Marcus Sheen

It's a marketing stunt and it's working because people are talking about it.

Those of you who comment on not voting because of the amount of coasters you have ridden, I *think* there is an easy way around it. I have done it before in the one and only time I voted and that was to put them in ten-or-so groups, you know, a group of "outstanding coasters", "great coasters", "good coasters" all the way down to "lousy" and then you can rate every single one of your outstanding coasters as the number 1, every great coaster as number 2... I don't think there is anything in the poll stopping you having numerous ties. If I'm wrong I'm sure someone will tell me

I have searched and searched and can't find that this has been posted. Channel 4 in the UK do idents (ie, where the channel number comes up on screen before a programme starts) where various objects come together to form the number 4. Here are some examples so you can see the Knotts one in context: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_9PhF2S5UVk http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jGniDcglBHM&feature=related http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cgnIyBQ-mD8&feature=related They've always been really clever, but there is a new one I saw posted on another forum that has footage from on board Jaguar at Knotts with various scenery (both real and computer generated) from Knotts coming together to form the number 4. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bZEbv7tTVnk&NR=1 The number 4 is formed at about 25 seconds. Blink and you'll miss it. Just thought it was pretty clever and relevant to you as I know a lot of you visit Knotts.

It isn't a Vekoma train, it was supplied by SAT-rides. Looks like it is OK, hard to imagine what it will be like without padding though.

You know, it would have been nice to get credit for these photos, seeing as they're from my website. I've got no problem with people using them, but it took a lot of effort to get these (as you say, pictures of the Big One under construction are rare). I got them by writing to a newspaper in Blackpool, and a resident, Shirley Milner-Smith, got in touch with me and kindly sent me the photos. I scanned them in, cleaned them up and put them on my site with quite a few articles in 2004 celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Big One and Drayton Manor's Shockwave as well as the centenary of Sir Hiram Maxim's Flying Machines. It's nice to see interest in them, but a little credit for the effort wouldn't have gone amiss.

Agreed, I haven't met anybody who likes Hershey chocolate over here in the UK. Most people compare it to bitter cooking chocolate.

The link doesn't work for me either (direct links never seem to work on the Zamperla site) but it is easy enough to find from the Zamperla homepage if you click on products and then search for "Super Spin" in the box to the right. Looks fun, kind of like a Booster. Surprised how low the capacity is though considering the number of seats compared to a Booster.

It isn't as simple as having a height ceiling but it isn't as simple as being able to build anything up to 205ft now that Stealth is there. Stealth was an exception, something that was stated in the planning application.

I don't like it either. Uncomfortable, crass and overly wet with very unreliable effects that often seem out of place. The finale is good, though.

Strange, for a big project I have never known a site to be 'servayd' [sic] by a theme park themselves. I don't think surveying is a simple task such as measuring a room for a new carpet - every dimension is calculated, the position of footers, where supports will go, where the track will go in relation to other rides, how dense the ground is to see how deep the footers need to go, where access for the ride needs to go... this is a monstrous task, and I would be genuinely amazed if this was something the park themselves carried out a site survey. There are companies who specialise in this process, and I doubt Pleasure Beach's staff would even have the capabilities to do a site survey even if they wanted to. If your source works for the park, I would be very sceptical. Sorry. I would be stunned if Vekoma were actually building the ride, too. As I say, contractors normally do this, occasionally a company like Ride Construction Services will, but I find it quite an implausible situation for a ride manufacturer who rarely (if ever?) build rides flying out, getting into diggers to dig footers (that a specialist foundation company would do, anyway) before in the tea room someone spits out his coffee as he realises that the ride won't fit. It simply doesn't work like that. They haven't even really started on the groundwork, so you can expect to see the groundwork company come in first with diggers and cement mixers before any manufacturers come out. And finally, Amanda wouldn't just come out to the building site and start kicking off. If such a cock up would have happened, it would be a site or project manager that nobody recognises shouting, while park directors discuss problems like this behind the scenes. I'm sorry, but I think you have been lampooned.

Thanks for those pictures. What's your source for the rumour that TraumaTizer won't fit? Surely the site would have been surveyed? Also, I find it a bit strange that Vekoma have been flown in to build the ride, especially at this early stage when normally (even for new coasters) it is done either by local contractors or a specialist firm like RCS.

Sadly, only the south end of the park will be open. This means that Grand National, Wild Mouse and Valhalla will be closed, amoung others. Big Dipper is closed due to the TraumaTizer construction. Major rides that will be open; Big One, Bling, Revolution, Avalanche and Steeplechase. The season at Blackpool has pretty much ended, so they're only doing limited openings during the winter. I hope you weren't coming to the UK just for Blackpool Pleasure Beach?

