasters done because we could notice the park was starting to fill up, we hit Nemesis Inferno. Queue board said 15 minutes was more like 25, I know how hard it is to keep accurate queue times though so I wont criticise that. The ride itself was good, nothing amazing was good to get back on it though. Again it was good to see effects working, stealth also had all its effects working other then one launch light that was out.
 
We made the walk up to the Saw and Colossus area of the park, we noticed Colossus was on 45 minutes and was on one train. Could only see that the queue was going to get bigger during the day so we took the decision to get it done. Once we entered the queue we walked up the first part and saw the rest of the queue which was at the bridge. at which point we agreed that being the weakest coaster in the park that waiting that long on one train was not worth it. We exited the queue and saw the queue sign had been changed to 75 minutes, a much more accurate representation of the queue I imagine.
 
Next on our list was Saw. A ride I actually rated quite highly last I had rode it. Queue was advertised at 40 and was probably what we waited. Again great to see all the indoor effects working properly makes for such a great ride. That first drop into the spikes is amazing! Rest of the ride was okay, defiantly getting rougher as it ages and that jolt at the bottom of the main drop is disgusting.    
 
having done all the big coasters but Colossus by about 11.15 we went to check on the Ghost Train. had a little look round the shop and the ride area. Looks interesting will obviously have to reserve my judgement till its open. Not thrilled by the VR stuff though. I'm a Celebrity was close to this area and had a 30 minute queue, the through put was awful on this, who decides that 200 or so people an hour is acceptable? The ride itself was pretty terrible if I'm honest. The actors try hard and it looks pretty but fails miserably at doing what its supposed to do, entertain. The challenges are just rushed and just seem pointless. That wind tunnel bit is a joke.
 
Had lunch at Burger King, not really much to comment on there. Headed to Rumba Rapids next, waited 10 minutes for this. Was exactly how I remembered it, not the most impressive of rides and could really do with some touch ups. I did find it quite entertaining albeit not that wet. After Rumba we went and cycled the flats, Detonator, Samurai, Rush and Vortex. Got them done in about an hour an a half. Detonator and Rush were good. Vortex and Samurai however are showing their age and could probably do with replacing, as long as they are actually replaced.
 
After flats we took a ride on X, again something a little new for us. Was an interesting idea, I was almost expecting ID scanners and some bouncers as we walked into the platform area. The 2 per row rule was strange, must be annoying for attendants to enforce. Having operated Black Bucaneer I know how annoying rules like that can be. Still X was actually quite good the lasers and stuff were pretty good and the ride itself now makes for a great family ride.
 
After X we took a look at the queue board to see what we wanted to do next, must say I really do like the branding on these. saw Stealth was 15 minutes so headed to it. Same again really, I really enjoy the launch its great and operations seemed good. After our re ride on stealth we headed over to Colossus which was still posted as 75 minutes, we had a look over the bridge anf noticed the queue came up to the queueline kiosk. We assumed this would be like 45 minutes or so, which it was. Got into the station and the ride got stuck on the lift . initially I assumed someone had got their phone out or something, then I saw the engineers had arrived so expected the worse. Wasn't to bad we got a priority pass for something else and worked to our benefit I also got a geeky look at the transfer track area  
 
We used our priority pass at The Swarm avoided a 60 minute queue and got on near the front. Although it was frustrating to see rows going empty because of improper batching and a large bag queue to reclaim property, glad we didn't have any. After The Swarm it was about 4.20 so we decided Saw should be our last ride as Colossus was still down at this point. Headed to saw and it started to rain quite badly, it made what was probably a 40 minute queue about 20 minutes as a lot of people gave up and left. Whilst heading up the lift of Saw I noticed Colossus was cycling, I clocked my watch and noticed it was 4.50 so after saw we made a quick exit and was able to get into a 10 minute queue for Colossus. Colossus was average we got on near the front which if I remember correctly always made for the better ride. Still really rough and if Thorpe Park ever do decide to remove one of the big coaster I can see this one being the first to go.
 
