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Thorpe Park |"The Swarm"| B&M Wing Coaster

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For me, theming is often a waste of time & money, with the exception of a dark ride type attraction of course.

I'd rather they ditch the whole thing & spend the money allocated on the ride itself to make sure it's as big, long, intense... whatever it takes to ensure the ride experience is as good as it can be.

If TP ate planning on spending a lot of money on all these theming elements, wouldn't you rather have an extra 15 seconds on the coaster itself with an additional ride element?

I would, but that's just my preference if course.
 
AlienSpeedFiend said:
For me, theming is often a waste of time & money, with the exception of a dark ride type attraction of course.

I'd rather they ditch the whole thing & spend the money allocated on the ride itself to make sure it's as big, long, intense... whatever it takes to ensure the ride experience is as good as it can be.

If TP ate planning on spending a lot of money on all these theming elements, wouldn't you rather have an extra 15 seconds on the coaster itself with an additional ride element?

I would, but that's just my preference if course.
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So, what you are saying is you would rather have a Scream! compared to a Manta? I'm gonna be frank but you are ****ing high! For enthusiasts, yeah we typically don't care about it. But we are not who the parks are targeting, hate to burst your bubble. We don't pay for anything in the park, we have passes, we pack lunches, and we get complimentary water. We don't spend $100 in the park on souvenirs and food per person like GP do. They do not build the rides for enthusiasts, they build it for the GP. Headchoppers=GP love. You don't hear people saying how awesome Scream is because it interacts so well with the parking lot, (lol) you hear people say how awesome X2 is with the fire, or Manta with the water effect. So, having a ride themed to a plane crash, with plane wreckage theming is a total plus. The price on theming is minimal compared to building a coaster, unless you are Disney or Universal.

Oh, in case you didn't know, they are building a 600 foot 190 mph 3 mile long accelerator coaster in Billy Bob's back yard. Him and Jimbobjoe won the lottery and they want what you want, no theming and a longer ride. Sadly for them, they already have theming, its called the 3 foot high grass, the old washer and dryer, and enough beer cans that would make a frat party look like there was no alcohol. No theming rules! (2 years later they file for bankruptcy)

So yeah, there gonna theme **** when they can, it makes it look pretty and not like Scream.
 
costar said:
The plans have been labelled 'unfortunate' by the British Airline and Pilot Association (BALPA) who say the park should reconsider the theme
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Hmmmm, curious:

BALPA - British Airline and Pilot Association
BALPPA - British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions

Maybe the pilot guys are just fed up of receiving the wrong mail or something and want to get back at the Theme Park industry!
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Made me laugh! :lol:

Erol, the replica planes cost a fortune, but not as much as real fighters, etc - due to the fact that they are generally collectors pieces. Spitfires and the like were made mostly of wood and very few survive in decent condition. That's just one of a multitude of reasons RAF bases use models from various eras (RAF Stafford has a Harrier Jump Jet - £90,000 to buy the model, £500,000,000 to take one out of service to put on a stand outside the base).

The company that makes the replica planes is actually on the way out of Flamingoland and they can cost tens of thousands to buy. We're talking here a derelict commercial plane from a scrap yard which (other than steel scrap value) holds very little actual value. As for the helicopter? Anyone know how real the one on Desert Race is? ;)
 
I'm defiantly excited for this! I hope this is just a pr stunt as I think the themeing will really help this ride, it will just make it that little bit more immersive. I really like themeing and it can defiantly draw more people into the park if doe well.

Hopefully a great addition.
 
AlienSpeedFiend wrote:
For me, theming is often a waste of time & money, with the exception of a dark ride type attraction of course.

I'd rather they ditch the whole thing & spend the money allocated on the ride itself to make sure it's as big, long, intense... whatever it takes to ensure the ride experience is as good as it can be.

If TP ate planning on spending a lot of money on all these theming elements, wouldn't you rather have an extra 15 seconds on the coaster itself with an additional ride element?

I would, but that's just my preference if course.


So, what you are saying is you would rather have a Scream! compared to a Manta? I'm gonna be frank but you are high! For enthusiasts, yeah we typically don't care about it. But we are not who the parks are targeting, hate to burst your bubble. We don't pay for anything in the park, we have passes, we pack lunches, and we get complimentary water. We don't spend $100 in the park on souvenirs and food per person like GP do. They do not build the rides for enthusiasts, they build it for the GP. Headchoppers=GP love. You don't hear people saying how awesome Scream is because it interacts so well with the parking lot, (lol) you hear people say how awesome X2 is with the fire, or Manta with the water effect. So, having a ride themed to a plane crash, with plane wreckage theming is a total plus. The price on theming is minimal compared to building a coaster, unless you are Disney or Universal.

Oh, in case you didn't know, they are building a 600 foot 190 mph 3 mile long accelerator coaster in Billy Bob's back yard. Him and Jimbobjoe won the lottery and they want what you want, no theming and a longer ride. Sadly for them, they already have theming, its called the 3 foot high grass, the old washer and dryer, and enough beer cans that would make a frat party look like there was no alcohol. No theming rules! (2 years later they file for bankruptcy)

So yeah, there gonna theme when they can, it makes it look pretty and not like Scream.
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Jeez!

Grow up or go take a chill pill.
 
No way, really, a fake report to do with a british theme park ride.... blasphemy i proclaim!!.

