Archive for the ‘Theme Parks’ Category

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New Ride At Alton Towers

April 24th, 2009

A little while back we reported how Alton Towers had confirmed plans to build a new ride in 2010 under the name Secret Weapon Six. Now, in true Play and Stay Blog style, it is time for a spot of speculation.

Normally I would leave this sort of thing to Jonathan Buckingham-Dudley, but he is far too engrossed in what is happening to Susan Boyle. So, for this instalment at least, you have the pleasure of my company.

First of all, a big thank you to Screamscape for supplying me with the crumb-trail. Without you, I really would have had no work to do this afternoon. And while for some that sounds like a marvellous thing, it doesn’t half make hometime a long way away.

There are three videos on YouTube at the moment. The beginnings of a new viral promotion or merely fan fiction? You decide:

Now, I don’t know about you, but I get the distinct feeling that Alton Towers are also going for something a bit spooky in much the same way Thorpe Park did earlier this year when they unveiled SAW – The Ride.

The difference being, of course, is that Alton Towers is aimed at a younger market – so we can expect it to be a little tamer than the aforementioned.

We also reported that the ride will have a backwards section, somewhat similar to Disney’s Expedition Everest ride (see above video). A quick glance at the plans below, which were submitted to the local council by Alton Towers, clearly shows the point where the ride stops its forward motion, in favour of a backwards section.

At this time, this is all we really have to go on, but fear not – we are on the case and will bring you all the latest as and when it hits.

Oh, and one last titbit for you. Here’s a video of the locals’ reactions to the ride. Some good, some bad. You can decide for yourself what you think.

Geldof Goes To Thorpe Park

April 8th, 2009

Celebrity spawn, Peaches Geldof (full name Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof) visited Thorpe Park this week and was photographed on the recently opened SAW: The Ride.

Peaches (who I had to Wikipedia to understand why she’s famous) did not seem to enjoy Thorpe Park’s latest addition. As the coaster plummeted down its 100 foot ‘beyond vertical’ drop the young Ms Geldof clung to her safety harness. She then presented photographers with a face slightly different to her usual practised photo op pout. I think I’d refer to it as ‘a gurn of terror’.

There’s very little else to say really, that’s essentially it. Peaches Geldof went to Thorpe Park, she rode SAW: The Ride, didn’t like it and may or may not have soiled herself.

Tenuous LEGOLAND Based Blog of the Week – Lego Rock Band

April 7th, 2009

Ladies and gentlemen, I adore fusion, that’s why I enjoy sandwich meat shaped like bears and that’s why my recipe for full English breakfast pasta bake is going to take off. There’s only one thing better than fusion in the kitchen and that’s fusion that involves LEGO (which, unfortunately is largely inedible).

Now, LEGO video games are nothing new (I know better than most, recently I’ve had to tranquillise the other half just to get her off LEGO Batman on the xBox) but this game is something special. At the recent Games Developer Conference some eagle-eyed Rock Band fans spotted a discrepancy between the presentation given by Harmonix (the people behind Rock Band) and the one sent for pre-speech approval.

To cut a long and rather dull story short, the difference in the speeches suggests that there might be a LEGO rock band game coming out at some point in late 2009. I can only presume it would be a version of the cult game aimed at a younger audience. Although, considering the recent release of LEGO cameras and phones, perhaps everyone’s favourite interlocking plastic bricks are finally realising how popular they are with the grown up crowd.

There are no details as of yet on any LEGO-branded peripherals, we can only hope that a primary coloured LEGO-influenced guitar becomes available for all of our living room rock god needs.

New Rides at British Theme Parks: Thorpe Park and Paultons

March 12th, 2009

Yes we are back and yes we do more than just theme parks now, but for this blog, I intend to talk purely about rollercoasters and thrill rides. In particular, new ones.

2009 is not a good year if you are superstitious – TWO Friday the thirteenths in just two months? Surely nothing good can come from that. Can it? If you are a theme park fan, then the answer is yes. Well, sort of.

