Airgates - Theme Park News - Latest Comments

Re: Local firefighters tackle blaze at Dreamland Margate

Adam Whittaker — Mon, 18 May 2015 09:55:26 -0000

Hopefully this doesn't set the project back, Dreamland needs Margate as much as Margate needs Dreamland for the local economy.

Re: Love is a Roller-Coaster…

Adam Whittaker — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 11:02:24 -0000

Don't think anyone hasn't heard about the Robb Alvey story too - being proposed to on a support of Thorpe's Colossus? Romantic eh..

Re: End of the line for Blackpool’s Monorail

John Doidge — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 07:18:41 -0000

Went last weekend (July 5th 2014 ) .
Park is still brilliant but NO WAY should the monorail get junked.Gobsmacked of Bromsgrove.

Re: ‘Coaster Porn’ – Tumblr’s Secret Smiler Smut

Michael Mander — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 19:02:45 -0000

Well, as I said, if your friend is offended and would like any parts of the article altered they are free to discuss that with me. Jack has addressed the issue of copyright. So for that reason I consider this matter closed.

Re: ‘Coaster Porn’ – Tumblr’s Secret Smiler Smut

Jack Gordon — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 15:49:12 -0000

I'm staying out of the ins and outs of the discussion but, to clarify, copyrighted material can be used to illustrate journalistic articles without permission as long as every effort has been made to seek such. If permission is later not granted then the items should be immediately removed from the article in question and, where appropriate, a suitable statement made. This is permitted under both UK and US copyright law, countries in which the servers that host Airgates are located.

Jack Gordon
Director, Aloud Media
jack.gordon@aloudmedia.co.uk

Re: ‘Coaster Porn’ – Tumblr’s Secret Smiler Smut

AnonyMouse — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 15:43:49 -0000

I have grown up not to trust the journalism community, I myself was offered a stand on which to defend my fandom and so many others warned me of the dangers of doing so, and my friend is probably wise not to either.

The fact of the matter remains, a lot of these were used without permission, and non-reply to a request for permission is still a no, because either way, you haven't been granted permission.

Re: ‘Coaster Porn’ – Tumblr’s Secret Smiler Smut

Michael — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 13:35:59 -0000

I sought permission from all the blogs featured in this article but was repeatedly ignored. This article deals with both the sexual side of the imagery (which is of more interest to readers) but also the characterisation of the roller-coasters which I feel many other news sites would have ignored. No one in the article does it criticise the fandom or the people within, it is a light-hearted look at the alternative interpretation of roller-coasters.

I did write about the effort that goes into the characters! If you read the article fully you will see a great deal of mention goes into the characterisation and back stories to the extent that many readers asked for links to see the blogs in full on Facebook. In fact, even one of my close friends (a devout hater of all coaster fandoms) said this was her favourite article on the site.

I apologise for any offence caused by the article, which was far from the intention, but hope I can work with those offended to produce an informative and alternative version. Not one person from the actual fandom has complained about this article yet, but if you know of anyone that has a problem please encourage them to contact me at michael@airgates.co.uk and I will alter the article.

Re: ‘Coaster Porn’ – Tumblr’s Secret Smiler Smut

Michael — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 13:31:39 -0000

This isn't abuse or intended to bully any group in any way. The article was written to inform members of the coaster enthusiast community of an alternative interpretation and fandom. It is not an attempt to kick up drama, we received only positivity on publishing the article with some readers asking for links to the blogs and taking great interest in the imagery.

The passtime is not displayed as anything but harmless. I seeked permission from the blogs that featured these images but was repeatedly ignored. If there are problems, please encourage them to get in touch.

It is not our intention to upset anyone. As I've said, we are all members of the enthusiast community and took a great deal of interest in this alternative interpretation. If your friend would like to speak directly to me he can at michael@airgates.co.uk. I will remove or alter the article to his/her wishes.

Re: ‘Coaster Porn’ – Tumblr’s Secret Smiler Smut

Michael — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 13:28:12 -0000

As I've said, this article wasn't written to pick on anyone or bully a select group. It was something I spotted after browsing Tumblr and decided it would be of interest to our readers. It was, some readers even asked to see the blogs.

I am very sorry for any offence which has been caused, however the article was written to inform people in the coaster enthusiast community of an alternative interpretation and fandom. Comments from members of the fandom were seeked but ignored.

Due to it's threatening nature, your comment has also been reported to the police.