Overall actually had a really good day. IMO has come on leaps and bounds from what I remember, was nice to see full capacity on all the rides other then Colossus (which I assume was because the other train was having issues), I guess that should be expected though. Was also really great to see almost every effect turned on and working. Wasn't too disappointed with not being able to get on Ghost Train, it was however a little annoying Slammer was closed, I really like that ride. One thing I do want to mention is the clientele at Thorpe is awful isn't it? I know there headed in a more family direction the sooner they can get to this the better. The amount of disrespect I saw for staff and property was awful and in no way justified.
 
So yeah top marks Thorpe Park really enjoyed my day, defiantly better then visits I had back in 2009/09 when it wasn't uncommon to expect half the coasters to be closed and 2 hour queues on major rides.
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

So yesterday I took my first trip to Thorpe Park since April 2010, it was a last minute thing and booked the night before as me and my pals had decided whilst in the pub it was something we should do as we all had a day off.
 
Drove down to the park for about 9.50, once we arrived I saw the entrance area was pretty busy. I was expecting a busy day having known college kids had just finished there exams and school trips. waited around outside the entrance for a about 10 minutes, noticed the massive screen, that was cool, defiantly an improvement over what was there before. I also like the new branding, much better then those big head guys and the promotion of pissing and having sex behind bushes.
 
Headed straight through the dome noticed the queue board, nice to see they want to bring the themed areas back and its a great start actually made me really excited about the day if I'm honest.
 
Because none of us had been in so long and had hadn't been on The Swarm we decided that heading there first was probably best. Took a brisk walk down by Depth Charge and followed the path up to the entrance of the ride. Was really impressed by the scale of everything and was really nice to see so many effects working, made a massive contrast to the last times I had visited where on other rides with effects were just left off or hadn't been maintained. We walked through the queue, which was pretty standard, some nice videos and such but wouldn't want to be stuck in it. At the bag section the fella at the front directed us to the right hand side. On a side note I noticed the same staff throughout the day manning every position, when I was working at Chessington we were constantly changing positions and rides. Is this common practice at Thorpe, seems a bit unfair on staff if I'm honest.
Anyway headed past the control box and took up a row at the back, this decision was made as I had heard from various places this would be the best place to sit. Was also surprised to see 4 attendants on the platform and later in the day operations defiantly benefited from this. The ride itself was great really enjoyed the first drop after the lift and easily my favourite UK ride.
 
Next up was Stealth, I had ridden Kingda Ka  few summers ago so was really excited to back onto another Intamin Accelerator. Queue was short and we queued about 5/10 minutes. Again operations seemed really slick, I was impressed. Although I had just recently left working In a park where getting 400 PPH on major coasters was seen as good  so my expectations might be quite low. Had a great ride on Stealth, I had forgot how much of a punch that ride leaves.
 
We wanted to get the coasters done because we could notice the park was starting to fill up, we hit Nemesis Inferno. Queue board said 15 minutes was more like 25, I know how hard it is to keep accurate queue times though so I wont criticise that. The ride itself was good, nothing amazing was good to get back on it though. Again it was good to see effects working, stealth also had all its effects working other then one launch light that was out.
 
We made the walk up to the Saw and Colossus area of the park, we noticed Colossus was on 45 minutes and was on one train. Could only see that the queue was going to get bigger during the day so we took the decision to get it done. Once we entered the queue we walked up the first part and saw the rest of the queue which was at the bridge. at which point we agreed that being the weakest coaster in the park that waiting that long on one train was not worth it. We exited the queue and saw the queue sign had been changed to 75 minutes, a much more accurate representation of the queue I imagine.
 
Next on our list was Saw. A ride I actually rated quite highly last I had rode it. Queue was advertised at 40 and was probably what we waited. Again great to see all the indoor effects working properly makes for such a great ride. That first drop into the spikes is amazing! Rest of the ride was okay, defiantly getting rougher as it ages and that jolt at the bottom of the main drop is disgusting.    
 
having done all the big coasters but Colossus by about 11.15 we went to check on the Ghost Train. had a little look round the shop and the ride area. Looks interesting will obviously have to reserve my judgement till its open. Not thrilled by the VR stuff though. I'm a Celebrity was close to this area and had a 30 minute queue, the through put was awful on this, who decides that 200 or so people an hour is acceptable? The ride itself was pretty terrible if I'm honest. The actors try hard and it looks pretty but fails miserably at doing what its supposed to do, entertain. The challenges are just rushed and just seem pointless. That wind tunnel bit is a joke.
 
