MG

That's insane! It's true that most of Europe has a rail system, but what you fail to realize is how expensive it is to travel by train. It's practically the same cost as paying for gas (if not more) and it takes twice the amount of time! In Germany, for example, a train ticket from Munich to Berlin (the distance is comparable from LA to San Francisco) would cost roughly 200 Euros one way and take over 8 hours to get there. While I don't agree how fast gas prices are rising in the States, I think in a way, Americans are quite lucky to be able to pay under $6 dollars a gallon for gas. Plus you can never ever rely on public transport. As an update from my previous calculation on the photo thread, Petrol near me has now hit £1.17 a litre. I can't be bothered to do the calculation. I didn't realise the American gallon was a different quantity.....

NO NO NO!!! NOT EUROVISION!! This is pretty much a joke now in the UK. The rest of the world is lucky to be spared of the hilarity that is Eurovision. The same thing happens every year. Russia votes for Ukraine. Ukraine votes for Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia votes for Russia Russia votes for Serbia. Who says the days of the Soviet Union are gone? They vote for each other, over and over and over again every year. It should be banned. The only good thing that ever came out of Eurovision was ABBA. Freakshow should be the Wikipedia definition of Eurovision

When Thorpe Park refurbished the Flying Fish they converted the bench-style bars to individual bars, partly because they are more comfortable than sliding into the person next to you. As said already, the article doesn't say lapbars are going to become extinct, only the bench-style ones.

Maurer Sohne for me! As said already, Dragon's Fury is just the best spinning coaster out there

^ Remember our prices are done in Litres whereas in the USA they use gallons, and there are about 5 Litres in a Gallon

Good Photo TR Shame Rita had a long line, I love that ride. I think you were lucky to get such a short line for Spinball, when I go it always has a massive line.

Did you know that Legoland Windsor used to be Windsor Safari Park

You Americans have no idea of expensive petrol!! Near me, this is the UK, petrol is £1.13 a LITRE. A litre is 0.22 gallons, so here you would pay over $11.00 a gallon.

The only thing I use them for is BBC news since updates are always coming hard and fast. It is useful when you are not near a television. I don't know if they would really help TPR since it would take an awful lot of work to keep trying to update them daily. I don't think I would use them on TPR. I think the forum and email probably make a better team. Doesn't Screamscape use RSS?

I like the idea of an "about me" section and a photo album. Maybe a video window as well linking to a video in the forum (or on youtube), but with youtube it might be a bit harder to limit what appears on people's profiles. I also think it would be nice if we could change little things about the appearance of our profiles. You could have a selection of a couple of backgrounds which are all readable. Maybe also a way for people to rearrange the layout of items on their profile. Just to allow people to have a bit of a change. Good luck Robb! I think everyone is going to have very different opinions on this.

I really like both of them... I love the more powerful launch Stealth has but I love the way Rita has a more interesting layout with all the turns. The main thing I dislike about Rita is the cattle pen queue line. For Stealth it is purely the fact that it is too short.. but this also makes for a fast queue. I think my opinions would change if I managed to ride a different Intamin Accelerator

I've been on Scream at SFMM and I thought the floorless concept was really good. Your legs dangle but you can also see in front of you which is much more difficult to do on an inverted coaster. The motion also feels very different to an inverted coaster because it feels like you are leaning into the bends rather than being thrown out the side of them. I think it is really just a good improvement to generic looping coaster trains. ^ I don't know about with floorless coasters but Vekoma managed to change Chessington's Vampire from the old arrow trains with a floor to the Floorless vekoma variety. They probably could. In fact haven't they done that with Sheikra in Florida now.

I love this ride What do people think the future holds for this ride? Personally I see forward facing trains and the removal of at least 1 block. I don't know if this is possible but it would go faster Does anyone have a plan/layout of X. I was trying to think of the layout but I can't work it out, going backwards and everything.

Ok, pretty straight forward. People seem to have very different views on this unique Vekoma. I for one LOVE IT. It is just so crazy and unique. The stop where it rolls forwards also feels too much like the train will not start moving again. The way as well how I always feel at the stops that another train is coming.... So your opinions, people's views on this are so different it will be interesting to see the result

This is quite cool, switching between different providers gives views taken at different times showing how parks have changed, ot at least Thorpe Park. I'd guess its the same for others. www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.403719&lon=-0.514683&z=18.1&r=0&src=ggl If you look between Google and Microsoft VE theres quite a difference. Oh and they caught the splash of tidal wave too on the Google one. For those interested, Thorpe Park at the moment has jumped into the time machine on Google Earth. The park is at the turning point. The Wicked Witch's haunt has just been bulldozed and a very fairground looking Zodiac is sitting next to the dome. It's weird how one day Google Earth will be the correct year and the next day it won't be

NOOOO!!!! You cannot harm the sacred X . Yes its crap but we all know deep down that we love it for that reason. They should really remove the blocks though.... And to stop it being harmed I will start a save dreamla*.... errr.... save X campaign. Hopefully there will be no arsonists. *This comment is in no way affiliated to the 'Save Dreamland' campaign and in no way intends to diminish the reputation of the Margate Scenic railway with the overall suckiness of X. PS: There is hope, the Scenic railway will live again

The most unsafe I have ever felt on a coaster was on Thorpe Park's X:\ NO WAY OUT! The lapbar sat about 20-30 cm above my lap. You do not feel very secure going up a lifthill backwards like that!

I never got to ride this Schwartzkopf classic. I still wish I had My UK indoor coaster count stands at one, courtesy of the amazing X:\NWO Still, it may be a good sign that they are keeping hold of the track and trains. It may be that they sell it, but could it be located to somewhere else in the park? They could turn it into an outdoor coaster. Just my crazy coaster infested mind trying to express subconscious ideas on my exterior being

MGM TOT caught me out, but only because its so random! IOA Dr Doom did nothing for me. Detonator at Thorpe Park, Fabbri Mega Drop, I have found the most forceful due to the fact that it uses pneumatics to push you just that bit harder towards the ground, but as it isn't a constant push, it is just a jab at the top, it gives you a wide range of sensations on the way down

OHHH! Ok! Now I understand Everybody sits the same GCSE's on the same day, depending on their exam board. Below are the two timetables for the major exam boards used in the area (I think). It would be pretty much impossible to pick a good day for everyone due to the fact that people sit different subjects and different boards. Edexcel GCSE timetable AQA exam timetable It really depends how lucky people are.

Don't plan around me! I'll be there if I'm around, thats all!

Glad it helped! Back to hotels; depending on your budget some of these should help out Holiday inn @ Chessington World Of Adventures The Runneymede Hotel The Windsor Travel Lodge The Harte and Garter Hotel in Central Windsor The next site is from Legoland and includes a great list of Hotels, The Beaumont House hotel is just down the road from me! Hotels from Legoland Hope this all helps!

Might be at Thorpe Park. If i'm not doing GCSE's By the way. If you are intending to go to so many Merlin parks and attractions it might be worth investigating whether it is cheaper to get a Merlin Annual Pass rather than having to pay all the individual gate passess. You would have to work out the costs. Merlin Annual Pass Website I can also probably tell you where to find some good accommodation in the Thorpe Park area if required

This wouldn't be the first time in the UK that someone has destroyed a beautiful building or object. It is usually developers trying to build on a piece of land without caring for anyone elses points of view. Tesco do it all the time. More notably in history was the case of the Firestone building, where the owners demolished the Art Deco frontage to the building the night before a preservation order was going to be placed on the building. People can be such scum!

Very sad, some history being lost. What do you mean? I thought the fire at Thorpe Park was caused by cigarettes.