Re: ‘Coaster Porn’ – Tumblr’s Secret Smiler Smut

Michael — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 13:25:13 -0000

Thanks for your comments on the article. This article reveals an often unseen side of the coaster fandom. All the writers for Airgates, including myself, are coaster enthusiasts and are extremely interested by others who share this passion. The article is not intended to promote hate or intolerance, instead reports facts.

I attempted to contact many people in the fandom about this but none responded. As far as I know, no one in said fandom has complained. It's light-hearted and done with good intent.

Our readers were interested in the artwork and the stories, with many asking for links.

Re: ‘Coaster Porn’ – Tumblr’s Secret Smiler Smut

AnonyMouse — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 08:13:07 -0000

As a furry, I'm on the recieving end of this same kind of abuse by the media, purely because you guys want to kick up a drama in a desperate attempt to try and drum up more readers because your journalism career has only landed you a spot on a second-rate website.

Thank you so very much for freak-shaming people for what was a harmless passtime, that was probably locked off by an age gate, as well as pulling images from said peoples blogs without actually asking them.

And thank you for showing us all how desperate you've become by posting this, you've not only made yourself look like a magnificent douche, you have also upset a group of people who thought what they'd started doing was harmless, which it is.

And you've upset one of my best friends, who was one of the targets of this shaming, he now feels paranoid about what else is being said about him, and that's just not cool.

Re: ‘Coaster Porn’ – Tumblr’s Secret Smiler Smut

AltTws_rep — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 04:16:12 -0000

Hmm, your obviously a soulless person picking on people and their interests Michael, I'm glad you put your full name on here for me and my friends and we would look forward to meeting you in person if you don't apologise to the people you have hurt >:)
Or we could report you for internet bullying which is getting popular these days!

Re: How was The Smiler’s iconic ride-music created?

Ross — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 15:11:36 -0000

Brilliant ride and awesome music! Well done IMAScore and Alton Towers.

Re: How to take #ThemeParkSelfies

Michael Mander — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 07:40:12 -0000

Good point: we certainly don't condone breaking health and safety rules. I'll add this as a warning to the post.

Re: How to take #ThemeParkSelfies

HaydenCR — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 03:20:12 -0000

Surely it would be appropriate to be promoting pictures that have broken Health + Safety Rules?

Re: I Was There: “It was surreal, I didn’t expect it to ever happen”

Jamie — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:17:08 -0000

That's very poor - go to Blackpool Pleasure Beach instead, much better!

Re: A New Ride for Pleasure Beach?

Amy jones — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 16:50:03 -0000

I want it to change people get sick and tired looking at old fashioned rides I wished spin docor was back

Re: How was The Smiler’s iconic ride-music created?

John Pickering — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 07:16:57 -0000

Always wondered how it came to be, especially with IMAScore's phenomenal Blue Fire Megacoaster soundtrack.. Very insightful

Re: Thorpe Park believed to rename Asylum maze

Michael Mander — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 11:38:38 -0000

@Stuart Baker, the [sic] was added afterwards and denotes a spelling mistake that was a part of the original document.

Re: Thorpe Park believed to rename Asylum maze

Stuart Baker — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 05:15:43 -0000

Important question ... was the inclusion of [sic] in the original letter from the police or have you added that after 'appologises' ?

Re: Anti-Asylum Petition Handover

Stephen — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 10:33:37 -0000

well done to Katie Sutton and everyone who is opposing this so called "attraction"

Re: Is it okay to base horror mazes on mental health?

Halloween's for Idiots — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:47:55 -0000

The "so-called petition" currently has 3547 signatures actually

Re: Is it okay to base horror mazes on mental health?

Halloween's for Idiots — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:44:45 -0000

The "theme park enthusiast community" hates the "general public"! Oh no!! Seriously, have you understood any of the issues involved at all? Or actually read the article in its entirety? You may have noticed the campaign merely wants your play-maze renamed so the theme isn't on stigmatising innocent people (a bit like the way the nasty doctors and campaigners are stigmatising your "innocent park"!!!). I hope that stops you fans of the SuperFunTime park experience from despairing for humanity too much and curbs your anger. Personally, things like genocide make me despair for humanity but, hey-ho, each to their own

Re: Is it okay to base horror mazes on mental health?

nick rhodes — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 17:46:06 -0000

Another debate has begun on Mumsnet this week, as it happens.

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk...

Re: Is it okay to base horror mazes on mental health?

nick rhodes — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 17:42:06 -0000

Thanks for that. The news that you "hate the general public" is genuinely enlightening.