Play-and-Stay Blog

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.

I have a confession to make ladies and gentleman. I have never seen a Back to the Future film and I have never watched The Godfather or any of its sequels. Perhaps due to a lack of testosterone, or perhaps because I like my films to have nuns or monsters in them, I have no interest in Scarface or the gangster film genre as a whole. In short, I’m no authority on “the classics” (except Sister Act). Due to this social handicap I miss out on a fair few pop culture references, any “flux capacitor” or “say hello to my little friend” based jokes are lost on me.

Despite my second-rate film trivia knowledge there are a few famous scenes that even I can identify and one of those scenes is the Indiana Jones “big scary boulder” scene. There is something incredibly frightening about the threat of being crushed by a large rolly thing. I know that primal fear only too well, this weekend I popped into Primark for some cut-price socks. I quickly found myself running for my life after a lady (who was no stranger to cakes) fell down the stairs right behind me!. Fortunately, I managed to use a pair of affordable tights to swing to safety before I was squished in the Margate temple of doom.

Some people somewhere in America have combined the natural human fear of crushing with the natural human love of LEGO. They’ve even thrown a bit of Indiana Jones into the mix for good measure. Submitted for your approval this week ladies and gents, a five million brick LEGO boulder “chasing” a man dressed loosely in the style of Indiana Jones down a hill.

Now you’ve enjoyed that wonderful video, time for the bad news. The boulder was apparently polystyrene in the middle so nobody was in any real danger. Good news though, some chap was wearing an absolutely charming fez. Perhaps the fez is making a comeback!?

Do you visit church on Sunday? Do you own a copy of the Bible which you read religiously? Do you know the ten commandments?

If you answered “no” to any of the above questions then I have news of the perfect theme park for you; Southport’s very own £3.5m Christian theme park.

A spokesman for the park stated “The Christian theme park is being built for the 97 per cent of the people in this country who do not attend church, or who were taught the theory of evolution in a school where the Bible is banned.

The theme park will be using advanced technology to give all visitors an experience they will cherish and it has been designed to entertain everyone of all nations, including Muslims, Jews, Christians, Evolutionists and Atheists.”

So basically, if you don’t believe in Christ, they will happily educate you for a small entrance fee.

The AH Trust has been searching for sometime for the promised land in which to build the park, and Southport has been earmarked as a possible location to house the 20 acre site.

The trust believe that the park would cost around £3.5m to build, will bring in up to £4.8m a year and will be run by volunteers.

Inspired by the Holy Land Experience in Florida whose main draw is an enactment of a bloodied Jesus forced to haul his cross by Roman soldiers(?!?!?!!), this (as yet) unnamed park hopes to match the popularity of its older brother across the water.

Attractions at the park will include advanced cinematic hologram technology, three exhibition centres, two interactive cinemas, six shops, a cafeteria and a 5,000 capacity film recording studio.

I’m not entirely sure whether the above attractions are enough to warrant calling this place a theme park though, which set me to thinking of what I would do if I owned a Christian theme park:

• Noah’s Ark: A water coaster.
• Away in a Manger: The kid’s ride.
• The Saviour Spinner: You spin around a bit.
• The Garden of Eden: Jesus’s answer to the Towers and Gardens.
• Heaven: An excessively pleasant roller coaster which gently guides you through the sky.
• Hell: A devilishly harsh and horrible thrill ride which takes you miles beneath the ground surrounded by molten lava and burning fires. Pins on the front two seats only. (Scarier than the new ride at Thorpe Park?)

Alton Towers it’s not, but watch this space for more news on the UK’s first religious theme park.

Have you ever suspected that Victoria Beckham and that woman who’s related to Kylie who does the X-factor are made of plastic? Well just for today, they are. LEGO® are celebrating 30 years of their trademark “minifigs” with a gallery of the world’s biggest celebs transformed into the LEGOmen that are so familiar to us all.

