March 4, 201312 yr comment_151706 Mehh slogan sounds alright... Don't think it matters too much whatever it says as long as it's in some way suited. Should be a nice extra touch going through that billboard. Also... That picture is awful quality, surely they can't be taking pics with a BlackBerry..
March 4, 201312 yr comment_151707 If you read the terms and conditions of the competition it says that the winning slogan may not be used on the billboard Oops, sorry not with it today Anyways, I thought it was quite a good idea to have it to look like a plane advert because it links with the plane crash site around the first drop. I wonder if it will say the same on the other side? Either way, it's going to look amazing in the front row when you are heading towards the billboard seeing it gradually get closer
March 4, 201312 yr comment_151710 Just going back into the slogans... The slogan on that billboard is worse than the winning slogan and the winning slogan wasn't that good Honestly thorpe... You're only saying that because your's didn't win. You already said a million times you think your's is better than anyone else's.
March 4, 201312 yr comment_151712 You're only saying that because your's didn't win. You already said a million times you think your's is better than anyone else's. I am ovbiously going to say my slogan is better than the winners... But what I am trying to say here is that I thought the winning slogan was better than the one which went on the park. I hope they put a better slogan on the other side either way, I don't think anyone is really going to be bothered as all the hype is about the swarm backwards this year...
March 4, 201312 yr comment_151714 You hit the nail on the head there, who actually cares about what is written on a piece of sticky paper on a piece of metal?
March 4, 201312 yr Author comment_151715 I think it's safe to say we will see 1 train operation for the first week or so, as much as we hate it! I believe it will be two train operation (one with one without backwards seats) APD though. We will have to wait and see So, potentially, we could see Thorpe open with 1 train operation on their big new attraction, which has a new twist, and without a ride which they'll be heavily changing (X)? Seriously, you have GOT to be kidding me... Still over a week til open day, almost 2 weeks till open weekend (when it will really be needed) No need to worry yet! I've expressed concerns about this in the past. Thorpe have said that the modification isn't a quick 'take the rows off, turn them round, stick them back on again' job. No doubt it'll take time. I'd have thought that there'd then be testing to take place to ensure it's safe and 'green carded' (I think that's the correct term at least?). If it's the case that there's only 1 train has the rows turned backwards on Sunday, that leaves them with 3 days to sort it out before opening. As I said in the past, I'm no expert on these sort of things, but is 3 days really enough? As much as I hate to be pessimistic about this, I'm glad that I'm missing Opening Weekend for the first time in goodness knows how long. It's sounding like there's potential for a train wreck... :/
March 4, 201312 yr comment_151717 Erm, one side of the billboard has been shown, which looks to be a rather atypical cheese filled advertising poster you'd see in a "lost hope" horror film... The other side might well have the winning slogan... I like the Paradise Flights advert, brings the ride down to Earth (boom boom) and links the currently existing theming into a further background...
March 4, 201312 yr comment_151724 So, potentially, we could see Thorpe open with 1 train operation on their big new attraction, which has a new twist, and without a ride which they'll be heavily changing (X)? Seriously, you have GOT to be kidding me... I've expressed concerns about this in the past. Thorpe have said that the modification isn't a quick 'take the rows off, turn them round, stick them back on again' job. No doubt it'll take time. I'd have thought that there'd then be testing to take place to ensure it's safe and 'green carded' (I think that's the correct term at least?). If it's the case that there's only 1 train has the rows turned backwards on Sunday, that leaves them with 3 days to sort it out before opening. As I said in the past, I'm no expert on these sort of things, but is 3 days really enough? As much as I hate to be pessimistic about this, I'm glad that I'm missing Opening Weekend for the first time in goodness knows how long. It's sounding like there's potential for a train wreck... :/ The way I see it is they have 10 days till opening to get it ready on 2 trains, 12 days for most importantly open weekend. I'm sure it will be fine! (I hope!)
March 4, 201312 yr Author comment_151725 Whilst I hate to play this card, they've had the whole of closed season to get two trains ready. This was rumoured before closed season began, and no doubt Thorpe got in touch with B&M ages ago. In my eyes, the fact that only one train is 'ready' at the beginning of March is very surprising...and confusing. I know there can be issues with these things, but still...
March 4, 201312 yr comment_151729 They've had five months to get The Swarm backwards and No Way Out ready for opening. Pretty dismal showing from all involved. Seems to me they'll either incredibly ill-prepared for 2013 or incredibly optimistic. Guess we shall find out in 12 days...
March 4, 201312 yr comment_151730 To be honest I thought they had it all sorted for opening day/weekend because they were giving off that impression (kind of), obviously I was wrong. I should have known better
March 4, 201312 yr comment_151737 Please, for the love of god, tell me X and Swarm will be ready for opening....... Let's give them a chance to get this right before we criticise tbh... They could have things ready yet...
