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Everything posted by SteveJ

  1. I think it looked great for years when Thorpe still had some of that family theme park vibe! Since then they've tried to slick back and make the park more minimal, turn the dome into more of a club, so I understand them removing it. But they've revamped it in the cheapest possible, dullest way. There is literally no design to it, just removing all character. As always "phase 2" never arrives, "phase 2" is code for "not happening". The old Atlantis dome at its best with the underwater vibe was really good, the scenery was great, although it got a lot removed and beaten up over the years. I think it only seemed dated because of the different direction the park was going in. You could picture it fitting right into mid 90s family Thorpe really well, instead of 2010s era Thorpe. I'm surprised it was such a late addition actually! (2000 ish wasnt it?)
  2. Of course there are reasons, but it's not acceptable for this to look so bad when the park is open. Why do we see this kind of terrible standards so regularly at Chessington?
  3. Not that you intended it to sound that way of course, but isn't this sort of view really patronising. Maybe it's more likely that there's just not as many girls interested in a forum. I think in general theme park enthusiasts are moving away from forums and more towards social media, which is both good and bad. Good that there's more personality and a mix of more people, but bad because of the limitations of social media rewarding clickbait and vlogger fame over real enthusiasm. It's just pros and cons really! Either way, I second that forcing representation through tokenism is never a good idea. I don't think it suggests discrimination that the mods are white males, when most the forum seemingly is. Let's see them as individuals rather than categorise by their skin colour and gender. It's all about equal opportunity!
  4. Yes that's it, I can tell you my expectation was that it was going to be poor, but the moment they produce something genuinly great I would fully appreciate it and sing their praises (like Wicker man which I thought was a fun ride all round!)
  5. Is it too much to expect the same park to be as good as it was 20-30 years ago, especially for such a basic investment as a small childrens area retheme? Especially when prices have generally gone up
  6. But even just as that, the area was better before. Well before Toadies got so worn out. The new ending to Toadies is pathetic and dull. Even Berry Bouncers was arguably better, because now you just awkwardly face the back side from the main path where it's most visible. The whole thing is really poor quality. The log flume is 'better than nothing' but still extremely cheaply done for kids
  7. Mcamey Manor is one of those garbage things that only thrives off word of mouth and shock factor, it isn't actually that special or worth looking up
  8. An expensive SBNO ride costs a huge amount less than an expensive open ride with high running costs.
  9. Yeah it's not had an actual themed area since those, I was saying that in agreement to the previous post that it's just loosely themed, so it doesn't particularly matter that the themes don't 'make sense' next to each other. As long as they look good and it makes for a nice park then that's just the park's vibe. I don't think the public go into Thorpe Park for any reason than to enjoy the park and the rides, it should just focus on being good at that. It's more like Blackpool Pleasure Beach really. Wheras the moment guests step into Efteling they're in a beautiful theme park with so many surprises and areas to explore, totally different appeal. The themed 'areas' might not have a big Merlin style archway saying "Welcome to ____ land" but that doesn't matter, each corner of the park is a little different and the attractions all sit next to next each other nicely. Each park is different style when it comes to how they theme stuff, I wish Thorpe would stick to what it's best at really and clean itself up. It could really be great fun
  10. I don't think I've seen anyone say a park "needs" themed areas to be a theme park. (Also every inch of Efteling is themed so I dont know what you mean there) Like you say it's all about enjoyment. What I mean is, Thorpe Park makes for a terrible immersive style Phantasialand theme park, whenever it tries and fails to be that, but as a more simple stylish, throwaway kinda theme park it could be great fun! (that's kind of how it was in the past as a family park anyway) Currently it's a very bad, not very enjoyable mish mash. The park is very grubby and uncool but tries to look slick and stylish. They try to force 'themed areas' and themed experiences when there aren't any, rather than focus on making the park look appealing or have any identity. A few surf boards and painted wood doesn't make a great park Some of the ride themes are ok on their own, but most are depressing, cheap and all shoved together in a weird mess I really don't know why they thought Derren Brown was a good idea for Thorpe, it was the last thing all that money needed spending on in my opinion.