Among the privileged celebs to be immortalised in LEGO form are The Beckhams, Brangelina, Alan Titchmarsh, the X-factor judges and Madonna. Don’t get too excited, you won’t be able to buy a LEGO Madonna to live on your bathtime LEGO pirate ship. These figures are strictly concept only.

Even when I am not at work, I still try and find the best things to do with the family.

In my hard earned week off from writing copy, I spend much time (and even more money) on going out with the family to the best family friendly locations in Kent and Sussex.

The highlight of the week for me was Groomsbridge Place and Gardens. If I had to sum this place up in one word, that word would have to be enchanting.

It’s not the cheapest place in the world at almost £10 a head for adults and around £7 per child, but once you are inside you can understand why it costs so much. The first thing you see is the Formal Gardens and Drunken Gardens which we left until last. As a result, I will leave this part of the entry until last.

The first part of the trip involved a stroll past the Raptor Centre, the place where they hold the birds of prey. Among the collection of birds is a great Bald Eagle; a truly magnificent and beautiful creature. They perch on their stands throughout the day and await the chance to show off in front of the crowds twice daily. We are told (by manner of an adjacent sign) that they are free to fly off and come back by choice. We weren’t in time to watch today’s morning show so we head off up hill towards the Enchanted Forest and the adventures that it promised.

My wife is eight months pregnant making this part of the trip pretty hard going. The initial up hill climb through the vineyards almost brought on a premature birth, but the perfectly placed bench at the top of said hill not only provided amazing views across the valley, but also came as a welcome resting point before carrying on.

The adventure trail was next and took Stan and I along a half mile course of bridges, ladders, tunnels and rope swings. This trail was unsuitable for my wife so we left her to walk the long way round, stopping to see the wild deer en route.

Next came the bit that I was most excited about: The Swing Trail. The Swing Trail consists of approximately ten swings hanging from the trees. Unsuitable for children under ten and pregnant women, I had to oblige and have a play.

The ropes of the swing were approximately 30 ft long (maybe longer? - have a look at the pictures) and made the swing almost impossible to maneuver. Taking a long run up and leaning back with all your weight really doesn’t work on these things. I spent the best part of 20 minutes leaning to and fro, trying my hardest to employ all the swinging techniques that I have learned in my 26 years of life. It didn’t work, and whilst I was left a little disappointed by my outing on the swing, it was still good fun nonetheless.

After the excitement of watching me swing for the last 20 minutes, the rest of the family were keen to check out the rest of the Enchanted Forest. We wandered through many different parts of the woods and stumbled across ancient caravans, a teepee with a couple of actors talking about gunpowder, a peculiar clearing with a Mysterious Monolith in the centre and a collection of freakishly large rabbits.

There are dragons and dinosaurs lurking in the water and a cool adventure playground suitable for younger members of the group. All in all, this part of the trip took just over an hour to complete. At the end of the trek, there is a smaller tree swing that you can get away with putting the kids on. Stan loved it and stayed for even longer than I had on the first set of swings.

Having escaped the forest in one piece, we were able to catch the last of the bird display and watched in awe as the Bald Eagle swooped above our heads in a highly entertaining and informative show.

The last thing to do was to sit and enjoy a delicious slice of carrot cake in the gardens and try not to get attacked by the over friendly resident peacocks (I’m pretty sure that watching Hitchcock’s Birds the day before didn’t help). We wandered through the Formal Gardens which were impeccably kept and the Drunken Gardens which were like something out of an Arthur Conan Doyle book. There aren’t many words to describe these areas, so check out the pictures below for a little imagery.

We left late in the day and headed back home for supper. Groomsbridge Place has a certain effect on the visitor. Mystery, adventure and romance were all found in this beautiful setting and definitely left an impression on me. In the past, I had cited Bedgebury Pinetum as one of my favourite places to escape to, but now, and until I find something better, Groomsbridge Place and Gardens is the place to be.

