Michelle

It seems you can now by a "Smiler Pizza".... http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/03/17/alton-towers-and-goodfella-s-team-create-smiler-pizza Interesting marketing idea. Shame I don't like spicy food!

I was clearly just unlucky then!

Poor Detonator was shut all day yesterday Hopefully it opens soon. It was testing at various times, sometimes going up and down slowly, and sometimes at full speed, so with a bit of luck it isn't anything major.

This is interesting! I've been to Puy du Fou a couple of times and it really is outstanding. The day park makes a real change from a 'traditional' theme park and was really enjoyable. The night show, however, was simply spectacular! Cannot recommend it highly enough! I'm glad this is being run as a not-for-profit venture, I just hope they can get the funding they need.

If they had something like that I would probably buy a few photos a visit, whereas I don't buy any at the moment because they're too darn expensive!

I just rang Thorpe and they said the event will start at 11am in the Marquee next to Swarm

Has there been confirmation of when this event will start and where we should go? Have I missed an email or have Thorpe just not told us?

Are rough timings for the day available?

I am very interested in this event! Hope it goes ahead!

Had a lovely visit to Chessington yesterday. It was very quiet, with pretty much all rides walk on. The staff were also incredibly friendly, even when walking between attractions which really added to the atmosphere on park. I can't really comment on operations for the day because queues weren't long enough to try to achieve a high througput. Also had my first ride on Zufari. I think it fits Chessington perfectly and will improve over time as the plants grow and the area will hopefully look more natural. I don't like the idea of waiting in the cattlepen queue though! I enjoyed looking at the zoo, particularly the baby gorillas (awwww!) and took in the sealion and wild wood shows. The staff presenting these shows were enthusiastic and knowledgeable and these shows are a great feature to the park. Generally I thought that the park looked nice, but I do think certain areas need some attention. The area with the picnic benches next to the Dragon Falls exit for example. This could be a very nice area, but it just looks unkempt. The station exterior also really needs a good lick of paint. I also think Bubbleworks needs some care as some of the scenery is starting to show wear, with paint rubbing off etc. This should be easy to fix but would make such a big difference to the presentation of the ride. And on another note... I know it's only temporary but the fencing around "Big Bad Boo" looks really ugly and ruins market square... There must be a better way to keep nosy guests out?

I'm gutted I can't make this one! Nothing like a good bit of Stealth to wake you up in the morning! Hope you all have a fantastic time and I shall look forward to seeing the photos

I would prefer Harvester or Carvery. I second the point about Harvester rolls. Yummy!

I don't know enough about the cost of fixing this to know what will happen to Rameses, but I hope a Top Spin of some form will still remain in that location. It would be difficult to get another ride in that space as it has been landscaped perfectly for a Top Spin. To take a more positive spin on the situation (Haha... Spin... Get it!?) if the park were to replace Rameses with another top spin, maybe they could operate it on a better setting!

We'll see what happens with time...

This may be a bit controversial... but I quite liked the lights! But then I was set at the back so couldnt really see where the track was going. I like it going forwards as well, but maybe that's just because it's different.

I went to Thorpe yesterday and whilst it wasn't dead there was plenty of time to get on all the rides. Stealth, Colossus and Inferno were running on one train so queues peaked at 40 minutes or so (Note to Thorpe - Why do you do this?! You have two trains so use them. It's incredibly frustrating). Swarm reached a queue of about an hour before they added a second train, at which point the queue dropped to about 15 mins, and Saw varied from 15-30 mins. Most of the flats were quiet so no problem there

Ohh sorry about my lack of replying, I was at Thorpe yesterday! I'll be there all day so would be more than happy to share a voucher with Pluk

I'll be there all day, but need to share a BOGOF voucher with someone. Any takers?

So maybe Merlin realise they shouldn't have completely different audiences for the two Southern parks? Adding a few more thrill rides to Chessington and some extra family rides to Thorpe would mean they complement each other well and people travelling further would be more likely to visit both in one trip. It would also allow scope for ticket deals to be offered for one day at Thorpe and one day at Chessington. In my opinion this would be much better than the way they currently run the parks, but a lot of marketing would be required to change both Thorpe's and Chessington's image.

Deary me... I don't think I've ever seen a queue that long for Vampire, and that includes one train operation during the summer holidays. I hope someone notices this and fixes it before the park actually gets busy...

I think it would fit in at Thorpe a little too well... They have plenty of spinny flats and although I'm sure this would provide a different ride experience, I would like to see something a little more unexpected...

Huh? It's in a terrible state at the moment. I don't mind the fact the tunnel has been taken away... In fact I quite like the small drop into the flat tunnel section (it looks much smaller from the top of the lifthill!). The half-demolished wall on the otherhand looks hideous. If it's going to go, get rid of it properly!

Haha! Peaj these are great! You even managed to get some suitably embarrassing photos of me... Hmmm not sure if I approve of that!

I didn't go to Fright Nights last year and was wondering if those of you who did could help me. I'm arranging a trip but I'm not sure how busy the first weekend is likely to be. I know none of you are able to predict the future, but how busy was it last year?

I'm actually really impressed by this coaster. If you look at the size of the park it's a major addition! It looks like good fun and absolutely perfect for the park.