March 4, 201312 yr comment_151739 They've had five months to get The Swarm backwards and No Way Out ready for opening. Pretty dismal showing from all involved. Seems to me they'll either incredibly ill-prepared for 2013 or incredibly optimistic. Guess we shall find out in 12 days... TP aren't always (although usually) to blame, for X it's the manufacturers.
March 5, 201312 yr comment_151746 To be honest I thought they had it all sorted for opening day/weekend because they were giving off that impression (kind of), obviously I was wrong. I should have known better Yes you should. Guess we shall find out in 12 days...Dont hold your breath. We've been here before. Right now I'm glad its Mothers day when the Annual Pass day is on this Sunday. Usually it's the perfect excuse to avoid Mothers day but after the last Annual Pass day that was a shambles, this year I'm happy to miss it!
March 5, 201312 yr comment_151758 Well in the picture theres one train (all facing forwards) going around with dummys, so its safe to assume that train has had its closed season work complete. There must be a reason why it wasnt turned forward during this work before starting work on the other, a reason I doubt we will ever know but there will no doubt be reasons behind it as if anything it gives the thorpe engineers more to do!
March 5, 201312 yr comment_151760 Yes you should. Dont hold your breath. We've been here before. Right now I'm glad its Mothers day when the Annual Pass day is on this Sunday. Usually it's the perfect excuse to avoid Mothers day but after the last Annual Pass day that was a shambles, this year I'm happy to miss it! It won't be as bad this time around due to no the strict rules on AP pass holders only! Last time it was bring a friend for £10 etc and people were just turning up and asking people to get them tickets on their AP. I think this year will be much better than previous AP days anyway.
March 5, 201312 yr comment_151768 Yeah, Thorpe have been updating their Twitter account with pictures of Swarm whilst filming the TV ad. I'm starting to think this whole thing is a wind-up. No, really. We haven't seen any TV adverts for this yet, and we would've by now. It's probably some stupid cover-up to divert people's attention from the X:\ talk. Over-publicised hype.
March 5, 201312 yr comment_151769 Errr.... Why would they go through the effort of getting in TV crews, people to ride the ride and what not to try pull the wool over the eyes of very few people who actually care about X? :\ An advert will go out once the park has opened just before easter I would assume.
March 5, 201312 yr Author comment_151771 I'm starting to think this whole thing is a wind-up. No, really. We haven't seen any TV adverts for this yet, and we would've by now. It's probably some stupid cover-up to divert people's attention from the X:\ talk. Over-publicised hype. Definitely not a wind up. Thorpe have updated their website's main page explicitly saying 'There's a sting in the tail', 'The Swarm has mutated'. They've said two rows will go backwards. They have been pushing it heavily on Facebook and Twitter. People would be annoyed / disappointed / shocked / whatever bad feeling if they said 'LOL JK, we're turning X around!' The adverts for Thorpe are never on TV this earlier. Last year, the adverts for the park did go on TV until the 18th March - 4 days after the park opened. They would also receieve a lot of complaints for misrepresentation / lying to the public if this were to be a 'wind up'...
March 5, 201312 yr comment_151775 As for the delay in turning the seats on one train, how about it being because of the billboard? I'm thinking they obviously have to complete the clearance tests to get the thing signed off for riders safety. The positioning of the seats will likely be slightly different facing the other way so they have to get it signed off in both forwards and backwards facing trains (if they are considering turning back to forwards at some point) this wouldn't have been possible if they'd already amended both the trains. So now the billboard is finished and and signed off they can get to work. Just guessing, but it would make sense.
March 5, 201312 yr comment_151783 We have talked for weeks about how changing the seats round is a big task, and about how they'll modify the queueline. With days to go until the full season opens and The Swarm queueline is packed again, I can only assume that changing the seats round will be very prompt, and no modifications to the queueline will happen. My conclusion? We have (possibly) wasted talking about something that will take a while to modify.
March 5, 201312 yr Author comment_151789 Maybe it's just the angle the photos are taken, but it looks like there's a possibility for a second 'near miss' (or at the very least, look quite close) opportunity with the billboard after the corkscrew? Either way, great addition! Certainly fits in and adds to the overall feel of the area.
March 5, 201312 yr comment_151793 Maybe it's just the angle the photos are taken, but it looks like there's a possibility for a second 'near miss' (or at the very least, look quite close) opportunity with the billboard after the corkscrew? Either way, great addition! Not really look at the angle of the track, the train would be tilted far too low, for that to be counted as a near miss
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