Groomsbridge Place is located just a few miles from Tunbridge Wells and is open throughout the summer from 10:00 until 17:30.

The Amazing Machines are coming, coming to a LEGOLAND near you…

On the weekend of September 13, 2008, LEGOLAND will play host to one of the most spectacular shows of any theme park in the UK with the arrival of monster trucks, an 11 ft high half pipe and the RNLI.

They are all aimed at giving visitors the ultimate theme park break (and, of course, easing those back-to-school blues). Ride the rides, visit the shops, then watch in amazement as monster trucks perform crazy stunts and world-renowned skaters perform aerial aerobatics, tens of feet above your head.

Those of you brave enough to want to learn some new tricks are welcome to join Team Extreme on the half pipe. Special coaching sessions will be held throughout the day giving you valuable tips on how to perfect that Superman Seat-Grab or the death-defying Christ Air.

If skating isn’t extreme enough for you, then check out Big Pete, Europe’s number one monster truck team. They’ll be battling it out in the special events arena throughout the day with their combination of car jumps and wheelies.

Due to prior engagements and the imminent birth of my first baby, I will not be able to attend the day. Any of you who are going and read this blog, I implore you to take some pictures and let me know how the day went.

Any of you who haven’t got your tickets just yet, check out our main site at Play and Stay, where you can get theme park access and a top local hotel for the night in one great value package.

In the mean time, I have tracked down some footage of Big Pete and Team Extreme for you to enjoy.

The Alton Towers Resort has long been the UK’s number one theme park offering families the ultimate theme park break, but did you know that Alton Towers Resort has branched out into the world of art?

That’s right, Alton Towers Resort are celebrating 80 years of Andy Warhol with the release of eight pictures in the artists cool pop-art style.

“But what has Alton Towers got to do with Warhol?” I hear you ask. Well, the answer is, not that much. But it did give them the chance to make some very interesting (if at times slightly garish) looking pictures, made up entirely of ride images.

The images are the ones that you pay a fiver for when you get off the ride which depict you with either a) a horrified grimace or b) a gleeful smile, depending on how hardcore you are. They have then made a collage from these images and made some really fantastic images of legendary icons throughout the last 80 years.

Britney Spears, Madonna, Jackie O and Liz Taylor are just a handful of stars who have had their faces replaced with ride images and it is claimed that Jonathan Ross, Chris Evans and McFly are actually hidden within the depths of the artwork (magnifying glasses at the ready please folks).

If you have been to Alton Towers Resort lately, there’ s every chance that you too might be lurking within the depths of the images. Drag them to your desktop and zoom in on the images for a better look and who knows, you might be famous too!

Marilyn Monroe

Audrey Hepburn

Britney Spears

Jackie Onasis

Kylie Minogue

Madonna

Liza Minnelli

Liz Taylor

With the USA dominating most aspects of our modern lives, you may be forgiven in assuming that the first roller coasters were created in America. The name itself is believed to have originated in the US. Some sources tell us that rollers were fitted to a ramp down which a sled could coast. This article will outline the history and development of the roller coaster from primitive slides to what we know today and beyond.

Far from starting out in the USA, the first prototype coaster was developed in Russia in the sixteenth century. Well maybe developed is too strong a word, as they were little more than large ice slides. Such slides were sometimes known as “Russian Mountains.” Around a century later, Russians must have become tired of sliding down lumps of ice, because in the 17th century a coaster on wheels was constructed near St Petersburg. America jumped on the bandwagon in the 1840s by converting an old mining cart to take people at top speads of six miles an hour down a track, for a price of course. The world had to wait another 20 years before the first coaster to incorporate a looping track was unveiled in France. This ride was less than successful when it became clear that it was causing passengers neck and back injuries. Another example of an early French Coaster is the Russian Mountain. Named after the Russian ice slides, this ride carryed people down a track in small wagons. It was not unusual for these wagons to fall off the track before the ride ended. Despite the danger, or maybe because of it, the ride was very popular.