Exactly. Thorpe Park are doing a "how to phone in sick and get discounted entry" promotion at the moment which has got a frosty reception, and Alton Towers went through a spate of similar promotions, and anything that gets people disapproving earns the park more column inches. Even in an extreme circumstance the park cancel the cockroach eating thing, they'll still benefit from more visitors just because of the extra attention drawn to their Halloween celebrations.

It's all good advertising for Six Flags though - whether or not PETA's interferance rattles you, this is exactly the kind of publicity Six Flags want in that it attracts another surge of interest a few weeks after the first announcement - it keeps the event a topic of conversation.

Thanks to all your help here, I'm on the verge of booking tickets for Halloween Horror Nights. For each of us I'm booking a Flex Ticket (not sure if 4 or 5 park yet) as well as Stay and Scream ticket ($24.95) and a HHN Express pass ($30) - that pretty much covers everything doesn't it if I am doing Universal during the day and staying on park into Halloween Horror Nights? Sorry if that is a really dumb question, but I want to make sure everything's fine before I book in case I am missing something obvious. It seems very good value to what I was expecting. Thanks again for the help, I am really looking forward to it.

Ah, top stuff, didn't realise Stay and Scream meant you also had exclusive runs through any of the houses, I just assumed you would be on the right side of the gates when they opened. Thanks.

I've had a shifty sherlock through the topic but was wondering if anyone has any more information on the Stay and Scream lock-in - I will probably try and do this as per peoples' suggestions. I was wondering where abouts it is and what it involves... other than being locked in and being given priority entry. Also, when I'm there, will there be special maps for the event? There never are for Fright Nights at Thorpe Park and to me that's always what lets the event down as there's no way newbies would know where the houses and shows are. I don't want to miss anything. Also, it looks like I could be doing Howl-o-Scream at Busch Gardens Europe (yes, Europe, not Tamprica) - I imagine that it doesn't compare too favourably to HHN, but is it any good? Their website is actually quite neato so I am hoping it will be a good warm up for HHN. So many questions

The one above is fairly new I think. It was really good in terms of quality - it didn't feel transportable, the characters inside were excellent (kind of skeletal grim reaper-cum-alien things), but there just wasn't enough of it. Honestly, I couldn't tell you which ones stand out - I have done so many while I'm over there, and had to miss so many because there are just so many rides there, so it all kind of merges into one. They're all excellent though. They're not clunky, homemade affairs with murals painted on walls, they're all excellent quality. I did a spacey-themed 3D walkthrough - I can't remember the name, but it was excellent. I'll do some research at some point and will let you know what it's called.

None from inside, but hope this helps - I took these at Dusseldorf Rhine Kermis this year. Inside, there wasn't much to it, but what there was was very well done. Lots of strange characters with one particularly good scene. Several 'trains' run on it (one you can see in the photo), and while some looked like Disney Omni-mover style cars, some had a metal cage design.

Brilliant, thanks for the tips. I couldn't work out whether the 31st would be busy because it's the last night and it's Halloween, or quiet because it's Halloween and a weekday. I will probably get a pass anyway, a safe bet, and it's cheapish on the 31st. Looking forward to it.

I'm coming over from the UK to do HHN and am really looking forward to it. The flights and hotel are booked, and I will hopefully be booking HHN tickets in the next couple of days. I'm going on 31st October - it was the only date available. Hopefully I can buy Universal Express to avoid the queues - I honestly don't mind if the park is packed as that would no doubt give it atmosphere, and so long as I get on most if not all the mazes with Universal Express I'm happy. Or scared. Either one'll be fine. Any tips for me? The only vaguely compariable event I've done is Fright Nights at Thorpe Park which has two mazes. I have read through this thread, and it's quite bewildering, so if anyone has any tips on how best to make the most of HHN I would be very appreciative.

Glad to hear the park is getting busier - where is the viewing point for Superman? I never really seem to be able to get good photos of it, although I haven't actually tried very hard. Good trip report too, it's a great park.

Do you mean the toboggan that was at Windsor Safari Park? Not Chessington? There were two running parallel down the side of a hill roughly where the waterslide 'Xtreme Racers' now is.

Hope you're joking, neither side should sue and the further the UK distances itself from suing just for the sake of suing the better. That's what contracts are for, and if nobody was in breach of a contract then suing Alton for 'making double income' is hardly grounds for a lawsuit.

Thanks for the reply - I hope that I'm coming over from the UK to do Halloween Horror Nights, so although I expected nights to be sold out wasn't sure whether I should start thinking about HHN tickets before I have even bought the flights over there! I'm hoping to go very late into October, then hopefully the chance of a hurricane will be smaller, but I guess that is when nights are more likely to sell out. Thanks for the tip on buying Universal Express - I will certainly do this if I go, so thanks. Any other tips welcome - it's such a big event that it is hard to know where to start despite all the sites that cover it. It's bewildering!