On Friday March 13, Thorpe Park champions its latest offering to the masses: SAW – The Ride. Based on the film franchise of the same name, the ride is the world’s first ever horror movie themed rollercoaster. Having watched the films and been left feeling rather queasy after a few scenes, I must say the thought of this ride is horrid.

Here’s why:
1. It has a past vertical 100 degree drop.
2. It reaches speeds of 55 mph.
3. It has a past vertical 100 degree drop.

While researching the ride, I stumbled across a few more facts: It will last one minute and 40 seconds from start to finish (queueing not included), has three inversions and cost a whopping £13.5m to build.

The cost is especially impressive when you find out how much the other new ride that opens on 13 March cost. We’ll get to this in but a moment. For now, my colleague and I are debating whether or not Thorpe Park had to pay a license fee for the ride, or if Lionsgate willingly gave the rights for free in return for future sales of the DVDs. Any of you guys know? Please let me know…

There is also some debate about whether or not SAW – The Ride is a worthwhile venture from the film industry, or if it’s simply a product of those marketing types looking to make a few extra bucks.

Also, in ten years time, will we actually remember the films, or will they be cast into the pit of forgetfulness along with the fizzy Nemesis drink that made its way into our vending machines in the mid 90s? (Look it up – it did exist.) Nemesis is still one of the best rides in the world – a true legend in fact, and SAW – The Ride looks set to be another major player in theme park land. There is no doubt in my mind that we will still be riding it ten years time – I am just not so sure I will remember anything of Jigsaw and his sordid ‘games’ with complacent victims.

The second ride opening this week is Edge at Paulton’s Park. If you haven’t heard anything about Edge, let me give you a brief description: It’s a big spinny-roundy disc that seats 40 people. Said disc then spins horizontally while moving along a 90 metre section of track at speeds of 43 mph. Back and forth, back and forth, I’m not entirely sure that anyone will be able to stand up or hang on to any lunch after riding the Edge.

The ride is another first for the UK – it’s the only one of its type here and the eighth of its kind in the world. Sure, Spinball Whizzer at Alton Towers does the same sort of thing, but that one actually goes round a proper ‘rollercoaster’ track and only accommodates four riders at a time.

Edge cost just £1m to build which, let’s face it, is nothing compared to SAW – The Ride. With the backing of Merlin, Thorpe can justify the spend. Paulton’s, on the other hand, can’t.

So where will you be heading this weekend? If you live near London, it’ll have to be Thorpe, but if you live near the New Forest – you’re surely going to Paulton’s. Me? I’ll be doing something far more cowardly, like stroking kittens, or watching Raven with my kids. Either way, you are going to need to take a packed lunch – the queues are going to be loooooooooong.

Play and Stay Needs You

January 28th, 2009

Play and Stay is changing this year and we need your help.

Been to a theme park in the last 12 months? Taken some pictures of you and your family/friends on your favourite rides? Or maybe you made a video of your day out.

We are looking for your pictures and videos to display on our all new site. So, if you think you can help, please email us at playandstay@googlemail.com with anything you think we might be able to use.

If you are stuck for ideas, check out our photostream on flickr. New photos are being uploaded all the time and we would really appreciate your help in this matter.

We also have own youtube account where you can see a variety of ride videos. Check it out.

Thanks in advance, and stay tuned for news of the all new Play and Stay site as and when it happens.

Tenuous LEGOLAND Based Blog Of The Week

November 27th, 2008

You know what makes a man? A good hat is what makes a man. My colleague, nemesis and fellow Play and Stay® blog contributor, Gore, knows the value of a good hat more than most.

You see dear reader, hats keep your head warm, they protect you from the ever-present threat of falling bird doings and they look good. People should wear more hats, particularly hats that are made of LEGO®!

Impossible you say? No gentle reader, ’tis not. You see in the wacky world of catwalk fashion, a world where girls in desperate need of a Jammy Dodger dictate next season’s trends, LEGO seems to be en vogue.

