JoshC. Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Candy Holland is head of Merlin's creative team and she was mentored by John, but another guy (am I allowed to post his name since he is no longer a Merlin employee?) was the lead creative designer of Saw, Swarm and Smiler. The process these days is totally different to how John Wardley used to work. I had a nice talk to him about it last week, the theme park industry was totally different back then. The last time where one person/team had all creative control in a Tussaudes project was around Nemesis or even earlier. I don't see why you can't mention Ben Dowson's name on here (at least, I assume that's who you are referring to?). He was relatively open on his Twitter account about his involvement in Smiler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJ Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Yes that's him. He was even on TV at the time. But I didn't want to bring him up in case people start personally criticising him (although thankfully stuff like that doesn't happen often on this forum!) plus I have to consider Merlin's media policy. Would be interesting to know how far his involvement was and what the design process is like now, and how it has evolved since Merlin took over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 I wonder why he left. Was a nice guy to talk to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 I forgot to mention, Saw's queue ambience with all the audio bites was playing on Sunday! First time I've heard it in years! Marhelorpe, pluk, Kerfuffle and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 I forgot to mention, Saw's queue ambience with all the audio bites was playing on Sunday! First time I've heard it in years! You mean the bit on the inside ? Good to hear! Is the outside queue working? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flipper Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 So far this year, the queue line audio of SAW has worked faultlessly with the snippets of "They're not to cut through our chains, they're to cut through our feet" and "Be careful, we know there's booby-traps in there..." blah blah blah. So yeah thats back. Still no exit TVs though yet this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 So far this year, the queue line audio of SAW has worked faultlessly with the snippets of "They're not to cut through our chains, they're to cut through our feet" and "Be careful, we know there's booby-traps in there..." blah blah blah. So yeah thats back. Still no exit TVs though yet this year. Not heard the queue work the couple times I've been on but the exit Tvs have worked when I've been there - are the Tvs at the bottom of the lift working now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmgpannal Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 Not heard the queue work the couple times I've been on but the exit Tvs have worked when I've been there - are the Tvs at the bottom of the lift working now? They've been working every time I've been on this season. Had the best and smoothest ride on Saw today that I've had for a long time. No headache for a change!! What a difference it made! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 You mean the bit on the inside ? Good to hear! Is the outside queue working? I meant the exterior queue, but yeah come to think of it the inside was working as well. I hadn't heard the outside audio work yet this season (or for the past two), but it was working on Sunday! The TV's were broken a lot at the start of the season but this seems to have been fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flipper Posted May 21, 2014 Report Share Posted May 21, 2014 Oh; whenever I've been I've heard the queue line audio but no exit TVs Nice to see the lift TVs back though; and cleaned so you can see Billy properly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerfuffle Posted May 22, 2014 Report Share Posted May 22, 2014 The queue audio was actually working when I went to Thorpe on May 9th! I mean, I had no idea whatsoever that the audio was back on until I heard "Better take a look at that truck!"... ...from this point I start triumphantly punching the air, shouting "YES! YES!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieGreen Posted May 23, 2014 Report Share Posted May 23, 2014 Some queue speakers working today. Ride exit screens working. Ride was smooth all four times. Sent from my TegraNote-P1640 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam_sparks1 Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 Not open again today... bit annoyed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 Looks like it's open now with a 60 min queue according to the app! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam_sparks1 Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 I went on it as soon as it opened it said 60 mins but actually queued around 20-30.. running well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Fish Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 The TV screens on the lift hill have been fixed and a new clock has been added with them JoshC. and Kerfuffle 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerfuffle Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Oh... ...THE GAMES HAVE JUST BEGUN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Fish Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 and the sound system for the queue line has been fixed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerfuffle Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 ...which was done ages ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheThorpeParkKidLife Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Guys. Is saw better or worse? And do you think the maze should be reopened. For maybe £5 a head. Maybe encouraging more people Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerfuffle Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 The maze needs to be DEMOLISHED ...and the ride's as good as ever, yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paige Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 The ride isn't as rough as it has been, even for a Gerst. If you know how to brace yourself its pretty okay, unless you get a rough car. The maze? Returning throughout the season? No thanks. I never went in it and I don't particularly regret it. Saw Alive had to be one of the worst moves Thorpe made IMO: there was so much hype over saw but then the maze just flopped. Also, who the hell would pay a fiver for that? Especially outside of FN. Kerfuffle, pognoi and InfernoMartin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c1hrisin Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Maybe encouraging more people It couldn't get people in it when it was free XD how would you entice people to pay for it? paige 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Rode twice today, the ride was amazing as always but the ride was very rough. It had been down most of the morning however not sure if that was to do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Rode twice today, the ride was amazing as always but the ride was very rough. It had been down most of the morning however not sure if that was to do with it. I doubt it would be down because was rough, if there was something wrong with a car they'd take it off and carry on normal operation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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