  11. Yeah good point, it's much more an amusement park these days, it never actually had a real themed area since Ranger County, Fantasy Reef and Amity Cove to be honest. The rides are themed, but the park really isn't. It's a Walibi style 'theme park', I think Thorpe Park should just focus on being really good at that, with a fresh stylish park. Otherwise it's really bad at being a full-on 'immersive' theme park.
  12. Yeah, just proves the point more that there wasn't any other reason for being so bad, it's because Merlin only paid enough for the most rushed / cheapest possible option
  13. Funny how just 1 year later those "early days" were gone and the graphics infinitely improved. Swap out "early days" for "cheapest option" and you'd be more correct
  14. All very interesting, thanks both Consortium format often ends up a mess if there isn't really, really good management
  15. Not those mini screens above, the big windows I mean, is it true these were initially simulator screens (or were designed so they could have been if wanted) before being covered/removed? I heard a lot of the problems with the VR was that it was designed in relatively late to planning, rushed in by marketing who thought it would be a great addition, after some of the design had been done. It would certainly seem that way but may not be totally true. Yeah the Simworx thing I'm also unclear about, I know other parties were involved in the manufacture but I heard that it was package prototype ride by Simworx (with those other aspects outsourced like the trains and track), excluding the VR on board. Again might just be an exaggeration that I was told. One thing we do know for sure is there were changes to try accomodate the VR, in that wobbly period when the opening was delayed
  16. I can see that leg ticklers wouldn't really work, you'd see them as you board before the lights go out (they're just flexible tubing). The screens, fog and all that are what's interesting, I wonder how much was actually installed before being removed or just mothballed. There must be a solution to using the ride system to its full potential as a simulator ride. It's the designers' job to come up with a solution and make it work as an experience, but it would take money not a quick rehash with some actors. Also as far as I know (might be wrong) Simworx built it without VR in mind to be rolled out to other parks in the future. It would be a shame to waste the ride system which was by far the best thing about the ride in my opinion.
  17. The ride system was designed without VR and to have more on-board effects, so I'm sure there's a way to make it entertaining, you're right though they would struggle to fill the time
  18. I would love for them to do the decent thing and take the VR off, and redesign it as the simulator style ride it was arguably always meant to be. But it would have to be done properly not a rushed job, or it will never be entertaining. I imagine they'd wait for the Derren Brown contract to expire before they do that, meaning it might sit there SBNO in the meantime
  19. Nostalgia but you didn't do it? I dont understand. Old Vampire did look way better though!
  20. Excellent video. No CGI or any of the tricks they usually pull, just a great video of the ride!
  21. If it just had more detail and a bit more going on then I'm sure the rustic look would look great. It just seems a bit featureless and odd at the moment
  22. The "revamped" Tomb Blaster is marginally better than the broken down version before, but not as good as when Tomb Blaster first opened and still a dull, naff attraction. The hype this revamp is getting is starting to get ridiculous. The new music is good, shame theres no great theme tune like before but it adds something at least. The 'story' thing adds nothing at all and is not what the ride needed. The whole train looked bored. There's still loads not working and some cringey choices with some moments
  23. I sure do, it's well known parks are keeping social media "influencers" on their good side by giving them free tickets or invites, either that or a back door relationship with the park managers (nothing serious obviously, just silly though). Or it's the other way around with enthusiasts trying to suck up to park management to get freebies. The reason I care is it just overhypes things and gets fans to believe this stuff is special (it's just normal maintenance in most parks this size around the world). Or it becomes one big enthusiast clique instead of focussing on entertaining the public. But I literally have no idea about Tomb V3 and will go in open minded of course
  24. Judging by that video, they have managed to make a light turn on and off? Seriously people have to go see these things for themselves. Don't listen to all these social media people who get free tickets to say good things and personally know the park managers. I remember Chessington Buzz overhyping the last Tomb revamp too. It took some time after the season started for the obvious to settle—that the ride was still terrible The old Tomb music was brilliant, it was more the sound system that was botched not the music itself. There must be a reason theyve changed it, maybe to go in a darker direction. Not just someone trying to give Nick Hutson a break I hope. Be prepared for him to tell absolutely everybody on earth that he did the new music. Whatever, I will go in with an open mind, I'm sure we would all love for Tomb to be an entertaining attraction again. Not just "better than before", because anything is better than before.
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