jonnyfingers

Thanks Elissa. Yes we'd like to do as much of Sentosa as possible but we're only in Singapore for 4 days so may only have a day and a half or so to spend there.

The Wild Mouse in Blackpool Pleasure Beach. If I had the money and a suitably big back yard that's the ride I would put there!

Hi guys, looking for a bit of advice. My soon-to-be-new-wife and I are off to Singapore for the first part of our honeymoon in August. We're planning a trip to Universal Studios while we're there. I'm just wondering if it's better to buy tickets online or on the day? Also I hear the park is quite small compared to its Florida cousin so how long would it take to see and do everything? Has there been any news on the "replacement" of BSG? I know they said a new ride would be in by the end of this year, I'm guessing August is probably too soon for that.

Very late to the game, literally! My ID's jonathanja923 if anyone wants to add me.

Lo-Q - You recently announced securing your first customer for Q-Smart, the Company’s new smartphone-based system, that customer being Walibi Holland. Will Walibi Holland act as a test-bed for this system? Or is it ready to be rolled out to other parks, and if so are any lined up?

The schools aren't out until July I think so you should be OK. Also I just checked the 10 day weather forecast and it's showing a bit of rain around the 18th which should mean the park shouldn't be too busy. Hope you have fun.

I think if you're going to rely on public transport then Thorpe is your only option really. Alton Towers really is off the beaten track and difficult to get to using only public transport. However Thorpe Park is serviced by bus, especially if you get a train to Staines train station first, you can get a connecting bus from there that will drop you to the park door. I presume you're flying into Heathrow so you should have no problems getting to Thorpe Park from there. When are you planning on going? Thorpe Park can get really busy, especially at weekends but also during the week when the schools are off. However it can also be quiet at times. If the park is quiet you'll do everything in a day with time to spare. If the park is busy and you really want to do everything you might need to get a fastpass for a few rides. But if you get there early, as in before park opening, you could head straight to The Swarm. If the queue is small it's worth queuing for a front seat. As it's the new coaster most people who arrive after you will head there so you can stay one step ahead of them and head for Stealth. Unfortunately they got rid of the single rider queue so it might take you a little longer to get on. But assuming two trains are running you'll be on soon enough. I recommend row two, you get a similar experience as the front row but with much less waiting. I'd probably head for Nemesis Inferno next as it's closest. I like the back row as it can be quite forceful. A front row ride is worth it too if you don't have to queue too long. After that you just have Colossus and Saw left. Well X:\No Way Out if you want to ride a ridiculous coaster! Saw usually has a long enough queue throughout the day so either wait your turn or possibly buy a fastpass at the queue entrance if time is running out. I find Colossus gets quiet towards the end of the day, about a half hour before the park closes, so you should get a few rides in then. Swarm has pretty good throughput so you could probably return a few times during the day and get on without too much waiting. As for the flats I'd recommend Slammer, Rush and Samurai. I usually give the wet rides a miss but if you don't mind getting absolutely soaked have a go on Tidal Wave. The flume ride and Storm Surge are only OK in my opinion. Thorpe gets a bit of a bad rep at times but it has some great rides. It's my local park so have a bit of a soft spot for it. Hope you have a great day whenever you go.

The history would definitely be the best. We don't have enough absolute top quality roller coasters to fill out a "best and worst" or "extreme" documentary. However if you look at some of the older coasters, at Blackpool and the former Dreamland park in Margate, Kent, there should be plenty of interesting details.

^Apparently word from the testing team is that the ride is running slow and is lagging behind the themeing elements. That tells us that, firstly, the ride will be faster when it opens and, secondly, there's interactive themeing possibly?

First video of testing has gone up on the Developer's Diary Facebook page. Looks good, but a bit short in duration.

^That was my original plan before fate conspired against me and I had to pull out of the trip. I'm now on to the backup "not part of special TPR trip and I have no ERT or any similar benefits and I'm now just a member of the GP going to the park" plan!

May it is then! Thanks guys, very helpful as always. ^I'll try that website, thanks.

^ This. Now there will be a reason to go to x-sector other than for Oblivion.

I don't think it will be that disappointing, the plans look pretty nice in my opinion, even looks like there might be a launch section as well as a vertical lift hill. Plus there could be a nice hidden element in the indoor section. Add in a the new lap bar restraints and it could be a more than decent addition to the park. The height and noise restrictions at AT really do prevent them from getting anything really huge so I think the new coaster could be perfect for what the park can do. But what I'd love to see is sensible marketing for the ride. No more ridiculous Thirteen-style claims. But what's important is AT and Thorpe are continuing to add new attractions. Long may it continue! I'm still holding out for a terrain-hugging woodie that traverses the valley in AT though!

^ and ^^. Thanks guys. Everything I need to know really. Only thing now is to decide on a date. At the moment I'm thinking May, or July/August. Any German holidays I should steer clear of so the park isn't as busy?

