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TS South: 29-31 May 2015

Very much looking forward to this - after a stressful and busy 8-day stint at work, this'll be a much needed break! Far too long since I've been on a meet properly anyway :). Both parks will be rammed, but Eh, will still be good. Very much hoping we put time aside to watch the new Chessington show, as I bloody love it :p

Cakey and I should arrive around 7pm-ish tonight :).
 
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Also really looking forward to this weekend at Chessington World of Queues and CLOSED Park, should be great fun! See you all either later tonight or tomorrow.

:)
 
So it turns out myself and Kim will be able to do Thorpe on the Sunday, but this would mean getting the dreaded chav bus from Staines...

Is there any chance anyone could provide us with a lift to and from the station? Alcoholic beverage/ some form of incentive will be provided.
 
We'll be getting to CWOAR for 9.30-9.40am in an attempt to do things without queues first thing.
 
Diogo and I are free on the Sunday - we don't have MAPS though, but if anyone's planning a drink or meal before heading off home we can come and join you for the sosche! Just drop us a message by text or Facebook, we're only 25 mins from Thorpe, less to Beaconsfield! :)
 
I thought I'd share a few of my thoughts from Saturday.

First off yes Chessington was very busy (but it's half-term, we knew it would be) and the queue for Dragon Fury was horrendous. We spotted you all just before it opened (late) and decided to join the queue as there were only about 30 people in-between. we reasoned we'd catch up before the group moved on. As you all know it didn't work out like that. I think it was gone midday before we properly joined everyone else :(

But that wasn't my real issue with the day. Once we got chatting it quickly became apparent a large chunk of the group had wanted to go to Legoland in the afternoon, and had wanted to even before the disastrous morning. For personal reasons Legoland was the last place I wanted to be. Heck if I'd known everyone was going to bail I wouldn't have got Saturday off. I could have met you all during my lunch break and thrown in an exclusive guided tour. This would have also freed me up to join everyone at Thorpe today.

Instead we stayed behind to enjoy the rest of our day at Chessington. As this was the first meet I've been on since 2011 I had really hoped to spend plenty of time chatting with everyone instead I just feel like avoiding future meets and hope to just run into you all from time to time.
 
And this is why I never bothered with South meet even when I did have a MAP. It's always at the worst possible time of year for crowds, and people always end up bailing from Chessy / Thorpe for Legoland after a few hours.
 
There's no need to bail at Thorpe today.

For the 3rd year running we've had a super day at Thorpe.

I've done 20+ rides and had a great time. What a laugh!

The Chessington/Legoland day is often when we split it (my first TT South meet back in 2007 was the same). Perhaps in future we'll specify that in the meet information to avoid the disappoint as you've expressed, Tim.
 
AstroDan said:
The Chessington/Legoland day is often when we split it (my first TT South meet back in 2007 was the same). Perhaps in future we'll specify that in the meet information to avoid the disappoint as you've expressed, Tim.
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Two years ago (would have been from when we both last had MAP's) the 'bail' day was Thorpe, as Diogo and I would have joined the meet in the afternoon there - except everyone had already gone to Legoland. So we didn't. :/
I understand the reasons for changing plans when things aren't going well at a park, but also the frustration of what Tim's said, esp if doing the entire weekend is unfeasable.

Glad everyone had a good time though!
 
To back up what Kelpie just said it was on the Thorpe day 2 years ago because I remember working at Lego that day and got a right shock when everyone turned up :)
That was why I thought the Chessington day was the safer of the two.

Thanks for the response Dan, you were one of the people I regret not saying a proper hello to. I think your suggest would help. I know my situation is a little unique but I'm sure it'll help anyone that doesn't have a MAP or used public transport and can't park hop quite as easily.
 
On the train home from a lovely day at Thorpe with everyone :) This was my first meet for a while so I apologise for being fairly quiet, I'm sure with more meets my confidence will improve so I'll be able to speak up a bit more!

Thanks to everyone who I did manage to speak to for being so friendly, I had a lovely day and am looking forward to getting myself to another meet soon :) Further thanks also to Russ and Vik for giving us lifts from and to the station, it was very much appreciated!
 
Loved the meet! Chessie was terrible, but I enjoyed Legoland and especially Thorpe! Getting a ride whore on Stealth at the end of the day was brilliant :p

Special thanks to Aaron (don't know what your forum name, so sorry!) for the lift from Chessie to Lego (via Cobham services :p) and then from Lego to Windsor town centre. and to Vik for giving me, Danny and Kimberley a lift back to Staines this evening. And of course to everyone else for being awesome!

See you all in August! :)
 
Aside from the first few disastrous hours at Chessington, I had a fabulous weekend!!

It was really great to catch up with everyone :) yogurt boy rocks!! ;)

Group photos are in the site galleries & on Facebook - unfortunately I can't upload them here ATM.

Good times :D
 
Thank you all for a beautiful day yesterday.

I realise I'm not around much, my work load and job choice renders me a little random with my chance of attending and it's extremely frustrating for me knowing that I can turn up after 2 years and still have people be really happy to see me. I haven't laughed so much in years. Every meet I attend reminds me how much I'm missing!

The day was wonderful. The rain kept the crowds away, so lots of riding and barely any queues.

I love you all. And I really really hope I can make it to more meets. Desperate to get up to towers again soon!
 
Well I have to say that for me that was the best meet for quite a while so thank you everyone who was there for such a wonderful time! :D

Chessie was indeed awful on Saturday, one of my worst ever theme park experiences (although not quite as bad as turning up at Walygator on a day it was advertised as being open only for them just not to bother as it was "too cold"). Thankfully Legoland came to the rescue, not something I would ever expect to say. I'm sorry to hear that us leaving Chessie did disappoint some, if the park had been operating in a manner that was even close to adequate I'm sure it is not something we would have been so keen to do. I personally could not have taken any more of what was on offer there!

Thorpe yesterday was nothing short of brilliant - I wasn't at the 2013 official South meet but Thorpe has actually been great in 2012, 2013 (early unoffical south meet in the April), 2014 and now 2015 for the meets. Certainly not something that anyone should think they need to avoid. There were barely any queues yesterday and all coasters were running on maximum capacity.

One of the highlights of the meet has to be lunch at Cobham services on Saturday, that's how much we didn't want to give money to the park. I only spent £1.80 at Chessington and I know others spent even less!

Staying at Beaconsfield worked out really well again and now with Nandos there are even more options for an evening meal.

All in all it couldn't have worked out much better!

:)
 
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