Had lunch at Burger King, not really much to comment on there. Headed to Rumba Rapids next, waited 10 minutes for this. Was exactly how I remembered it, not the most impressive of rides and could really do with some touch ups. I did find it quite entertaining albeit not that wet. After Rumba we went and cycled the flats, Detonator, Samurai, Rush and Vortex. Got them done in about an hour an a half. Detonator and Rush were good. Vortex and Samurai however are showing their age and could probably do with replacing, as long as they are actually replaced.
 
After flats we took a ride on X, again something a little new for us. Was an interesting idea, I was almost expecting ID scanners and some bouncers as we walked into the platform area. The 2 per row rule was strange, must be annoying for attendants to enforce. Having operated Black Bucaneer I know how annoying rules like that can be. Still X was actually quite good the lasers and stuff were pretty good and the ride itself now makes for a great family ride.
 
After X we took a look at the queue board to see what we wanted to do next, must say I really do like the branding on these. saw Stealth was 15 minutes so headed to it. Same again really, I really enjoy the launch its great and operations seemed good. After our re ride on stealth we headed over to Colossus which was still posted as 75 minutes, we had a look over the bridge anf noticed the queue came up to the queueline kiosk. We assumed this would be like 45 minutes or so, which it was. Got into the station and the ride got stuck on the lift . initially I assumed someone had got their phone out or something, then I saw the engineers had arrived so expected the worse. Wasn't to bad we got a priority pass for something else and worked to our benefit I also got a geeky look at the transfer track area  
 
We used our priority pass at The Swarm avoided a 60 minute queue and got on near the front. Although it was frustrating to see rows going empty because of improper batching and a large bag queue to reclaim property, glad we didn't have any. After The Swarm it was about 4.20 so we decided Saw should be our last ride as Colossus was still down at this point. Headed to saw and it started to rain quite badly, it made what was probably a 40 minute queue about 20 minutes as a lot of people gave up and left. Whilst heading up the lift of Saw I noticed Colossus was cycling, I clocked my watch and noticed it was 4.50 so after saw we made a quick exit and was able to get into a 10 minute queue for Colossus. Colossus was average we got on near the front which if I remember correctly always made for the better ride. Still really rough and if Thorpe Park ever do decide to remove one of the big coaster I can see this one being the first to go.
 
Overall actually had a really good day. IMO has come on leaps and bounds from what I remember, was nice to see full capacity on all the rides other then Colossus (which I assume was because the other train was having issues), I guess that should be expected though. Was also really great to see almost every effect turned on and working. Wasn't too disappointed with not being able to get on Ghost Train, it was however a little annoying Slammer was closed, I really like that ride. One thing I do want to mention is the clientele at Thorpe is awful isn't it? I know there headed in a more family direction the sooner they can get to this the better. The amount of disrespect I saw for staff and property was awful and in no way justified.
 
So yeah top marks Thorpe Park really enjoyed my day, defiantly better then visits I had back in 2009/09 when it wasn't uncommon to expect half the coasters to be closed and 2 hour queues on major rides.
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

So yesterday I took my first trip to Thorpe Park since April 2010, it was a last minute thing and booked the night before as me and my pals had decided whilst in the pub it was something we should do as we all had a day off.
 
Drove down to the park for about 9.50, once we arrived I saw the entrance area was pretty busy. I was expecting a busy day having known college kids had just finished there exams and school trips. waited around outside the entrance for a about 10 minutes, noticed the massive screen, that was cool, defiantly an improvement over what was there before. I also like the new branding, much better then those big head guys and the promotion of pissing and having sex behind bushes.
 
Headed straight through the dome noticed the queue board, nice to see they want to bring the themed areas back and its a great start actually made me really excited about the day if I'm honest.
 
