In 2006 we’re going higher and faster than ever before
Half heartedly in the tradition of wartime radio comedy, It’s That (Time) Again: The updated park websites have started to go live in time for the beginning of the season.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s went online a few weeks ago, showing off their new logo. Some people have been quite critical, but I think it’s good to see Microsoft Wordart still being used so many years after it ceased to be cool.[/sarcasm]
Today saw the launch of Thorpe Park’s new site for 2006. The changes are not all that substantial, probably because last year’s site worked so well in the first place. The look has evolved slightly with extra bits of Flash animation dotted around. There’s the option for non-Flash version for those who don’t like animation and a low graphics version for people who, erm, are scared of pictures hung up in the air.
Last year’s site was a vast improvement over 2004’s. This year’s promises more of the same high quality and great features, with a more substantial customer reviews feature than last year (prepare for funky database driven antics). The only disappointment is they’re still using the crappy 2004 “scary” industrial ride descriptions on a few of the ride pages. If they get rid of the last remainders of the Liquorice website and brought back the Rangers, Thorpe’s marketing would be perfection itself. OK, maybe that’s going a little bit too far…
Over the last few years, Thorpe’s websites have been a good indicator of the season the park can expect. In the RMC days, the site was basic and so was the park. Along came Colossus in 2002 together with a very innovative website (who remembers the Virtual Ride?). 2003 kept the same great site with some extra improvements and Thorpe had another great season. 2004 was a disaster in terms of season and site. In 2005 the website returned to something approaching normality and so did the park. 2006’s site evolves the brilliant 2005 site into something even better with some new bits and bobs. If anything, the flash animation makes it look a little “busier”. So, using the accurate WSP (Website Season Predictor�), I predict this year’s season at Thorpe will be even better than last year’s, but perhaps a little more crowded.
I expect the Chessington site will be seeing some changes in the next few days. It will be interesting to see whether Drayton Manor and the smaller parks have anything planned online for this year too.