I think it could work, so long as they have a peice of theming in which a person gets "diced" by a CFM65 jet engine!
 
And so it begins...

Pilots criticise Thorpe Park's 'tasteless' new ride.

A theme park's plan to build a ride which includes parts of a simulated plane wreckage has been criticised as "tasteless" by a pilots' union.

Thorpe Park has submitted plans for a 38m (125ft) rollercoaster focused on the theme of "urban devastation".

The British Airline and Pilot Association (Balpa) said the park's proximity to Heathrow and Gatwick Airport made the plan too sensitive.

Thorpe Park said it was attempting to create an "immersive experience".

'Think again'
A spokesman for Balpa said: "We think this ride is staged in a tasteless way.

"The park is fairly close to both Gatwick and Heathrow and the last thing families want to be reminded of is a tragic crash, which fortunately are rare, but nevertheless devastating.

"We urge Thorpe Park to think again."

Mike Vallis, the director of the park, near Chertsey, said: "The theme of the rollercoaster is going to be urban devastation and part of that will be buildings and cars and pieces of a plane.

"The actual ride itself is nothing to do with a plane crash. The ride itself is in a devastated urban landscape and pieces of plane are just part of the scenery.

"We are a theme park and we make immersive experiences for our guests and to create a full scene we use various bits of everything."

The plans have been submitted to Runnymede Borough Council.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-12665775
 
it really is ridiculous. Our country is run by people who are too PC and take things far too offensively, when it has actually nothing to do with them. Absolute idiots.
 
In other news....

The Moon Newspaper said:
Thorpe Park are to remove the theming from their horror movie tie-in rollercoaster SAW: The Ride. Thorpe Park bosses have made the decision just in case they offend anyone who has been or is related to anyone who was murdered in a tasteless horror film style way.
Likewise the name of Tidal Wave and Storm Surge are to be changed in order to avoid offending anyone that has ever been or is related to someone who may have been a victim of a tidal wave or storm.

This surgical strike of political correctness is catching all around the world too...

The Universal company which owns theme parks all over the world has announced the decision to remove the Earthquake and Twister experience attractions, for fear it may be offensive to those who have lived through those natural disasters.

Even the greatest theme parks of them all are now under pressure to ensure that they do not offend anyone, whatsoever. Disney Parks have today announced that they are to remove their world famous Tower of Terror attractions from all of their parks. They fear it may offend anyone who has possible been the victim of paranormal activity....
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[/slabofincrediblysarcasticfalsemediawork]
 
Most "PC gone mad" stories arn't true anyway. No1s that easily offended.

So best just ignore imo.
 
Ha. That article was actually HILARIOUS.

Yeah, it's true. A lot of this "Let's not do it in case it offends" is actually bollocks, the people you are not trying to offend, couldn't actually give two flying ****s about it. I know this from experience. We had one woman visit one of our attractions that had a photo of a famous medical figure (Joseph Merrick - The Elephant Man), this fit in with the theme of doctors/surgery etc. But one woman complained, so we left it, nobody found it offensive at all after her, So it seems to me that there's always going to be 'one' person who complains, the majority don't care at all..
 
It remind me of a discussion I had with a flatmate a few days ago.

He's black (well, of Indian decent, but black will do), and he actually finds it more offensive when people try to dodge the fact that he's black. He has no problem with it (and neither does any of his family or friends), however people still think it's uncceptable to refer to him as being black. I find it quite amusing that in trying to be too PC it almost amplifies the effect.

I have no problem describing people literally (I will avoid some words unless I'm with close friends as there are some offensive terms for things that aren't really acceptable to say in polite company), and I'll have no problem saying, laughing, joking, discussing anything that people think is PC.

Frankly, this is just stupid media hype. Like the spoof article Mark posted, it's all just to make a big screaming fuss about their new ride. I can see why Thorpe/Merlin are doing, but that doesn't mean I think it's good.
 
Or given a bonus because it has people talking about the ride already?

What is the problem people have with these news stories?
 
bob_3_ said:
Most "PC gone mad" stories arn't true anyway. No1s that easily offended.
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This. It's the media wanting a story, approaching people and asking them to be "outraged", when nobody would be saying anything normally.

That pilot's association wouldn't have known a damned thing about it unless someone from the press had told them about it and asked them for a response. All of a sudden it becomes "Airline Industry and Victims of Plane Crash Fuming Over Tasteless Theme Park Ride".

All good for Thorpe though. They're starting to get publicity for their 2012 coaster and the 2011 season has barely started.
 
^ Ed has a valid point, I mean who's going to want to read a story about "how the locals support Thorpe's new coaster".

Even on here! If there was an article like that there'd be maybe one or two responses saying "aw that's nice", it may even be ignored completely. Whether this is genuine or not, it's not harming the park at all to get people talking about it. As much as the whole thing is utter nonsense.
 
tks said:
Or given a bonus because it has people talking about the ride already?

What is the problem people have with these news stories?
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Echo of that point! I couldn't agree more.

Whether fake or not these PR stunts help to raise the park profile, get more people talking and ultimately visiting. This means more revenue and hopefully more investment in the park.

I think they are being very creative with how they engage the public rather then a bland and obvious "yeah we have a new ride" every year. It's a bit of fun.

Surely, as 'enthusiasts', we should be welcoming and supporting this stuff, even if we do know it is as fake as Britney Spears' boobs...
 
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