Because none of us had been in so long and had hadn't been on The Swarm we decided that heading there first was probably best. Took a brisk walk down by Depth Charge and followed the path up to the entrance of the ride. Was really impressed by the scale of everything and was really nice to see so many effects working, made a massive contrast to the last times I had visited where on other rides with effects were just left off or hadn't been maintained. We walked through the queue, which was pretty standard, some nice videos and such but wouldn't want to be stuck in it. At the bag section the fella at the front directed us to the right hand side. On a side note I noticed the same staff throughout the day manning every position, when I was working at Chessington we were constantly changing positions and rides. Is this common practice at Thorpe, seems a bit unfair on staff if I'm honest.
Anyway headed past the control box and took up a row at the back, this decision was made as I had heard from various places this would be the best place to sit. Was also surprised to see 4 attendants on the platform and later in the day operations defiantly benefited from this. The ride itself was great really enjoyed the first drop after the lift and easily my favourite UK ride.
 
Next up was Stealth, I had ridden Kingda Ka  few summers ago so was really excited to back onto another Intamin Accelerator. Queue was short and we queued about 5/10 minutes. Again operations seemed really slick, I was impressed. Although I had just recently left working In a park where getting 400 PPH on major coasters was seen as good  so my expectations might be quite low. Had a great ride on Stealth, I had forgot how much of a punch that ride leaves.
 
We wanted to get the coasters done because we could notice the park was starting to fill up, we hit Nemesis Inferno. Queue board said 15 minutes was more like 25, I know how hard it is to keep accurate queue times though so I wont criticise that. The ride itself was good, nothing amazing was good to get back on it though. Again it was good to see effects working, stealth also had all its effects working other then one launch light that was out.
 
We made the walk up to the Saw and Colossus area of the park, we noticed Colossus was on 45 minutes and was on one train. Could only see that the queue was going to get bigger during the day so we took the decision to get it done. Once we entered the queue we walked up the first part and saw the rest of the queue which was at the bridge. at which point we agreed that being the weakest coaster in the park that waiting that long on one train was not worth it. We exited the queue and saw the queue sign had been changed to 75 minutes, a much more accurate representation of the queue I imagine.
 
Next on our list was Saw. A ride I actually rated quite highly last I had rode it. Queue was advertised at 40 and was probably what we waited. Again great to see all the indoor effects working properly makes for such a great ride. That first drop into the spikes is amazing! Rest of the ride was okay, defiantly getting rougher as it ages and that jolt at the bottom of the main drop is disgusting.    
 
having done all the big coasters but Colossus by about 11.15 we went to check on the Ghost Train. had a little look round the shop and the ride area. Looks interesting will obviously have to reserve my judgement till its open. Not thrilled by the VR stuff though. I'm a Celebrity was close to this area and had a 30 minute queue, the through put was awful on this, who decides that 200 or so people an hour is acceptable? The ride itself was pretty terrible if I'm honest. The actors try hard and it looks pretty but fails miserably at doing what its supposed to do, entertain. The challenges are just rushed and just seem pointless. That wind tunnel bit is a joke.
 
Had lunch at Burger King, not really much to comment on there. Headed to Rumba Rapids next, waited 10 minutes for this. Was exactly how I remembered it, not the most impressive of rides and could really do with some touch ups. I did find it quite entertaining albeit not that wet. After Rumba we went and cycled the flats, Detonator, Samurai, Rush and Vortex. Got them done in about an hour an a half. Detonator and Rush were good. Vortex and Samurai however are showing their age and could probably do with replacing, as long as they are actually replaced.
 
After flats we took a ride on X, again something a little new for us. Was an interesting idea, I was almost expecting ID scanners and some bouncers as we walked into the platform area. The 2 per row rule was strange, must be annoying for attendants to enforce. Having operated Black Bucaneer I know how annoying rules like that can be. Still X was actually quite good the lasers and stuff were pretty good and the ride itself now makes for a great family ride.
 