Unfortunately I've had to pull out of this years Europe trip. But I still want to visit Europa park this year so I have a few questions that some of you might be able to answer. It will most likely be just myself and my girlfriend and we'll probably fly into Basel airport from London, spending a few days back in Basel, then a couple of days at Europa park before flying home. What I'd like to know is: 1. Which resort hotel is the best to stay at? 2. Is getting to Europa Park from Basel pretty easy? It seems to be just a train to Ringsheim, then a shuttle bus to the park but has anyone done this before? 3. Is two days enough to spend in the park? 4. My girlfriend does not like coasters that much, but does like dark rides, water rides, shows etc. Are there enough other good attractions in the park that aren't coasters to keep her happy? Thanks in advance for any help.

Loving the photos of Jaws over the last few pages. I only rode Jaws once, way back in 2000 during my only trip to Florida. Interestingly the attractions I enjoyed the most at Universal were Jaws, Back to the Future and the Hitchcock experience, all of which I'll never get to experience again. Seeing the Photo TRs over the last few days have helped me relive the magic a little so thank you. But for me Jaws was a strange ride. I remember when I went on it it was with my whole family. After the ride I thought it was a bit cheesy and lame. But over the years, when I look back at it, I realise just how much the ride stuck with me. The themeing was amazing. The ride, although still a bit cheesy, was a ton of fun and we laughed and smiled throughout the whole thing. The ride ops were so enthusiastic it was infectious. And really the special effects and the ride experience were quite good, no matter how fake the shark looked! I'm not totally sad to see the ride go however, as everything must come to an end at some stage. However I'm not hugely enthusiastic about another Harry Potter ride replacing it. I've not had a chance to return to Orlando yet (hopefully I will in the next few years) so I've not had a chance to experience the WWHP so I'll reserve judgement until I do. But one thing I've noticed is that it's made for the fans of Harry Potter and not really as a way to introduce new fans. This worries me. The one thing I remember about Universal was how most of the attractions gave a pretty good back-story, and even if they didn't you could still enjoy the ride as they didn't require previous knowledge to do so. I can understand how this could have been overlooked for the Harry Potter attractions as so many people have seen the movies and/or read the books. But still the vast majority of the population will not have read or seen a thing, or at the very least will not have total encyclopedic knowledge of the Harry Potter universe. From the ride-throughs of FJ that I've seen this could make for a very confusing ride. Why are we playing a game with balls, and hoops? Where did the spiders and dragon come from? Why is that tree moving? Yes the technology of the ride system is good, the movement of the seats and use of projections screens might be fun for a Harry Potter virgin but when they leave the ride they won't have a clue what just happened and will probably be asking questions, instead of talking about how much fun they just had. See that was the beauty of Jaws. You didn't need to see any of the Jaws movies to enjoy the ride. It's almost as if Amity is a real place and the Jaws movies run along side it, rather than Amity existing because of the movies. It's simple, you go on a boat tour, you see some nice scenery, there might be a shark in the water, there is a shark in the water, you get attacked, you eventually escape with your life! Simple. Fun. Enjoyable. After the ride you can walk around a nicely themed seaside area and get your picture taken with the shark. Now there's no reason why a similar process can't work with the new Harry Potter ride, but from the sounds of it they're once again trying to cram as much from the books and movies as they can into the ride, while at the same time adding a roller coaster element. The first time I read about the Gringotts bank in the Harry Potter books I immediately thought "This would make a great roller coaster!". In the books a normal trip to the underground Vaults is a roller coaster. Add a possible "rob the bank and escape" theme, throw in a few security "traps", a dragon, a giant, etc. and you have a ride right there. Harry and his friends don't even need to show up! But I imagine that won't happen, especially if the leaked plans are to be believed. And that will be sad if true. I'm still going to visit Orlando again sometime and I will go to Universal and IOA to give WWHP a go but I imagine, even for a wizard themed area, some of the old-school movie magic will be lost. RIP Jaws. You've died of an electric shock so many times only to rise again, may you finally rest in piece!

I love the new Batman trailer. It gives away hardly anything. Really think they're holding back a lot of good stuff for the actual release of the movie. I can see it going down the whole Occupy Wall Street theme, with the poor of Gotham rebelling against the rich where Batman/Bruce Wayne is stuck in the middle due to his dual identity.

^ I agree. Fire and flammable material are not exactly best friends!

^^You have to remember this is a Merlin park. They have a history of embellishing certain facts about their rides. For example Vengance 5D at the London Dungeon - they just took a normal 4D ride, added a pointless shooting element and claimed the ride now has 5 dimensions to it! Dodgy marketing or not I'm still very excited to ride this coaster next year.

Just had my go. I positioned myself the claw over one of the guys in the machine and pressed Grab! The camera cut out though so didn't see what happened. Next thing I was told I won! Have no idea what I managed to pick up.

There are people in the claw machine and my go is in a few minutes. I'm going for their heads!

Damn, one of the presents was just won! Can't see another on the live feed. Might be one hiding somewhere though.

Thanks for the tip Big Mike. I'll keep an eye out for a box then.

^ Yeah, 5 mins just counted down in about 30 seconds. Just an hour to go for me now. What should be my plan of attack? Do the big balls mean better prizes?