The coasters development continued throughout the early 1900s, but was put on hold by the outbreak of war in 1914. Coasters continued to be built and people don’t appear to have been put off by their poor safety records. Coasters would often colide, or their sharp turns caused serious injury. No significant steps forward were made until 1955, when Disneyland was opened in California. The instant popularity of Disneyland meant that more effort was placed on building newer, bigger and better coasters. Yet again Disney were the people to achieve the next real breakthrough, by constructing a coaster made of tubular steel in 1959. The vast majority of previous coasters were made using wood. The inflexibility of wood placed great limitations on the way coasters and their tracks could be designed. Tubular steel was very flexible so its introduction meant that rides could be built bigger and better than ever before. They continued to grow in height, speed and complexity until we now have coasters such as the 12 storey high Boomerang. The introduction of tubular steel certainly effected the more traditional wooden coasters. This is down to a number of factors. Apart from the difficulties of building wooden track, there is also the fact that wooden coasters are not as tall or as fast as their steel rivals. This does not mean the end for the wooden roller coaster. In 2006, two huge wood coasters were built. The fact that wood could be used at all is largely due to the introduction of prefabricated track. Prefabricated track is manufactured in a factory as opposed to being made at the theme park. The process takes many thin layers of wood and glues them together to form the track. There is very little difference between a coaster running on prefabricated track or on a steel one. Strangely, some fans of wooden coasters don’t like the prefab tracks as this limits the sideways movement of the coaster and in their opinion ruins the ride.

After considering all these facts, it is difficult to see the future of the wooden coaster as anything but bleak. Steel coasters are faster and bigger. For some people one of the best things about previous wooden coasters is that they used to be unstable, causing them to rock from side to side. The introduction of prefab tracks stops this but by doing so alienates some fans. Maybe the future of the wooden coaster lies in its past. It could become a nostalgic reminder of the past as steel takes over. Wood will always be inferior to steel, the prefab track is just an attempt to imitate what already exists. Many coasters now reach seventy miles an hour or more, and some subject their passengers to the kind of G forces experienced by astronauts. It is easy to imagine that designers have reached the end of the line. With coasters so tall and fast can more be done?

The answer to that is a definite yes. The Disney Quest indoor theme park is only one example of the direction in which roller coasters and other rides are heading. The really great thing about the Disney Quest park is that it has all the features of a classic park, roller coasters and themed rides, but this time they’re all in your head! Disney Quest is a virtual reality world, where by means of a headset you will be able to experience the thrill of white water rapids and become a super hero. The wood Vs steel question won’t matter in Disney Quest as you will be able to design and ride your own virtual reality coaster. Simulators are used so you can experience the adrenaline rush of the coaster without the constraints of reality. Then there’s the Buzz Ball. Like Disney Quest, you can still design your own ride, but unlike the Quest, the Buzz Ball is totally real. The Ball isn’t a conventional coaster. For a start it doesn’t run on tracks. All you need is the ball and some space. The ball is powered by two engines and can pretty much do what you want it to. The ball can spin in one direction while the seat you’re on goes the other way.

Virtual reality is all very well, but there are people who believe technology is not always acting as a force for the good in the theme park. Many people have serious concerns about the possible introduction of radio frequency identification tags into theme parks. RFI tags were originally designed in order to track products as they move from factory to their end destination. Their use in supermarkets has caused concern as some shoppers believe the taggs could be used to watch their movements once they’ve left the shop. Talk about RFI being used for security in theme parks has sparked similar worries. Supporters of the scheme claim that RFI tags could be used to locate a lost child in the park. They also say the tags will improve security. At a time when Britain is the highest user of CCTV in the world and ID cards for everyone are a real possibility, many people won’t welcome RFI if it’s used in such a way.

Published by Harry Luckhurst on behalf of Play and Stay.

