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so...has anyone been to this? considering going tomorrow. was just wondering what the "phobophobia" show entails. it says it's for adults only, and is extreme...should I expect something as extreme as face it alone at Thorpe, or is it just a scarier version of the normal Tombs show? cheers!

Good Afternoon all of you wonderful people! I'm very excited to officially announce plans for our Doctor Oakwood Meet 2015! The date of the event is the Weekend of Saturday 15th (Oakwood) - Sunday 16th (Cardiff) August 2015! As decided by you. As you can see it's the whole weekend! Which gives you a choice - come on the Saturday, come on the Sunday or stay the whole weekend! Please take note if you plan to stay with us overnight, it will be your responsibility to book your own rooms and unfortunately if your under 18 we cannot help you with this! If you were to stay the night - under no circumstances will TPM get involved and take responsibility with how you stay overnight, as for the overnight section of the trip will be an over 18's event.. We will however like to see you during the day at the park (or town centre on the Sunday ) The Outline of the day/s will be as follows: Oakwood Day Meet by the entrance at 09:45 am so we can sort out our tickets for when the park opens at 10am. Please bear in mind we will leave without you if you are late as it’s not fair on time keepers! If by any chance you happen to miss this meet point due to travel arrangements or just plain lateness you can either phone or text so we can arrange to meet you. As members have found out! We will then go and enjoy our day at Oakwood. I know not everyone will want to do some of the rides at Oakwood. If you decide to not come on please be polite and wait for everyone to come off and chat to other members whilst you are waiting. Or go off and do another attraction as long as you’ll be back after the group has finished riding the attraction. Please respect other people’s wishes who wish to ride certain things that you yourself may not be too keen with. During the day, around half 1, we will stop for a bite to eat where you can go and eat where you like and we will arrange where to meet after everyone has finished eating. (Who knows we might all want to eat the same thing anyway ) After lunch we will group together for the Official Group Photo for the day and continue going round the park. Around 7-8 we will have a quick snack somewhere to keep us going and then continue riding the attractions people want to do until the park closes. . The day will finish off at 10pm when Oakwood hold a fantastic Fireworks Display. Day In Cardiff As we are already in Wales and a 12 hour stint at Oakwood is good enough, we will finish with a more relaxing day in Cardiff and go and try out the redone Doctor Who Experience. We will be meeting in the town at Half 10 and the day will consist of the experience, a bit of mini golf, a meal near the harbour and also a swim in the Cardiff International Pool which hosts a nice number of water slides. This should keep us going until around 7pm when we will start saying our goodbyes. This day will have a better timetable nearer the meet due to the nature of the availability of the attractions. However those that are interested in exploring Cardff for the day will all be informed and kept in the loop but the basis of the day is to relax a bit more and get to know people outside of the theme park environment. I will be handing out my phone number for everyone who is attending the meet that day, should there be any problems. We aim to stay together as a group for the day, going from one activity to the next, enjoying getting to know people you share very similar interests with, the idea is to just go with the flow and enjoy the day with some awesome people. There will be many photo’s in the day being taken and the possibility of a few video clips. Whilst we cannot force you to stay with the group, it is the general purpose of these meets! You will have my number (and some of the senior teams) if you become split so by all means use it. The meets are a fantastic laugh and everyone is invited, even if you have never posted before or been to any kind of meet at all. If it's your first meet, I understand it can be nerve breaking - but we were all there at one point so know how it feels, please don't let this stop you from attending - Once there you'll be part of the group in no time! Just look at the past trips this year! I will soon be posting up a separate post on possible accommodation locations which you can use to help you decide where to sleep (If your staying for the night.) If however you know where your going already by all means book it up when we confirm the dates this time next week. I know for example I will be staying at a Travelodge near Cardiff on the way back from Oakwood. Once again, everyone will have my phone number so please use it on the day If anyone has any issues or concerns or even nervous about coming, feel free to post here, or PM myself and I will get back to you as soon as possible. If you feel like my response is taking too long another member of the team will be more than happy to help. We will all try and help you out as much as we can. Please PM me or post here to say if you’re attending. If you are bringing a mate along with you, please also include who they are so they are not known as ‘Plus 1.’ The events with TPM have been fantastic this year and this one will be no different! Attending (17) Alpengeist Celia Mae DeanGaryCox EC! J.S217 KingNemesis Matt Creek Mr. Fish Paige Peaj Rocket Sawyer ScaryCoasterBoy Shinequa Snobbish Bob (From Tower Nerds) Stretchy Styles Maybe (6) Amargh Mark9 Mer NathP Ryan StevenVig

what's the worst thing that has happened to you or seen at a theme park? eg. stuck on ride for a long time, no rides open, injuries, waiting in queue because something has happened any thing like that. I have had a couple!

In 2012, Thorpe Park is a maelstrom. It is a giant, it is a behemoth it is, put it simply a hit. Seated within its small grounds lies coaster after coaster and some of the most well known flat rides around. Top scans, Afterburners, giant swings, drop towers, sky swats. It even has some pretty nifty water rides in Loggers Leap and Tidal Wave. The Swarm surely secures Thorpe Park at the very top of the theme park tree. And yet, a part of me always harkens back to the days where Colossus and Nemesis Inferno ruled the roost, where the top five rides were of real variety, where you could rest away at Thorpe Farm or relax in Sunken Gardens. There are some that must think I'm mad, "Surely Mark, you're into top flight thrills, not boring, meandering train rides to a dull, down trodden farm, a past echo, an area that doesn't deserve its place in a technological forest." Sir you couldn't be more wrong and here is why. A theme park is more then just the rides that it contains. Sure you can throw ride upon ride upon ride at a place and charge to the hilt. But, particularly in Thorpe Parks case everything becomes samey. It says it all when Stealth, the parks only major roller coaster without inversions, is about the only ride that breaks the mould at Thorpe. The majority of rides at Thorpe spin you in some direction or invert you repeatedly. Many rides do both. Rides like Mr Monkeys Banana Ride and Depth Charge are becoming more scarce in a park that increasingly tries to intimidate you silly. Be it beyond me to criticise Thorpe Park and the way it sells its park. I do not have a degree in market research or target audiences and I will never pretend that I do. But I do personally think Thorpe have a problem. There is really, very little entry level rides left at the place and they are the rides that are increasingly being targeted for removal. It's questionable how long Depth Charge or Mr Monkeys or Chief Rangers Carousel have left before they are replaced by another fast, inverting, spinning flat ride. And part of me thinks this is sad. I never ride them and judging by Thorpe blindly ignoring them, I bet very few people still do. And this is why my favourite Thorpe Park era was 2003. A varirty of rides of all shapes and sizes, areas where you can rest, a time where every staff member genuinely cared about customer services and the appearance of the attractions and a time where there was real optimism about the direction of the park. Remember these were the days that Samurai still span in Mystic East, Eclipse was brand new and we had only just heard rumours about a possible Xcelerator clone coming to Thorpe Park. Exciting days indeed.