Stuntman707

Guys, the tent is up. Quite a compact size this year but Big Top now confirmed. ?

It felt like nothing more than a censored advert for Towers backed with screen time of enthusiasts. Probably the strangest part was where one of the staff was saying the Wickerman launch night was going to be a disaster. Then after the break there was no mention of it again and the whole incident was unexplained and forgotten about. There were no insights or honest interviews with ride hosts. It would have been nice to see more construction milestones. Also more insights into the artwork, design and IMA Score soundtrack. Overall it was very bare of an actual behind the scenes in favour of excessive screen time for enthusiasts who were more likely to have nothing but praise for Towers. I wanted to hear from more of the day to day staff and engineers from a first hand experience working there. I want Towers to embrace the criticism and explain exactly HOW they are going to improve. WHY are they closing outlets and staggering ride openings? - That’s the kind of documentary I was hoping for.

Was prompted to do a survey yesterday. Interesting that one of the questions was asking about interest in new premium accommodation on site. So new, hopefully permanent accommodation is definately something Thorpe are still considering.

Well I definitely won’t be going to FN if Big Top isn’t returning. That leaves potentially only three exclusive Fright Nights attractions, Platform, Blair Witch & Sanctum (Or whatever replaces it). Opening the other mazes early is of course good in the way it brings more attractions to the park in general but bad in that it devalues the Fright Nights event. Meanwhile Tulley’s are adding a ninth scare attraction to their event! The Cellar will be more intense and the Colony extension sounds like it’s easily going to be over half an hour long this year.

Nah, I'm not paying for Fright Nights if it's not any better. We have early bird tickets for Tulley's.

hmm ? Where will they fit the unreasonably long fastrack queue for Platform? Blair Witch has a Tugboat and a Frog Hopper in the way. ?

Just destroying Storm Surge would improve X / TWDTR.

If it’s not replaced with anything new or it turns into another Walking Dead Maze then no. If it’s the same lineup as last year, I won’t be going anyway.

Rameses is like trying to get your gran to play tennis. It keeps breaking down and makes questionable creeking noises but somehow it's still going. Makes you wonder if there's bits of Ripsaw in there. Talking about the undead, any news been released yet about freight fright nights?

Thorpe's main Fright Nights problem is The Year of the Walking Dead. Either they have to try to differentiate Fright Nights as a worthwhile event in it's own right this year, or they'll just do the same as previous years and go all out on The Walking Dead hoping people have not had enough of it yet.

Just got some interesting stills from the Mack Rides Factory Tour Video of the new CanCan Coaster Trains. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBL-159APAo Electronics on the front cars. Speakers in each car! The production line Airgates

So just ahead of the Channel 4 Alton Towers Documentary this week, here is an awesome factory tour of Mack Rides:

I never understood how the beach area at Thorpe works without changing rooms?

I guess they’re still testing these new boat mods or are they running now?

Alton Towers’ latest accommodation project for next year. Pods have already been sighted arriving on site. Current plans: Logo: There’s also a competition to win a stay next year: https://www.altontowers.com/stars/

Towers mentioned on Facebook they will be sharing new content on National rollercoaster day. And here we have the awesome video from the Rollercoaster Restaurant showcasing all the coasters past and present at Towers!

I miss the Slammer.

Ah I love the irony in that they claimed it is the world’s first “dedicated” rollercoaster with VR. About as much dedication as a celebrity marriage. Though they could possibly claim it is the world’s first rollercoaster to remove VR and use that statement as a “new for 2019” claim somehow.

That's good. Still consider it the best ride at Chessington currently.

I think they tried to do VR too early. The headsets are very low res. The hardware powering it is unreliable, not built for constant use. The technology is still very new and being developed. IMO, they should have hired a horror game developer rather than Figment to make the content. Also the transit system is just complete garbage. It e-stops if there’s a hair in the way of the sensors. My recent and likely last ride on it was embarrassing, the group I was with still point out how bad it was to me. One said the PS VR is much scarier in comparison. DBGT is still a great concept but it was very poorly executed. They chose the wrong suppliers at the wrong time to do it. They should have built a solid Mack coaster that year and then built DBGT when there’s the well established technology and 4K headsets to do it on a mass scale reliably.

New boats are being tested on the rapids. Credit to our friends at Towers Street again for the news / pictures. People are hopeful this will mean that the waterfalls and normal operations will come back. Even if it means putting danger of death signs in the new boats, I’d accept that to have the waterfalls back on!

Yeah, the earlier the better for FN. The park frequently reaches capacity after mid October.

Mine’s Amity Fish & Chips. The fryer they use is a traditional chippy style one which means it is the only outlet I’ve found that have decent crisp chips. Also the chicken is better than other Merlin outlets. Always good to go to the non-branded outlets if you have an annual pass. Pizza Pasta would be my second choice if you’re in a group.

A vote to decide the most popular food outlets at Thorpe Park in 2018 of TPM members. What’s your go to food outlet at Thorpe and why?

Zufari - Ride into Africa Warehouse.