Mark9

Would a roof cost that much though, compared to a plane or a helicopter or a fire engine? I can just imagine the staff having to continue working in heavy rain in that station.. and the guests for that matter.I'm actually more concerned about the atmosphere that may be lacking without a roof. I know it's only a cover but you can create a lot of atmosphere with shadows and lighting. With the station fully open with the sky, it might lack that something compared to say Saw which benefits a lot from being in a dark room.

Chessington is the answer.Why you should go to a different park because Merlin have decided that people only visit in target audiences is a different question.

Even your example Poseidon isn't fully themed, it's main rollercoaster sections are completely devoid of theming and the splash pool sections are just a boat sailing around a trough. it's aesthetically beautiful, but it isn't themed the whole round exactly.Let's be fair to Swarm here, Nemesis's theming is its station, a mushroom cloud bus and a big gun. It's landscaped well, but that isn't theming.

Not many will disagree with you Bubbles. There is no way that Swarm will be as intense, thrilling or as exhilirating as Nemesis but then, Swarm isn't designed to be. I reckon it will ride far more smoothly (like Raptor) with long, drawn out patches of air time and hang time. Crucially, Swarm's theming already looks more substansial and extensive then Nemesis.We shall see though in two months time.

I know it gets said time and time again but this is shaping up to be the best themed rollercoaster this country has ever seen. The zero-g roll near miss at the end of the ride looks so solid compared to Raptors fiddly metal trap thing for example. There are a lot of little touches to this ride.

Whenever she starts free-styling as she sings 'Price Tag', I always feel this urge to shoot her with an elephant tranquilizer. Filled with Arsenic.

I think I just let out my critical elements on Saw but I take your point. This suspension of disbelief has come up between us two before with Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.I find that rather mythical actually. The way to suspension of disbelief is how much do the park (or the film for that matter) want to convince me that this is the real deal. The gunshot works (although having been in a breakdown with the thing going off ever few minutes, its definitly lost the effect it once had) as does the first drop in the dark. But everything else 'feels' half arsed. From the traps hidden away to the video screen.I could write a novel on Tomb Blaster Adam. Lets just say it gets away with murder because its aiming far lower with its ambitions and I remember it back in the day as 5th Dimension and Terror/Forbidden Tomb. Kids won't see through the faults in the same way that with a 1.4 metre ride, the stakes are so much higher. And so much greater.

To finish off 2011, I've just written a little piece on Saw the ride.http://mark2262.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/saw-the-ride/Let me know what you think.

ARGH, SHED!

It's just so much more accessible. All the factors that help Rush such as location, ease of loading, fun and thrilling work completely against Slammer.

Not a bad guess from me though babe

Used to love that purple Thorpe Park logo.I remember that day well. I was in a Geography AS exam and all I could think about was how I wasn't at Rush's first day. May 27th wasn't it?

Really?! Would never have guessed.

Just tried to post on the Doctor Who Forum. It is when I spelt sense with more then four e's did I know I was wasted. DAMN YOU CHRISTMAS AND YOUR BEAUTIFUL WINE

I've only quoted parts of your post here. A top-spin comes up quite regularly as a ride that Thorpe should get, and I've always maintained an attitude that what is the point all three ex-Tussauds parks having one. It isn't like a pirate ship or a wave swinger where the majority of guests can get on, it's a 1.4 ride that (from what I've seen anyway) has a niche target audience at any park I visit that has one.That being said of course, Top-spins are one of the more crowd pleasing flat rides out there, often getting an audience far larger then the amount of people on the ride (or in the queue for that matter).It's just my view that Top-spins are old hat now. Back in the late 90's when interesting flat rides were restricted to the funfair market, it made sense for parks like Chessington and Alton Towers to get flat rides as building large rides took time, space and money. Thorpe hasn't just moved the boundary, its destroyed it. If it was to get an ancient flat ride again, I'd be concerned about why they aren't trying to push the boundaries that little bit more as a top-spin is a lazy, uninspiring and unambitious choice.

Hope everybody had a lovely christmas.

Or move a current flat ride over there. Perhaps Zodiac as that is, compared to most Thorpe rides, a fun for the family ride.

I adore Christmas. This year I'll be spending Christmas Eve evening and Christmas day with Chris. We get up around 9, casually get some wine or maybe some cava, some patte and start opening our presents. We'll always have BBC one on as thats the best channel for shows. Chris cooks the food as he is so calm with it and so organized. TV goes off whilst we eat and then back to the TV for evening television. Doctor Who, Strictly and this year Ab Fab.Mostly though, I get to spend the day with someone very special to me. Like Mariah Carey says"All I want for Christmas, is you"

And it comes to this. What flat ride could they add that would be different enough to what they currently offer.

INNY AND OUTY!But please don't think I'm defending Intamin.

B&M and Vekoma for a start

I doubt the colour has anything to do with intamin

Just a matter of taste my dear Sheepie.

Yup. My feelings exactly. Either of the rides is perfection. I cannot find a single fault with either ride.