Designer, Jean Charles de Castelbajac displayed some LEGO® inspired outfits at a fashion show recently. Behold, ladies and gentlemen….the future of fashion!

If your retina survived the onslaught of primary-coloured goodness then congratulations, you have seen the future! Join the revolution, tonight I shall be making a pith helmet for day to day wear and a LEGO deerstalker for you know, special occasions.

Tenuous LEGOLAND Based Blog Of The Week

November 20th, 2008

Anyone who has grown up with a younger sibling will know the pain of all your best things being stolen, “borrowed” or broken. Nothing was more infuriating than coming home from a hard day’s potato printing at school to find your toys in disarray and your X-men figures were being used in a “my little pony derby”.

Desperately seeking justice, you’d run to your parents who would tell you to “share” or “play nice”. Now, thanks to good old LEGO®, you don’t have to play nice anymore, you can hoard your diamonds, nazi gold or the last muffin from the box with ease. How you ask? With LEGO Mindstorms of course. Video time.

That little bad boy apparently has a digital lock based on the LEGO Mindstorms NXT system that has 305 billion different combinations. It also has motion detectors and it looks hardcore. It might not stop hardened safe cracking banditos but it’ll certainly keep the cleaner’s sticky fingers at bay.

The Ticket Booths Of The Future (More Interesting Than It Sounds)

November 13th, 2008

Ahhh the future, a time when we will fly to work, cloning will have wiped out hunger (ohhh controversial), medicine will allow us to live for centuries and robots will cater to our every need. I can’t wait for the future, I’ll be first in the queue for bionic implants, I’ll save long and hard for my household droid and I’ll fly my jetpack through your front garden with reckless abandon.

Ticket Robot
Until that glorious day when I get to soar like a pasty, portly eagle through private property, I’ll have to make do with this little fella. He’s not a jetpack, or a flying robot or a robot at all really. He’s an RFID (radio frequency identification) reading ticket dispenser made by NEC that allows wireless payment, something that’s rapidly gaining popularity in the far east.

Quite a few mobile phone handsets in Japan are equipped with a RFID chip which allows them to send a unique code to RFID readers, this code identifies the owner and allows them to charge things to their bank account without using a card. Clever stuff.

This reader is designed to be used at theme parks, visitors with so called ‘wallet phones’ (RFID enabled mobiles) can forgo queuing and purchase their tickets from this friendly little fellow.

Not only a cunning way to speed up ticket queues, this reader also includes face recognition technology. This allows theme parks to recognise and profile their guests in a clever albeit slightly Orwellian manner. Once the customer’s face has been scanned, the gadget can recommend specific attractions based on their apparent age and gender. Pretty cool no?

No word on when/if these little beauties will be hitting the shores of Blighty, I’ll keep you updated.

Universal Have Done It Again!

November 6th, 2008

There are a select few things that work me up into a childlike state of glee; robots, pirates, zombies, food that’s shaped like dinosaurs, real dinosaurs and pretty much anything that’s made of dark wood and brass and is powered by steam. I wouldn’t say I’m easily impressed, I have niche tastes. In fact, I’d say it’s pretty tough to get me really really excited but today, something has.

That something is not quite as exciting as the upcoming Wizarding World of Harry Potter but is possibly (I’ve not decided yet) ever so slightly more exciting than the hotly anticipated, SAW: The Ride, expected to open at Thorpe Park early next year.

I’m sure you’re itching to know just what I’m talking about, or perhaps you’re not. Either way, I’m going to tell you. In 2010, a year not so very far from now, there is going to be a Transformers themed attraction at Universal Studios! Not only that, it’s going to be a high definition, 3D “experience” choc-full of cutting edge robotics. It promises to “transform perceptions of of theme park experience.”

Yes ladies and gents, we are going to get to meet Optimus Prime and Megatron! This is a world-changing day, forget the US election, THIS is what’s really important! Let us not forget that Universal studios have brought us the amazing Jurassic Park ride and the ET ride and lets not forget the Spider-Man simulator. Universal have a pretty serious pedigree when it comes to making world-class rides.