After X we took a look at the queue board to see what we wanted to do next, must say I really do like the branding on these. saw Stealth was 15 minutes so headed to it. Same again really, I really enjoy the launch its great and operations seemed good. After our re ride on stealth we headed over to Colossus which was still posted as 75 minutes, we had a look over the bridge anf noticed the queue came up to the queueline kiosk. We assumed this would be like 45 minutes or so, which it was. Got into the station and the ride got stuck on the lift . initially I assumed someone had got their phone out or something, then I saw the engineers had arrived so expected the worse. Wasn't to bad we got a priority pass for something else and worked to our benefit I also got a geeky look at the transfer track area  
 
We used our priority pass at The Swarm avoided a 60 minute queue and got on near the front. Although it was frustrating to see rows going empty because of improper batching and a large bag queue to reclaim property, glad we didn't have any. After The Swarm it was about 4.20 so we decided Saw should be our last ride as Colossus was still down at this point. Headed to saw and it started to rain quite badly, it made what was probably a 40 minute queue about 20 minutes as a lot of people gave up and left. Whilst heading up the lift of Saw I noticed Colossus was cycling, I clocked my watch and noticed it was 4.50 so after saw we made a quick exit and was able to get into a 10 minute queue for Colossus. Colossus was average we got on near the front which if I remember correctly always made for the better ride. Still really rough and if Thorpe Park ever do decide to remove one of the big coaster I can see this one being the first to go.
 
Overall actually had a really good day. IMO has come on leaps and bounds from what I remember, was nice to see full capacity on all the rides other then Colossus (which I assume was because the other train was having issues), I guess that should be expected though. Was also really great to see almost every effect turned on and working. Wasn't too disappointed with not being able to get on Ghost Train, it was however a little annoying Slammer was closed, I really like that ride. One thing I do want to mention is the clientele at Thorpe is awful isn't it? I know there headed in a more family direction the sooner they can get to this the better. The amount of disrespect I saw for staff and property was awful and in no way justified.
 
So yeah top marks Thorpe Park really enjoyed my day, defiantly better then visits I had back in 2009/09 when it wasn't uncommon to expect half the coasters to be closed and 2 hour queues on major rides.
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

So yesterday I took my first trip to Thorpe Park since April 2010, it was a last minute thing and booked the night before as me and my pals had decided whilst in the pub it was something we should do as we all had a day off.
 
Drove down to the park for about 9.50, once we arrived I saw the entrance area was pretty busy. I was expecting a busy day having known college kids had just finished there exams and school trips. waited around outside the entrance for a about 10 minutes, noticed the massive screen, that was cool, defiantly an improvement over what was there before. I also like the new branding, much better then those big head guys and the promotion of pissing and having sex behind bushes.
 
Headed straight through the dome noticed the queue board, nice to see they want to bring the themed areas back and its a great start actually made me really excited about the day if I'm honest.
 
Because none of us had been in so long and had hadn't been on The Swarm we decided that heading there first was probably best. Took a brisk walk down by Depth Charge and followed the path up to the entrance of the ride. Was really impressed by the scale of everything and was really nice to see so many effects working, made a massive contrast to the last times I had visited where on other rides with effects were just left off or hadn't been maintained. We walked through the queue, which was pretty standard, some nice videos and such but wouldn't want to be stuck in it. At the bag section the fella at the front directed us to the right hand side. On a side note I noticed the same staff throughout the day manning every position, when I was working at Chessington we were constantly changing positions and rides. Is this common practice at Thorpe, seems a bit unfair on staff if I'm honest.
Anyway headed past the control box and took up a row at the back, this decision was made as I had heard from various places this would be the best place to sit. Was also surprised to see 4 attendants on the platform and later in the day operations defiantly benefited from this. The ride itself was great really enjoyed the first drop after the lift and easily my favourite UK ride.
 
Next up was Stealth, I had ridden Kingda Ka  few summers ago so was really excited to back onto another Intamin Accelerator. Queue was short and we queued about 5/10 minutes. Again operations seemed really slick, I was impressed. Although I had just recently left working In a park where getting 400 PPH on major coasters was seen as good  so my expectations might be quite low. Had a great ride on Stealth, I had forgot how much of a punch that ride leaves.
 