Here at Play and Stay HQ in sunny Kent, we work hard to bring you all the latest news and events happening at top UK theme parks. Well, I say we work hard but there’s probably a lot more play than stay here.

Our bosses and the lovely chaps in the People Team have decided that we need time to chill out in between our hectic workload of writing news feeds and blogs. So they spent hundreds of pounds on playtime toys.

Foos, or table football as it more commonly known, takes pride of place as the top toy in the office. This claim to the top spot was reinforced last month when the People Team bought us a second foos table. The queues for the old table were getting ridiculously big and fights were beginning to break out between different departments.

So now we have two tables: New School and Old School.

New School is ok, but it takes some getting used to. It’s faster and smoother than Old School and has a glass lid which stops the ball leaving the field of play every 5 minutes. But this glass lid comes at a hefty price: glare. In certain lights, it is almost impossible to see one end of the table meaning that if you are in goal, the ball has probably already gone in before you can react to it.

Old School, on the other hand, is a legend. It has a raw open-topped design which puts the player closer to the action. The old, stiff and rusty handles mean you have to work if you want to win. The ball seems to stick to the surface in a very uncanny manner. There’s no beauty in this table, just pure, unadulterated foos.

Old School has character that new school can only dream of achieving. “Headless”, for example is the first red mid-fielder in from the right hand side. I have no idea how he lost his head, it was probably a drunken Christmas party shenanigan of some sort. Every other player is called “Rooney”. Don’t ask why, because I really don’t know.

So at 11 o’clock everyday, we go out for a game of doubles. There are two rounds, the first to score ten goals wins the round. Half time comes and you swap sides. Genius. If we are lucky, we might get to pop out in the afternoon as well, but that’s only if the boss isn’t looking.

Next up, and a relatively recent addition is Table Tennis. I haven’t got the hang of this yet, but then I don’t care for tennis too much so I can’t see myself as a budding Tom Hanks any time soon.

Moving on swiftly, and we have Swing Ball. Swing Ball is the sweatiest of all the toys we have. Last summer someone tried to invent some rules for Swing Ball. They didn’t take off to well. The only rule you need is hit the ball back, right?

At lunchtimes, we occasionally get a football out. This ultimately leads to yet another sweat-fest and makes for a rather smelly and uncomfortable afternoon in the office. We have goals erected in the lower field where we like to play a game of either “headers and volleys” or “hit the crossbar”. Needless to say we are all rubbish at the latter - most of us spend too much tome at a computer screen to be any good with a ball at our feet.

So if the news if sometimes late reaching you, or the web page you are looking at seems a little out of place, it’s probably because we are outside playing with our toys.

I have been lucky enough to get in my first theme park visit of the summer but I don’t think I’m going to be able to squeeze another one out of the company just yet. Not only that, but the wife is set to pop soon, with only a number of weeks left until the arrival of baby Gore Lane. Methinks a theme park isn’t the best way of keeping baby safe and snug inside mummy.

Anyway, in the mean time I have found another way of keeping myself entertained: Wonder World Amusement Park on the Nintendo Wii. Well, tell a lie, it’s not actually out yet, but when it comes out, I will be all over it.

Wonder World is (as the name suggests) a theme park game with “family fun” written all over it. There are five fantastic zones, more than 30 interactive games and many, many hours of fun to be had.

Mini games are a proven winner with the likes of Wario Ware and Mario Party storming to the top of the games charts when they were released. Wonder World is set to follow this trend; it’s great fun for all the family and everyone young and old will love playing the latest instalment to the Wii collection.

Of course, it’s as good as going to a real theme park, but lets face it; we can’t live at LEGOLAND or Alton Towers all our lives, that would just be silly. No, what I am suggesting is buy this game and enjoy playing in between trips to your favourite theme park.

I have enclosed a video for your enjoyment. The game is out soon and will cost about £30-£40.