Today it was announced via Season Pass Podcast that ride designer & "imagineer" John Wardley is to retire following the completion of SW7 (The Smiler) roller coaster at Alton Towers Resort. John has been involved with Merlin Entertainments for mainy years and his projects include The Vampire, Bubbleworks, Th13teen, Oblivion, Air The Smiler - Alton Towers' latest thrill incarnation and of course Nemesis, ...

It's that time of year again when the theme park recruitment drive hits full force with parks all over the country scrambling to read through the many applications they receive for various seasonal vacancies. This year Drayton Manor Theme Park, near Tamworth, Staffordshire, received over 1000 job applications for the 150 seasonal vacancies that were posted. With only a couple of months before the park opens ...

It was announced today via the Official Thorpe Park Facebook page that this year in 2013 riders can experience The Swarm (the UK's first winged coaster where riders are suspended at the side of the track) backwards! A photograph has been revealed of the trains covered with a giant tarpaulin, however photos of the reversed train are expected to emerge soon. The park also confirmed that a new near miss elemen ...

UPDATE 21.01 13:25 Alton Towers Resort has confirmed that SW7 will not open until May 2013, some 2 months later than the original planned opening. Here's what the resort had to say: "We wanted to create some mystery around the name of our new world first rollercoaster, The Smiler. We’ve managed to baffle the nation and hopefully made a few people smile. The Smiler will be our biggest and most thrilling attr ...