We wanted to get the coasters done because we could notice the park was starting to fill up, we hit Nemesis Inferno. Queue board said 15 minutes was more like 25, I know how hard it is to keep accurate queue times though so I wont criticise that. The ride itself was good, nothing amazing was good to get back on it though. Again it was good to see effects working, stealth also had all its effects working other then one launch light that was out.
 
We made the walk up to the Saw and Colossus area of the park, we noticed Colossus was on 45 minutes and was on one train. Could only see that the queue was going to get bigger during the day so we took the decision to get it done. Once we entered the queue we walked up the first part and saw the rest of the queue which was at the bridge. at which point we agreed that being the weakest coaster in the park that waiting that long on one train was not worth it. We exited the queue and saw the queue sign had been changed to 75 minutes, a much more accurate representation of the queue I imagine.
 
Next on our list was Saw. A ride I actually rated quite highly last I had rode it. Queue was advertised at 40 and was probably what we waited. Again great to see all the indoor effects working properly makes for such a great ride. That first drop into the spikes is amazing! Rest of the ride was okay, defiantly getting rougher as it ages and that jolt at the bottom of the main drop is disgusting.    
 
having done all the big coasters but Colossus by about 11.15 we went to check on the Ghost Train. had a little look round the shop and the ride area. Looks interesting will obviously have to reserve my judgement till its open. Not thrilled by the VR stuff though. I'm a Celebrity was close to this area and had a 30 minute queue, the through put was awful on this, who decides that 200 or so people an hour is acceptable? The ride itself was pretty terrible if I'm honest. The actors try hard and it looks pretty but fails miserably at doing what its supposed to do, entertain. The challenges are just rushed and just seem pointless. That wind tunnel bit is a joke.
 
Had lunch at Burger King, not really much to comment on there. Headed to Rumba Rapids next, waited 10 minutes for this. Was exactly how I remembered it, not the most impressive of rides and could really do with some touch ups. I did find it quite entertaining albeit not that wet. After Rumba we went and cycled the flats, Detonator, Samurai, Rush and Vortex. Got them done in about an hour an a half. Detonator and Rush were good. Vortex and Samurai however are showing their age and could probably do with replacing, as long as they are actually replaced.
 
After flats we took a ride on X, again something a little new for us. Was an interesting idea, I was almost expecting ID scanners and some bouncers as we walked into the platform area. The 2 per row rule was strange, must be annoying for attendants to enforce. Having operated Black Bucaneer I know how annoying rules like that can be. Still X was actually quite good the lasers and stuff were pretty good and the ride itself now makes for a great family ride.
 
After X we took a look at the queue board to see what we wanted to do next, must say I really do like the branding on these. saw Stealth was 15 minutes so headed to it. Same again really, I really enjoy the launch its great and operations seemed good. After our re ride on stealth we headed over to Colossus which was still posted as 75 minutes, we had a look over the bridge anf noticed the queue came up to the queueline kiosk. We assumed this would be like 45 minutes or so, which it was. Got into the station and the ride got stuck on the lift . initially I assumed someone had got their phone out or something, then I saw the engineers had arrived so expected the worse. Wasn't to bad we got a priority pass for something else and worked to our benefit I also got a geeky look at the transfer track area  
 
We used our priority pass at The Swarm avoided a 60 minute queue and got on near the front. Although it was frustrating to see rows going empty because of improper batching and a large bag queue to reclaim property, glad we didn't have any. After The Swarm it was about 4.20 so we decided Saw should be our last ride as Colossus was still down at this point. Headed to saw and it started to rain quite badly, it made what was probably a 40 minute queue about 20 minutes as a lot of people gave up and left. Whilst heading up the lift of Saw I noticed Colossus was cycling, I clocked my watch and noticed it was 4.50 so after saw we made a quick exit and was able to get into a 10 minute queue for Colossus. Colossus was average we got on near the front which if I remember correctly always made for the better ride. Still really rough and if Thorpe Park ever do decide to remove one of the big coaster I can see this one being the first to go.
 