I don’t really know what to expect to be honest, I have very little hard information for you except it will open at Universal Studios Singapore in 2010 with a later opening at the US park. Tom Williams, CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts has referred to the upcoming attraction as the “a jewel in our collection” so I can only presume that Universal will really be going to town on this one.

Personally, I just can’t wait to experiment with HD 3D…..mmmmmm high definition 3D goodness…

Corkscrew’s Closing Down Clearout

November 4th, 2008

As I’m sure many of you are aware, ‘The Corkscrew’, Alton Towers Resort‘s oldest rollercoaster, is being taken down after 28 years of service. This is some of the saddest news I have had to bloggify for your reading pleasure. Yes Corkscrew was getting a touch dated, yes it did bash you about a bit and yes, it wasn’t really that exciting when compared to Nemesis or Oblivion but it’s a bit of a classic.

Getting strapped into Corkscrew has a glorious nostalgic feel to it. The harnesses are old and heavily worn in, 28 years of white-knuckled gripping have distressed the plastic to a oddly satisfying patina. If you look closely you can see what I presume are fingernail marks dug deeply into the squishy part near the little grab handles.

The last time I rode Corkscrew was earlier this year when the Play and Stay® team went on our outing to Alton Towers to test out the YourDay system. I must admit, most of us were rattled around a bit, at least one of us went green and all of us preferred Nemesis.

Gripes aside, personally, I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for rickety old Corkscrew. I like to think of it as the sleepy, flatulent grandmother of the coaster world, a personality you could forgive for anything.

My views are not enough it would seem. Grandma is off to the home to make way for an as yet undisclosed attraction. I have no idea what it will be but you can bet it will be bigger, shinier and faster than good ol’ Corky.

Whatever it is that will replace Corkscrew, Alton Towers Resort’s staff have begun clearing the area around the coaster and they have found some a surprising volume of stuff under the old girl. There’s been the expected detritus, thousands of hats, loads of keys, 800 pieces of jewellery, 237 mobile phones and 53 shoes.

These aren’t the items that piqued my interest though, two items in particular have caught my eye. Firstly, the folk clearing this 28 years old pile of jumble have found 10 pieces of underwear.

Pause.

TEN PEICES OF UNDERWEAR?! Where the heck did that come from? Under what circumstances can one lose one’s grinders in the moments it takes to zip round Corkscrew’s track? I’ve tried to think of situations and I honestly can’t think of a single way you could lose any form of undergarment on that ride.

These ponderings have led me to believe that at least ten people visiting Alton Towers Resort thought that at least one ride would be so scary they would require spare pants. Concerned that they might have an embarassing “accident” at least ten people must have stashed a spare pair of undercrackers in their pocket.

This hypothesis concerns me deeply, how many people have had a spare pants situation in a rollercoaster seat I’ve sat in? That’s the exact reason I won’t ride the bus! As disturbed and slightly sickened by this as I am, something far stranger has been found under Corkscrew and it needs addressing.

The oddest find has been….wait for it……a prosthetic leg! Yes, some poor soul’s artificial limb has been found. This brings up all manner of questions. Firstly, did the person who lost the leg realise? Surely they did, if so why was it not retrieved? I know staff are generally very reluctant to retrieve things like change and hats but somebody’s leg?! What kind of cold-hearted attendant sees someone hopping up to them and refuses to get them back their leg…their leg that they use for walking!

Did anyone else realise that someone had lost a limb? Why did those watching not kick up a fuss? Why is there not a video of a leg sailing through the air into the shrubbery outside Corkscrew on youtube? How did the person that lost the leg make it out of the park? Were they ok? Does it hurt to loose an artificial leg? It’s attached somehow so surely it must be at least uncomfortable for it to have been wrenched off.

I implore you people of the internet, citizens of cyberspace, find me the person who lost that limb. I want to hear from you, I want to know if you’re ok and I want to know more about how the leg ended up abandoned rather than retrieved. Use the comments box people, ask your friends, find that person so we can see them reunited with their lost pin!

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