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So it seems following what I believe was a successful late night opening this Saturday just gone they are opening again until 10pm this Saturday as well...

A full review will be happening once I've ridden Icon more times, but for now I'll just summarise in brief. A very fun coaster with lots of unique elements, the changes in direction are frantic at times and there is lots of airtime to be had. I found that both halves complimented each other perfectly, with one of the highlights being diving through the mist-filled tunnel (you literally can't see ANYTHING) and into the second launch. The ride ran efficiently on two trains both mornings, and I believe they will be running all three at peak times. The atmosphere in the ride station is superb with the audio blasting out, and whilst landscaping/audio installation was still taking place (as the rides doesn't officially open until Friday, this is fine), here are some photos of the decoration around the Icon area. Pleasure Beach have done a great job at styling the ride well with a fantastic entrance feature, small water feature in the rock garden, memorial posts (to those involved in the project) dotted around the layout, and the first section of the queue-line is lovely. Loads more photos can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/TheParkUpdates/ A full review will come in the next few weeks

Almost........There........

- The maze was advertised as having more rooms. - I’m not criticising being sent around alone, I don’t like the fact that there are no warnings at the entrance / before you enter that you may be sent around alone. There were disabled people with wristbands who were quite distressed from being separated from their carers and forced to go alone despite objecting. - My point was that part of the fear is being chased by walkers who would be trying to bite you in the tv show. I said that they would obviously never do this. You lose that fear of being chased when they’re just pushing you around awkwardly. - This topic is titled SPOILERS - It may be simple to get actors at this time of the year but it’s hard to feel the ambience of Halloween on a warm, light summer evening. - Fright Nights was so overrated and overcrowded last year with a terrible preview event, a handful of mazes of which one was only a decent length that had multiple e-stops both times I went. (None at Tulleys) Fortunately it was the first year I went to Tulleys which is a far superior event to fright nights. (With 8 mazes, 9 this year as well as staying open to midnight) I’m certain that unless there are significant changes, I will most definately be missing Fright Nights. Hence this is why I am criticising this free attraction in good time for October.

Good news! https://www.looopings.nl/weblog/10094/Parc-Asterix-kondigt-spectaculaire-nieuwe-lanceerachtbaan-aan.html *hopes for a clone*

Assuming it's not changed (was it really 11 years ago I started there?); that is correct.. 16 to host and 18 to operate...

Genuine question, why? Surely you get more value for money when you get to go to all the parks and the midway attractions rather than just Thorpe? Why not just get a Thorpe one if you only use it there?

Yesterday’s trip was great fun. Kudos to Matt Wise and Marc for organising this trip. Double the parks, double the fun. Too many highlights to count, but that group ride on Tidal Wave was tonnes of fun (though very wet).

I thought it was great (much to Cooper's annoyance hehe) and in particular the pre and post ride sections. It has been cleverly thought out and I loved the darkness in places. The canteen section was fantastic as well with the live actors. A much better attraction than X!

It was just more of the same really. The maze wasn’t any bigger. The groups of actors made it a little better than usual. Didn’t start off good as seeing the derelict Slammer up close kind of pissed off a few of us. Then we were separated from everyone we were queueing with. Then I was separated and sent around on my own which had some good interaction with all the actors but my girlfriend was not happy about. I think Thorpes rule of letting the actors touch you takes away takes away some of the psychological fear. You had to push your way through at some points. I kind of get you’re being mobbed by walkers but it’s kind of awkward that they just block you as in reality they’d be trying to bite you which they obviously can’t do. It doesn’t help either doing the maze in May rather than around Halloween where I’d be more in the mood. I wish it was more clear if we were going to be sent through alone before going in. Left rather disappointed and annoyed. If that’s the extreme version (best version) of a fright nights maze, I don’t think I’ll be coming back for fright nights this year. The maze is just too short. I’d happily visit Tulleys instead this year with thier huge mazes, loads of actors who can scare you without touching, themed disclaimers and descriptions of the maze before going in.

Rode it again today, loved it, enjoyed it much more than yesterday. Awesome coaster.

Brilliant trip today guys! Was nice to be able to do two parks in a day.

Not to mention not everyone gets weekends off work and needs to confirm annual leave in advance. Otherwise sufficient cover may not be able to be provided resulting in people unable to go. Not a criticism but something that must be kept in mind for everything.

It's not helped by the personal point scoring that seems to be going around a LOT of Twitter accounts recently... I'm not a fan of Sanbrooke or TPW but another account did basically grass them up for the image in question (why I'm not sure, I'm 100% certain Towers keeps tabs on plenty of relevant media accounts themselves), for some reason... I've unfollowed the account as a result because it wasn't needed to be done in such a public setting (if Towers REALLY cared about it, they would have contacted Sanbrooke directly to discuss it) and for such blatant point scoring (it's not the first time I've seen them do such nonsense)... It's sad to see the UK scene becoming really petty these days... Regarding cameras on rides, it's gotta be a common sense thing right? A flat out ban on all rides is just an over-reaction (so expect Merlin to do this) and will not be a great sign when someone gets berated for taking pictures of their kid on Sea Dragons...

I don't think this is being emphasized enough here. Towers' responses are blunt and edging towards rude. Regardless of what the rule is or isn't, their tone of voice over Twitter stinks in this instance, and in many others. Saw a tweet where someone was asking for bus times to/from the park, and their response was effectively 'Google it'. That's dreadful. The team running responses to social media posts clearly are terrible this year and need complete retraining on basic customer service and basic social media skills. Terrible image for the park, despite being so easy to get right.

Exactly this. AT are wrong to have tried to publicly chastise someone who has in reality followed their own rules. As Barron says, to put it down as 'all rides and attractions' would include monorail and skyride. But that is clearly a nonsense, so clear unambiguous signage at each ride entrance is how it should be managed. There's nothing wrong or inherently dangerous with filming on the rapids.