Overall actually had a really good day. IMO has come on leaps and bounds from what I remember, was nice to see full capacity on all the rides other then Colossus (which I assume was because the other train was having issues), I guess that should be expected though. Was also really great to see almost every effect turned on and working. Wasn't too disappointed with not being able to get on Ghost Train, it was however a little annoying Slammer was closed, I really like that ride. One thing I do want to mention is the clientele at Thorpe is awful isn't it? I know there headed in a more family direction the sooner they can get to this the better. The amount of disrespect I saw for staff and property was awful and in no way justified.
 
So yeah top marks Thorpe Park really enjoyed my day, defiantly better then visits I had back in 2009/09 when it wasn't uncommon to expect half the coasters to be closed and 2 hour queues on major rides.
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I'm not a doctor who fan, never really gotten in to the show but I still think it could make a very good dark ride in the style of Escape from Gringott's, Spiderman and Transformers etc.
 
Dr Who is an international brand in many respects so worthy of the investment to draw people in at least nationwide and if they have aspirations of being a true resort may add some international appeal for visitors already coming in to London.
 
To me, as a non watcher of the show, the background to 'a dark secret is coming' reminded me of the old title sequence
 
Also, when you think about the equivalent rides in the US (yes I know I am being hopeful of such a ride system here) they had the backing of the relevant movie studio to do the story, filming, script, audio etc and to get the actors on board.
 
According to wikipedia Dr Who started filming it's new series in Jan 2015, therefore the crew, actors and sets will all be available at the time a new 'story' would need to be filmed to be incorporated into the ride - therefore Merlin can utilise (pay for) the expertise of the existing BBC crew and effects teams to produce those elements of the ride.
 
Also according to wikipedia 'In April 2015, Steven Moffat confirmed that Doctor Who would run for at least another five years, extending the show until 2020' So it is reasonable to suggest that the IP would have at least 4 years to run in its modern iteration once the ride is built. The BBC would also stand to gain from the publicity of a ride.
 
I'm not really sure the theming really gives us any clues, love the idea of walking dead as someone else suggested and cant see any reason why it wouldn't be - especially when a spinoff series is being developed so at least another few years to run there. Or it could well be an independent project perhaps carrying on the 'swarm' invasion.
 
Personally I think it makes absolute sense for Merlin to collaborate with an organisation such as the BBC as they are likely to get better quality production from a lower cost outlay due to the existing expertise.
 
They do of course have a history with Lionsgate, as others have mentioned, but getting the cast from Hunger Games involved, for example, would be no easy feat.
 
Just my thoughts

The ride ran 5 cars throughout the start of the season it got back up to 6 by about  late April. Then of course The Smiler incident happened. With the dispatches there is a dispatch switch on the control panel, this has 3 settings. 0,1 and 2. Whilst on 0, 7 cars would usally be in operation and the train can be dispatched as the computer reads the last car is half way up the lift, this was never used as it would cause block shut downs almost daily. Setting 1 was for when 6 cars were used and would allow you to send the ride once the computer had read the ride had cleared the lift. Lastly we have setting 2 which from all your reports the ride is probably using now, this will keep a ride from being dispatched until the car has passed the second set of breaks after the lift. The setting is there for helping the operator dispatch the cars so that the timing is right. With 6 cars the ride was barley breaking 300 on 5 cars it was about 200.

Without knowing the complete in and outs of it all, Tomb Blaster is currently down due to major concerns with the fire safety of the building. I'm not sure if it was an internal or external decision but There was always a rumor going round that the thing would go up in flames in about 6 minutes.

The thing is it gets to the point that you ridicule and criticize parks so much that we can't tell when you are being serious or not as you're such a dampener to what was left of a positive vibe on many pages of threads.

There are plenty of positives! 
For example, a big one, the park hasn't closed!
Vampire is running with another train or 2 coming soon (hopefully)!
The park has had some winter maintenance on some of it's facades.
None of the rides were removed.
Safari skyway is open.
Ride(s) have even been rethemed over the winter.
There is a new hotel which is pretty lush.
 
I used to think there was a reason for websites like this being called fansites but it seems more like they should be called:
hate-as-much-as-you-can-until-you-cause-more-positive-outlooking-members-serious-cases-of-depression-sites.